Jacquard Weaving and Designing

by T. F. Bell

[Fig. 141] is an example of designing in this manner, using 6 rows of hooks, to suit the gauze. The pattern is put on the rows of designs numbered 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8. No. 3 is for the selvage, and the working of the doups is on Nos. 1 and 2. This is for a 1 round 2 gauze, 6 checks, or 2 splitfuls of gauze to the design; there would be 10 doups required for the 5 designs in the repeat of the pattern, and for these 10 checks are used of designs Nos. 1 and 2. The rising of the back leash of the harness to form the crossing is shown by the dots marked on the design, and as gauze is formed by raising this leash and the doup alternately, it is only necessary to take each line of the design paper for the doups, and, following up the markings for the back leashes, fill in for the doups to rise when the back leash is sunk for the gauze, taking care to keep clear of the figuring. In making gauze the doup should always rise immediately after the figuring ends, to form the first crossing, and it should also be up immediately before the next portion of the figuring begins, so that in an irregular figured pattern the gauze might frequently require to be broken to effect this, as may be seen in [Fig. 141]. Take the first upright line of the pattern, design No. 4: the back leash is raised for three, then the doup for three, and the figure follows. Passing on to the tenth line it will be seen that the doup rises for three after the figure, and is also up for three before the next figure begins; but, passing on to designs 7 and 8, it will be seen that the risings of the doup and back leash would not fall in regularly in threes against the figure, as it would be better if they did, and therefore the gauze is broken so as to fall in; but in small patterns of this description, when it is of importance to keep the outline of the figure as regular as possible, this can and should be remedied; instead of the outline of the figure running diagonally on the design paper in steps of one check, it should go in steps of as many checks as there are threads to the twist of the gauze in the warp and shots in each twist in the weft. This is shown in [Fig. 142], where all the twisting falls in regularly with the figure. This may to a great extent be carried out with irregular figures by the designer exercising a little judgment, and when filling in the gauze make up the plain edging of the figuring to fall in with it—that is, only to break the gauze where there is room to do it effectively, and where there is not, a few dots can be added to the plain. If Figs. 141 and 142 be compared, it may be seen how this could be done: examining designs 4 and 8 above the figures, the latter below as well; but [Fig. 142] shows the proper method of treating these small geometrical figures. Another point to be observed is whether all the doup leashes are to be raised together to form the gauze, or whether it is to be formed by raising every alternate doup leash and every alternate back leash, as is done in these figures. The latter method is preferable for working, as it makes an even tension on every shed, whereas if one shed is a full cross shed formed by the doups, and the reverse of this an open shed with no crossing, the cross shed will be the tighter, and produce a certain amount of plucking, with a tendency to shire in some patterns; but in case of working dices or any pattern where the top and bottom of the figure extend some distance straight across the design paper, it would be impossible for the first shed of the gauze to be formed by the doup if only every alternate doup leash was raised. Some judgment must therefore be exercised in these matters, and the best effect obtained that will suit circumstances.

Fig. 142

Now to put the patterns on design paper to suit the harness when the two front rows of the jacquard are used to work the doups, as in [Fig. 138], also when any other rows are used, as in [Fig. 139]: the simplest way to do this—at least, for those not well accustomed to the work—is to design them on 6-row paper, as [Fig. 142], and afterwards transfer them to 8-row paper, leaving the lines for the doups empty, the doup lines being afterwards filled in, as in Figs. 143 and 144. Fig. 144 has the advantage that each splitful of gauze stands alone, whereas when filling in the markings for the doups in [Fig. 144], two splitfuls stand together; but a little practice makes one method as simple as the other. The dots represent the markings for the doups, and the shaded squares those for raising the back leashes to form the open shed of the gauze. The transferring of the designs from one sheet of design paper to another is, of course, a matter of trouble and expense, and may be avoided if an experienced card-cutter is to cut the cards. The design need not be transferred, but have the marks for raising the doups put on the same lines of the design paper as those for raising the back leashes for the open shed. This is shown in [Fig. 145], the shaded squares being the same as in Figs. 143 and 144; but the dots, instead of being put on lines left for them, as in these figures, are put on the same lines as the shaded squares, and the card-cutter sees to their being cut on the correct lines, as in Figs. 143 and 144. In designing, different colours would be used. The shaded square should be the same colour as the figure, as they are to be cut for the lines they are on, but the dots should be of a different colour, to be cut for a different line of the card from that on which they are placed on the design—the dot on the first check of a design being the seventh hole in a row of the card, and that on the third check of a design being the last hole of a row on the card.

Fig. 143