Sunday, September 28, 2008

Samplers

I have been busy sampling. The goal is a stadium blanket for my sister-in-law. So far, I have woven three samples on my 4H loom, and I think there is a fourth one yet to be made!

It turns out that my nephew's school colors are blue and grey (he is playing football, which leads to my sister-in-law being in the stadium watching him and needing a blanket!). I happen to have multiple skeins of blue and some skeins of grey worsted weight knitting yarn in my stash. I'd like to use this yarn for the blanket...but I have never woven with knitting yarns like this before! So, I have been sampling.

Sampler #1
Warp:fingering weight knitting yarn.
Weft:worsted weight and fingering weight knitting yarns. Weave structures: 2/2 twill, plain weave, basket weave (two weft picks per shed).
Thoughts: (from the bottom of the photo to the top--more or less!) The 2/2 twill packed very loosely has a nice drape, but is loose enough that it will snag on jewlery, belt buckles, etc. Not good! The tightly packed 2/2 twills are really spongy and thick. It would make a really thick blanket. The plain weave with worsted weight weft has a nice hand to it, but doesn't look very special. The basket weave with worsted weight weft has both a nice hand and some visual interest.

Sampler #2
warp: worsted weight knitting yarns (two colors, wound together, threaded randomly)
weft: worsted weight & fingering weight knitting yarns
weave structures: plain weave, twill, point twill, broken twill, basket weave (two picks of fingering weft per shed).
thoughts: too many to list! The bottom line from this sampler was that I liked the hand of the plain weave fabric but I wanted something with more visual interest.












Sampler #3
warp: worsted weight knitting yarns.
weft: worsted weight knitting yarns
weave structures: huck lace (5-end and 3-end), plain weave.
thoughts: I like how the warp colors show in the Huck lace floats. The 3-end huck patter has smaller floats (less likely to get caught on something!). --Note: the blue and the grey are the yarns I plan to use.






Sampler #4 (yet to be made)
warp: blue and grey worsted weight knitting yarn
weft: same as warp
weave structure: 3-end Huck lace
The goal of this last sampler will be to determine the size of the Huck lace squares.
(The Huck lace idea comes from Handwoven Magazine, "Weaving as Chicken Soup" by Barbara Elkins, May/April 2008.)

Weaving is amazing! I've had fun making these samples and seeing how the yarns interact! Can I weave some more soon?

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Dornik Twill Blanket-Done!

My blanket is done! It wove very quickly. I had sore back muscles after the first evening of weaving...that extra stretch to the sides to reach the shuttle!...but I was able to weave the next day, and the next, and soon it was done!

Twisting the fringe took some time, but eventually it too was done!

I wet finished the blanket with a warm water/detergent soak, followed by a warm water rinse.


Here's a close-up of the edge I added to the pattern. The green & black stripes were my idea. I love the little stars that showed up in the corners!











And, here is the finished blanket in it's living space. It has already been used to cuddle under.

:)

Saturday, September 06, 2008

Weaving

I started the actual weaving on the blanket....I do like it when a project looks nice as I weave! My husband liked the blanket so much that he took this one minute long video of me weaving.

Friday, September 05, 2008

Warped


I love getting to this point in a project! The loom is warped, the stripes look awesome, and I'm ready to weave!

Wish me luck!