Atwater Bronson Lace Sample and Fabric

My Weave Structures Study Group has been focused on various lace weaves this year, and I recently discovered a draft for "Concentric Squares" by Dorothy S. Burton in Carol Strickler's 8-Shaft Pattern book. 

I thought it would be interesting to see if the squares could be woven in different combinations and/or with some solid, some open areas. After a lot of experimenting with a computer drafting program, I wove a sample-- a portion shown here:

While I have several ideas for using the squares-in-squares possibilities, I also worked out a way to weave open and closed squares across the width of the cloth. That fabric is now on my loom:

The limitation with this particular combination is that, in addition to the shafts for tabby (2), each square requires two more shafts; so eight shafts can weave three different squares. I used three of each square for a total of nine across the fabric, alternating weaving them solid or open.


The fiber is white tencel and natural 8/2 cotton woven with the warp floats on the surface. But... I think I'll use the reverse side of the fabric for the right side. I like the look of the weft floats, and, on that side, the pure white tencel creates a tiny bead-like spot between the lace squares which will look great with the beading I plan to do on the finished garment. 


Now, back to my loom!