Card Weaving

by Candace Crockett

With nothing more than colored yarn and simple cardboard squares, crafters can produce exquisitely patterned woven bands with this guide, which includes patterns for sturdy belts and camera straps, delicate silk trims and ties, creative wall art, and even hefty rugs and mats.

Genres: Crafts, Reference, Nonfiction, History, Sewing

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1973

Reviews

[Cookie M.]

I have the cards. I have the book. I just need to try it.

[Ariel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. The instructions and illustrations are excellent and easy to understand (with the exception of the rams head set up - which I feel is above beginner level anyway).
I read through the whole book first and will now try some of the beginner projects.
I like that there are dedicated beginner projects that tell you how you can start and then enough explanation about how to experiment after that.

The book is full of black and white photos with some coloured ones for more complicated patterns that contain a lot of colours.

All in all I loved this book and can’t wait to get started on my first project.

[Holland · Rating 4 out of 5]

The copy of this book that I read was a digital copy of the 1973 version. I can't say if the 1991 printing is different, or in what ways.

The content was good and instructive. I found it clear and easy to understand, but I already knew how card weaving works. I can't speak to how clear her explanations are to a person who is unfamiliar with card weaving.

There are a great many designs, and the discussion of how designs change based on where you start your repeats was enlightening. Crockett encourages weavers to experiment and see what happens, rather than closely following a pattern.

Unsurprisingly, given when it was published, there were very few color pictures. There were a great many diagrams where color was not necessary, but for pictures of weavings black and white photos are just no replacement for color. It is entirely possible that the images in a paper copy of the book would have been significantly clearer than the digital images I was viewing on my laptop, but I found the pictures of little help in illustrating what Crockett was using them to illustrate. Particularly with the wall hangings, I wasn't always sure what exactly I was looking at, or where to find the card weavings among the jumble of fringe and abstract shapes. I suppose I have grown spoiled by how common color photos are in modern books; I'd forgotten what it was like for books to have only a few plates of color images.

Also, the content of the pictures showed the book's age. The style of the artwork and clothing in the photos struck me as being very typical of the 1970s. Fifty years later, I personally find that style dated and uninspiring.

The content was good, but the book was hampered by the black and white pictures and the dated style of the examples.

[Becky Loader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of background info, patterns, and instructions.

[Alyssadyane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had torn feelings about this book. The history she goes into about card weaving is very interesting. The book is fun and easy to read. I was glad I bought it. She has a lot of really neat ideas, especially with her chapter on supplemental wefts. Very creative. But the down side, some of her technique descriptions, I felt were a little convoluted. For example: when she was writing about the ram's horn pattern: I know how to do that pattern, and did not understand her instructions. She seemed to make the explanation a bit trickier than it needed to be. I also felt that most of the example patterns she showed and described how to do were very boring and did not show the true potential for the fabulous designs (even simple ones for beginners) that can be created with card weaving. I know Ms. Crockett has a tremendous amount of skill, so I was a bit disappointed in that. All in all, it is a good staple book for very beginner level card weavers.

[Artlab]

Weaving