Folk School

Threading, Sheds, and Color Order

Tuesday: thread rosepath at 4 ends per inch with floating selvedges, tie up for krokbragd by treating shafts 2 and 4 as one, and for bound rosepath on the four twill sheds. Why each krokbragd pick shows only over one shaft's ends, how that lets color order alone draw dots, zigzags, and lines, and a sampler that tests it all.

  • 3 min
  • 5 steps
  • 2 questions
  • Lesson 158 of 204

In this lesson

  1. Thread the warp
  2. One warp, two weaves
  3. Why color order is the pattern
  4. Weave a sampler
  5. Try it

Thread the warp

Rosepath on four shafts threads 1-2-3-4-1-4-3-2, a point twill carried one end past the shaft count 1. Krokbragd on three shafts threads 1-2-3-2, with every other end on shaft 2 2.

Thread 112 ends in rosepath, centered, and add a floating selvedge at each side: an end through the reed but not through any heddle, as in Schuster’s rosepath rug 3. Sley at 4 ends per inch.

One warp, two weaves

On a rosepath or straight threading, tie shafts 2 and 4 together and you have krokbragd 4: 1-2-3-4-1-4-3-2 reads 1-2-3-2-1-2-3-2. So a single rosepath warp weaves both of the class’s structures.

Krokbragd sheds. Lift 1-2, then 2-3, then 1-3, repeated without change 5. On four shafts with 2 and 4 tied, tie three treadles: 1-2-4, 2-3-4, and 1-3. Krokbragd is usually woven three colors at a time 6.

Bound rosepath sheds. Tie up a 2/2 twill (1-2, 2-3, 3-4, 4-1) and treadle the four sheds in rotation; three colors on four sheds shift position by themselves, and only floats over two or more ends show 7. Vävstuga teaches bound rosepath with three treadles for geometric patterns, four for pictures, and six for detailed pictorial work 8.

Six treadles cover it: three for krokbragd, four for twill, sharing where they can, or retie between sections.

Quick check

How do you weave krokbragd on a rosepath threading?

Why color order is the pattern

The rule: “If one shaft is down for a pick, the weft color shows over the threads on that shaft” 9. In krokbragd:

  • The 1-2 pick shows over shaft-3 ends, a quarter of the warp.
  • The 2-3 pick shows over shaft-1 ends, another quarter.
  • The 1-3 pick shows over all the shaft-2 ends, half the warp. It is a plain-weave pick 9.

So three picks of the same color make a solid line, and changing the color of one pick puts dots or dashes exactly where that pick shows. Shifting the accent from one pick to another from pass to pass moves the dots sideways into zigzags. A Norwegian weaver notes that four picks are normally needed for a colored square 6. The threading never changes 5; everything is in the order of colors, which is why the class designs on graph paper with colored pencils.

Left, the threading: krokbragd is threaded 1-2-3-2 on three shafts, so every other end is on shaft 2. A rosepath threading on four shafts, 1-2-3-4-1-4-3-2, becomes the same thing if shafts 2 and 4 are tied together. Three sheds repeat without change: lift 1 and 2, lift 2 and 3, lift 1 and 3. The weft shows over the ends on the shaft that stays down: the first pick over shaft 3 ends, the second over shaft 1 ends, the third over the shaft 2 ends, which are half of all ends. Right, the cloth face that results, computed for color sequences: all three picks dark gives a solid stripe; a red first pick gives red dots on every fourth end; alternating which pick is red moves the dots sideways to make zigzags; a red third pick gives fine vertical lines on every other end; red first and second picks with a yellow third make alternating red and yellow lines; shifting one strand of color at a time shades a band. Patterns come only from the order of colors.
The threading never changes; the order of colors makes the pattern. Credit: StudyCorner diagram after Dickerson, Ness, van der Hoogt, and Wild Ginger Handweaving · CC BY 4.0 · Source

Quick check

Over which ends does a krokbragd pick show on the face?

Weave a sampler

Weave about 6 inches before the rug:

  1. A header of plain weave in warp yarn.
  2. Krokbragd: a solid band, then dots, a zigzag, fine lines, and a shaded band, all three colors at a time.
  3. Bound rosepath: a few repeats of the four twill sheds with three colors rotating.
  4. A few picks of plain weave to finish.

Beat firmly enough that no warp shows. Measure picks per inch (Schuster’s rug ran 28) and the draw-in at the fell against the reed width.

Weave a Krokbragd Zigzag Pattern | Mug Rug Tutorial 7 Krokbragd's three sheds, floating selvedges, and color changes. Credit: Wild Ginger Handweaving · YouTube standard license · 13:05 · Source

Playback is optional. If the player is unavailable, open the video at its source.

Try it

Before weaving the sampler, color six rows of the krokbragd grid on graph paper: one square per warp end, every fourth square for the 1-2 pick, the next fourth for 2-3, and every other square for 1-3. Then weave those six passes and compare.

Lesson complete

Nice work.

1day streak
0/1today's goal
–correct

Up next · 3 min

Designing, Weaving, and Finishing the Rug

Next lesson
Back to course Today
Sources for this lesson
  1. 1
    Andrea Deck. Rosepath Border Motif Design. Handwoven. 2025. verifiedRosepath is a point twill extended one end past the shaft count: 1-2-3-4-1-4-3-2 on four shafts.
  2. 2
    Katherine Dickerson. Flesberg Bound Weave System (retro reprint). Norwegian Textile Letter. 2006. verifiedKrokbragd has every even end on shaft 2 and shows three-block patterns on the face, two-block on the back. The Flesberg variant threads 1,3,2,1,2,3 at 8-10 epi on black 12/6 cotton (historically linen, hemp, or wool) with soft 2-ply wool weft; Buskerud, 1850-1920.
  3. 3
    Lynn Stracka Schuster. Rosepath Rug (weaving pattern). Long Thread Media. verified4 shafts, 154 ends with 2 floating selvedges; 4-ply rug warp at 560 yd/lb, 385 yd; 3-ply rug wool at 266 yd/lb, eight colors totaling 1,705 yd; 4 epi, 28 ppi, 38 1/2 in in the reed, finished 33 x 48 1/2 in; take-up and shrinkage 14% in width, 8% in length.
  4. 4
    Krokbragd on 2, 3, or 4 Shafts. Wild Ginger Handweaving. 2023. verifiedOn a rosepath or straight 4-shaft threading, link shafts 2 and 4 and you get krokbragd.
  5. 5
    Judy Ness. Krokbragd Tapestry. Norwegian Textile Letter. 2018. verifiedKrokbragd lifts 1-2, 2-3, 1-3 repeated without change; the pattern comes only from color.
  6. 6
    Krokbragd. All Fiber Arts. 2011. verifiedUsually woven in stripes of 3 colors, at most 3 at a time, treadled 12, 23, 31; a Norwegian weaver notes four picks are normally needed for a colored square; a 2-shaft tabby for borders by alternating treadles; krokbragd also works on 4 shafts and on a rosepath threading.
  7. 7
    Exploring 2/2 Boundweave. Wild Ginger Handweaving. 2023. verifiedRosepath threading with a 2/2 twill tie-up; four sheds in rotation make one line; three colors on four sheds shift position automatically; only floats over two or more ends show.
  8. 8
    The Rosepath Family. Vävstuga Weaving School. verifiedRosepath on opposites (4 treadles, the most common in Sweden), single- and double-pointed krokbragd (3 treadles each), bound rosepath (3 treadles geometric, 4 for pictures, 6 for detailed pictorial); rug warp 8/3 linen with Mattgarn weft.
  9. 9
    Madelyn van der Hoogt. Determining Warp Sett for Boundweave. Handwoven. 2017. verifiedBoundweave needs a much more open sett than plain weave; carpet warp or 8/2 linen. Krokbragd is a 3-shaft point-twill boundweave in which every third pick (lift 1-3) is plain weave. 'If one shaft is down for a pick, the weft color shows over the threads on that shaft.'

Previous: Boundweave and What to Buy