Field Study pattern guide

VIDEO TUTORIALS FOR

Field Study 01: Tomato Love

01

Warp your Swatch Loom

02

Weave your ground weft

03

Weave your pattern weft

04

Frame and hang your art!

What's included

Your Field Study kit comes with everything you need to weave all four tomato designs:

5x 12-dent Swatch Looms (4 to be framed, plus a spare/comb)
2x Tapestry needles and a built-in needle-minder at the bottom of the tray
4x Original weaving pattern cards with multiple variations from easy to advanced
1x Get Started with Swatch Looms illustrated booklet
5x mini bobbins of Kelbourne Woolens Perennial in Vermillion, Neon Coral, Natural, Pineapple, and Chartreuse.

A moment of appreciation for the yarn

Perennial is a quirky blend of vibrantly dyed superwash merino wool, super silky and soft Suri alpaca, and just a touch of nylon for added strength and durability. It's a light fingering weight, which makes it great for warping a 12-dent loom. Since the colors are so bright, the patterns really pop when you double it up for the overshot-style colorwork. It's mostly superwash Merino, with some Suri alpaca and nylon for good measure, so it's butter soft and a bit springy, while holding gorgeous definition.

Not only is Kelbourne Woolens the maker of some of my favorite yarns to knit with (Cozy forever!), but they're women-owned, modern, and eco-conscious. No brainer.

Quick start guide

Never woven before? Check out the Get Started guide to get acquainted with your Swatch Looms and basic weaving terms.

These patterns use a technique called overshot, where an image is made when a heavier pattern yarn floats on top of a simple plain weave foundation.

Think of it as a mashup of knitting color work, tapestry weaving, and cross-stitch. Just, mini.

The rhythm never changes: weave the plain weave ground first (warp, then weft),  then go back and add the pattern. The pattern yarn skips over several warp threads  at a time, and those skips are what form the image.

Weaving the ground is great for meditative flow. Your ground weft beat doesn’t need to be perfect, you’ll straighten it out as you  weave the pattern in between the rows.

The pattern is where you let your freak flag fly.Your pattern yarn must be held double on your needle for high contrast with the ground.

Every pattern has variations on the back, ordered from simple to advanced. Start anywhere. When you're done, snap each loom into the frame and hang it on the wall!

01

Warp your loom

Thread your warp yarn through any two holes and tie a double knot on the back (the flat side without the number) to secure it.

Wrap your warp yarn through the slots from one edge to the other, going all the way around the back.

Once all slots have their thread, tie the warp yarn back onto itself on the back side. Tension should be firm but not tight enough to bend the loom.

02

Weave your ground weft

Start by measuring out your ground weft:

Wrap the ground color horizontally around the loom 24 times, adding a little buffer. This will be enough for 23 rows plus a bit extra for tying off.

Weave the plain weave ground

Weave 23 rows in the ground weft color and secure at the back.

Your ground weft beat doesn’t need to be perfect, you’ll straighten it out as you  weave the pattern in between the rows.

Weaving the plain weave ground first is simpler than weaving both the pattern and the ground at once, but there are two needles included if you want to try it!

04

Weave your pattern weft

Remember: your pattern yarn must be held double on your needle for high contrast with the ground.

For each pattern, you'll follow this sequence:

1. Measure each pattern color 

Count how many rows use that color on the chart and wrap the loom that many times. Before you cut, double the length (pattern is woven with the yarn doubled).

2. Find your pattern starting point

From the bottom-right corner, count over and up to the first pattern square. In the Beefsteak example in the video, that's 8 over and 2 up.

3. Weave the pattern

Pattern yarn goes over the warp where the chart shows that color and under where it shows the ground color (Row 4: under 5, over 5, under 7, over 3, under 5). Between each pattern row, firmly beat down a ground row.  Keep your rows snug, tighter rows mean a tidier final picture.