Fun With Finnweave

Featured in Handwoven September/October 2022, Claudia Tokola's Finnweave Pillows is a great introductory finnweave project. Current Handwoven subscribers can log in below to access this full article of finnweave instructions and tips by Alison Irwin. You can also find this full article in Handwoven January/February 1999. If you would like to weave the finnweave pin-cushion project and sampler designed by Alison and shown in the header above you can find it in that issue.

Finnweave is a variation of doubleweave pick-up that uses pairs rather than single threads in the warp and weft. It is sometimes called nonreversible doubleweave because the face and back are not mirror images: instead, a continuous line of pattern on the face weaves as a series of dashes on the back.

Compared to doubleweave, Finnweave is quicker to weave because the slim pick-up stick is left in place for two rows of weaving. Visually, Finnweave designs are more fluid; diagonals, much straighter.

Threading and Loom Setup

The ends of the layers alternate two by two in the warp. As in regular doubleweave pick-up, I designate background as G and pattern as P, and I attach a sticky note to my loom to remind myself which is the background color and which the pattern color.

If you are left-handed or if you find it more comfortable to count and use the pick-up stick from left to right, reverse the threading. The tie-up and treadling remain the same.