Pinwheels or Houndstooth?
Prior to weaving I knew the two tone, black and white fabric as houndstooth. When I started looking at weaving drafts I learned that it is generally called pinwheels in the weaving community.
What is the difference? The traditional houndstooth was woven using a 4 shaft loom. It is 4 threads white alternated with 4 threads black in both the warp and weft.
When you introduce more shafts to create the design it offers many more possibilities for changing the design.
Using an 8 shaft draft the traditional houndstooth starts to look more like a pinwheel. It is now warped using 8 white then 8 black threads. The threading is a straight draw or 12345678. The weft is also alternated 8 black, 8 white. What is nice about this threading is that there are many ways to change the tie-up and treadling to create a different design using the same warp.
With a change to the threading fancy pinwheels are created. Here are a few examples. Just click on the picture to increase the size.

When you introduce more shafts to create the design it offers many more possibilities for changing the design.
Using an 8 shaft draft the traditional houndstooth starts to look more like a pinwheel. It is now warped using 8 white then 8 black threads. The threading is a straight draw or 12345678. The weft is also alternated 8 black, 8 white. What is nice about this threading is that there are many ways to change the tie-up and treadling to create a different design using the same warp.
With a change to the threading fancy pinwheels are created. Here are a few examples. Just click on the picture to increase the size.

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