Ribble Satin

A satin is defined by where its interlacings are not. On a five-end satin each warp end passes under the weft once in every five picks, and the counter is set so that consecutive binding points move two positions along rather than one. No two of them ever sit next to each other.

Because the binding points are scattered, the face of the cloth is very nearly an unbroken run of parallel warp floats — and a long unbroken float reflects light coherently. That is the entire mechanism of satin lustre. It is a geometry, not a finish and not a fibre; you can weave a dull satin out of the wrong yarn and it will still be a satin, and it will still be brighter than a twill.

Ribble puts a brass-toned mulberry silk in the warp and a darker worsted in the weft, so the face runs bright and the back runs olive. Used on a leading edge or a pelmet return, that difference does a lot of work: the fold turns and the colour turns with it.

Floats snag more readily than any other structure here, and satin will show a pull permanently. Specify it where it hangs and is looked at, not where it is sat on.