Weaverly

First, a disclaimer. I am not a cat person. Never had a cat, probably never will.

A few weeks ago I came upon a structure named English Tabby. It is certainly plain weave, with a twist.

And it can be woven on as few as 2 shafts.

The idea seems to be to add texture to plain weave, as if heavier threads were added randomly. Why this is understood as being distinctively English, I have no idea.

When I tried to search for a little clarification about this weave structure, I found myself in a rabbit hole of cat references (to mix a few metaphors). Apparently the Internet is determined to tell me that all references to tabby are about cats. But going a little further, I found that the distinctive coat pattern on tabby cats is from a plain weave silk fabric with an irregular wavy finish. So the fabric defines the markings on the cats. We are in a loop.

Be that as it may, I’ve got the urge to weave a little bit of English Tabby. A small sample. I can’t imagine that such a threading would be useful as a basis for weaving other structures. But you never know. Interesting structures arise from unexpected places. Meow.