Luscious Hounds Tooth

  I really love the way this hounds tooth turned out!

   
I tried something new to try to make my weaving better.  I wound a towel onto the beam as the warp first wound on. I have noticed that my weaving often ends up with a U-shape because the nylon cords change the shape of the weave once it hits that area.  This towel really worked wonders!  I like how square my weaving ends up being.

On this warp I also made the edges different colors.  One side has black and one side has white.  Usually I make them both the same.  The reason why I did it differently this time though was because I ran the black yarn up the black side and the white yarn up the white side.  It really made it look better, not be too bulky, and not be too bright by having the opposite color.  I'll have to remember this for next time.

Time to wash.

Next time I'll cut and serge, and sew the edges!

Smaller is better

 Sometimes I feel like an evil scientist trying out my experiments!

 

Or a magician during a magic show... doing tricks!  "And now, for my next trick..."

I am really loving this 2/2 hounds tooth twill.  This current project is a 3 yard warp and it's made of 8/2 cotton from WEBS.  I'm having so much fun with it that I'm almost sorry I didn't discover this weave sooner!  I'm not even sure why it took me so long to try it, I think I just assumed it wouldn't be as good.  Yes, the hounds tooth design is smaller, but sometimes smaller is better!  It definitely has a good feel to the fabric being only 2/2.  The floats are only as long as 2 threads, but in the 8-shaft hounds tooth, the stretches are 4 threads long, and sometimes that is just too much space.  This cloth will certainly hold together well.  I should try redoing this design using something thick, like the worsted weight peaches and creme.  At one point, I made some place mats for my sister using 8-shaft hounds tooth in peaches and creme cotton, and yes, they were really cool.... but... they were also really loose because the floats were so long and you kind of have to mold them into place on the table and hope they will stay.

Center fold

After washing the blanket, you can still see the center fold quite well, however, I still think overall it's a neat blanket and I definitely still love doubleweave!  I think the centerfold is very apparent still because the yarn is so chunky and it was pretty much one-ply wool so maybe I didn't pull it quite tight enough.  When I look real close, it looks a little loose in the weft at those parts.  But still... neat blanket, love the pattern and the wool yarn, and I also love the colors!  Doubleweave is so awesome!  I love that I can make a blanket twice the width of my loom but I don't have to store a loom twice the width!  Someday I hope to get a big one, but definitely not right now.

Weaving... done!

Now on to the washing machine!

Stripes!

I wasn't quite sure how this blanket would look woven up because of the verigated yarn, but I'm happy to say that I love it!

I think my M-I-L will love these colors!

 

And she'll love these fun stripes!

Better late than never!

It's better to have a late gift than no gift at all... right?!  I'm liking the way this doubleweave throw is turning out.  I like the 2/2 twill throughout the whole thing.  I think it will display this beautiful yarn in a nice way.  I remember now why I used this yarn as a weft instead of warp, and it's because it has a little bit of mohair in it.  It is washable, just on gentle.  The yarn also has some wool and acrylic in it.  I'm hoping it will make a nice warm blanket, but not too scratchy with the wool.  I have unwound the yarn from the skein in such a way that the color pattern will continue until I change skeins.  Hopefully it won't be too obvious!  I have no idea what to expect... and sometimes it's better that way!

a late doubleweave

I kind of missed mother's day for Brian's mom.  I have just been so busy with the baby and time just got away from me!  I really wanted to make her a doubleweave blanket, and I have the warp all measured out, I just never found time to thread it and weave it!

This is what the entire blanket will look like:

The yarn I'm going to use has a lot of color in it, so I have decided that a plain 2/2 twill throughout the entire thing would be best.  I bought this yarn a few years ago at Hobby Lobby and I have been saving it for a very special weave like this one. 

It's super soft and I love the colors!   The colors are a little outside my usual blues and greens, but real close!  I'm almost half way through threading!!  It's threading really fast because the yarn is so thick.  This was done in about an hours time during one of David's naps.

Another blanket with feet!

 This wool blanket will definitely be super warm this winter!!!

And it's so pretty!!  And because it's 100% wool, it's also kind of heavy!

I knew that she would probably want me to get my head in a shot, just like my grandma wanted when we held quilts for her to take pictures a long time ago.  This blanket took forever to make because I got pregnant right around the time I actually started putting it onto my loom and was soooo tired!  I used to be able to whip blankets like this out in 24 hours, but this one took a few months!  But it makes it even more special since my mom will be the grandma now!

After washing the blanket, it became very soft and the center seam completely disappeared.  Also, all the little naturally occurring spaces between the threads completely disappeared.  I let the machine agitate for about 15 seconds total, and then I just let it sit in the water.  I put it into the dryer for about 10 minutes.  It was a perfect combination!  Here's some close-ups:

The ends without fringe

 

Gaps are all closed

The center seam disappeared!

 

Can you see how soft and fluffy it turned out to be?  It's so nice!  I'm glad the stiffness dissipated.

My blanket grew feet

This is my method for cutting the blankets off, because once you make that snip, the whole thing wants to spring to life and fall apart in every direction!  I cut off about 8 ends at a time, tie a knot, and then cut 8 more, tie a knot, etc and work my way from center outwards in both directions at even distances and then repeat on the bottom layer.

I put the beater into the locked position and then I make a cut right at the eye of the heddle.  Amazingly, it ends up being about the same length as the other end of the weaving.  That is just a fluke!

And it's done!!  This is the bottom of my polyester box of scraps!  It's amazing neat looking!  I think the 2.5 yards ended up being a perfect length for an adult.  So in the future, I think for a baby blanket I will warp somewhere between 2 and 2.5 yards, like 2.25 yards.

This one is mine, and it will be for the winter when it's really cold and gray outside!  I'm looking forward to throwing it into the washer and dryer, because it' gets heavenly soft after a cycle through each!  I love how easy the polyester is to care for!

Progress

 This blanket has been weaving up so quickly that I almost forgot to stop and take some pictures!

Amazingly, this one has also woven up super straight.  Usually I get a slight U shape towards the end, but I have been super duper careful when I beat.  Sometimes I use both hands, one on each side of the beater just to make sure it's even.

Almost done!!

Polyester Scraps

This is weaving up so quickly!  I keep meaning to snag a few pics, but I finally remembered it after my loom was folded up for the evening.  So far, this blanket is just as fun as the last!  It's made from the bottom of the barrel scraps, too.  I am running out of colors, but I have decided to just sub as I go.  At first I was unsure if it would look ok, but then I reminded myself that it's just a scrap blanket and as long as I keep the twill going in the same direction, then it will probably be ok.  Looking at this picture, I like it even more!  It add just another element that catches your eye.

(PS. It may look crooked, but it's not crooked... it's just because the loom is folded up and there's no tension on it.)

I love these doubleweave polyester blankets!!!

Sewing, separating, serging, and sewing again!

Washed and ready to sew!

These are so colorful and washed up so nicely!

 

I love being able to see the other side once they are off the loom!

I usually keep it somewhat of a surprise until it gets off.  Sometimes I cheat and try to look, but this time I left it until the end.

I think the other side looks good!

Onward to sewing, separating, serging, and sewing again!

Pulled off!

 I love these!

I did the very last little segment with 20/2 in plain weave as an experiment.  It gives me some good ideas of something I would like to work with in the future... as if my list wasn't big enough as it is!  

This would have made a very fun towel, too:

Next up, hemming!  I have a little bit of a back-log on my hemming! 

Wanderer

 To move about without a definite destination or purpose.

 To go by an indirect route or at no set pace; amble.

To proceed in an irregular course; meander.

To go astray.

To lose clarity or coherence of thought or expression.

Colorful and Cheerful

This weave makes me feel so cheerful!

How does it make you feel?

 

Feel the cheer!