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Activities / Kani Shawl / Kani Bobbin Weave Bookmark

Kani Bobbin Weave Bookmark

Kani-Inspired Bobbin Weave: A Tiny Patterned Bookmark on a Cardboard Loom

Level
Intermediate
Duration
3 - 5 hours
Budget
₹239 – ₹417
Age
12+
State
Jammu & Kashmir

Materials

  • Cotton thread or crochet cotton for the warp and weft
  • Blunt tapestry needles, large eye
  • Stiff cardboard, 8 x 22 cm
  • Comb or fork for packing down the rows
  • Ruler, pencil and scissors

Steps

  1. Set up your table and understand the Kani idea
    Real Kani shawls are woven on a loom with many small wooden bobbins, one for each patch of colour. You will weave a mini version on a cardboard loom, using a blunt needle as your bobbin. Clear a table with good light. Lay out stiff cardboard, cotton thread, three colours of yarn, a blunt needle, scissors, a ruler, a pencil and a fork or comb. Expect 3 to 5 hours, so be patient.
    Tip: Use a plain light-coloured table top so the dark threads are easy to see.
  2. Cut a cardboard rectangle 8 by 22 cm and notch both short ends
    Cut a rectangle of stiff cardboard (an old box works) 8 cm wide and 22 cm long. On both short ends, mark a dot every 4 mm, starting 1 cm in from the long edges, so you get 15 dots across. Use scissors to snip a notch 5 mm deep at each dot. The notches must match top and bottom, because they hold the threads straight. Common mistake: uneven notches, which make the warp crooked.
    Tip: Mark the dots with a ruler on both ends before you cut anything.
  3. Wind 15 vertical warp threads on the loom
    Tape the end of the cotton thread to the back of the card near the first notch. Pull the thread over the front, push it into the matching notch at the other end, turn it round the back and bring it up through the next notch. Continue until 15 threads run along the front, each in its own notch. Keep the thread snug but do not bend the card. Tie the end to the starting tail at the back. Common mistake: pulling too tight, which bows the cardboard.
    Tip: Keep the tension the same on every thread by pulling with the same finger pressure.
  4. Cut your yarns and thread each on a blunt needle
    Cut a 30 cm length of each of your two contrast yarns and one for the border, so three needles are ready. Thread each yarn through a blunt tapestry needle, which will not split the warp threads. Leave a 5 cm tail on each yarn. Short lengths do not tangle and pass through the threads easily. Common mistake: cutting a long yarn, which tangles and frays as you weave.
  5. Weave a base border of plain weave, 6 rows
    Start 1 cm from the bottom. With the border yarn, pass the needle over one warp thread and under the next, across all 15. Leave a 5 cm tail at the side. Turn at the edge and go back the opposite way, so over where you went under. Push each row down firmly with the fork. After 6 rows you have a firm base about 5 mm tall. Common mistake: pulling the yarn too tight at the edges, which makes the bookmark narrow in the middle.
    Tip: Leave a little slack in each row, like a gentle arc, before you push it down.
  6. Weave a twill band: over two, under two, shifting by one each row
    Switch to the first colour. In the first row go over two warps and under two, across the row. In the next row, begin one thread further along, so the diagonal pattern shifts. Repeat for 12 rows. Push down each row with the fork. A diagonal ridge appears as you weave. Twill is the structure of Kani shawls, so count aloud as you go. Common mistake: losing count, so the diagonal breaks.
    Tip: Put a small pencil mark on the card to show where each row starts.
  7. Weave a diamond with the second colour on the five centre warps
    Use a new needle with the second colour. Weave plain over-under only across the 5 centre warps (numbers 6 to 10), then turn back and weave the other way, without going to the edges. Each turn, add one warp on both sides for 3 rows, so the patch grows, then remove one on both sides for 3 rows to close the diamond. This is how Kani builds patches of colour from separate bobbins. Common mistake: pulling the turn too tight, which makes the patch pucker.
  8. Fill the background with the first colour around the diamond
    Pick up the first colour and weave the left side and right side separately on every row, up to the edge of the diamond, because the diamond's yarn is holding the centre. Where two colours meet, loop the new yarn once around the neighbour's yarn before turning back so there is no slit. Push each row down firmly. Keep rows even, so the diamond sits straight.
    Tip: Slits in tapestry weave are normal. Interlocking the yarns is how weavers close them.
  9. Repeat the band and diamond until the weave is 18 cm long
    Repeat the twill band, the diamond and the background filling, perhaps swapping the colours around. Measure with a ruler. When the woven part is 18 cm long from the bottom border, finish with 6 rows of plain weave in the border yarn, the same as the start. Leave a gap of about 2 cm at the top for the fringe. Check from the back that no loose ends show on the front.
  10. Cut the warp, knot the ends and trim a neat fringe
    Turn the loom over and cut the warp threads in the middle of the back, then slide the weaving off the card. Tie pairs of neighbouring warp threads together at each end with a firm double knot. Thread the loose yarn tails into the needle and tuck them under the weave on the back for 2 cm. Trim the fringe to 1.5 cm. Your bookmark is ready.
    Tip: Put a drop of clear glue on each knot so it cannot slip.

Sustainability

High - reuses a cardboard sheet and leftover yarn. Inspired-by exercise: real Kani shawls are woven on a loom with many small wooden bobbins

Safety

Scissors are sharp; take eye breaks during counting; the weave takes patience