Monday, December 8, 2008

NEXT PROJECT: HANDSPUN SHAWL

Posted by Peg in South Carolina

I now have only two dish towels left to weave.  Actually only one-and-a-half towels! So I had better get hopping on to finalizing plans for the next project. This is going to be a shawl from some of my handspun. 

CANVAS WEAVE

My first thoughts had been to do some kind of color-and-weave.  Go here to read about that. But I changed my mind.  When I re-read that post, by the way, I noted that I had changed my mind about the dish towels as well! Inspired by a scarf woven by Susan of Centerweave, I chose 4-shaft canvas weave as the weave structure for this scarf.Canvas Weave with possible treadlings Go here to see what Susan did with this structure. The draft, with the various treadlings I plan to try, is to the left. This structure is called canvas weave and is a kind of lace weave. 

SAMPLING

I have done a bit of lace weaving but no canvas weaving. Since this is a new weave for me, I decided that I should sample on some yarn that is not quite so “precious.”  I need to work out problems of sett and colors, as well as treadling.

In my stash I found some Harrisville Shetland in light gray and light blue.  These are leftover cones from a blanket I wove about four years ago. Two of the cones are to the right below. The size of this yarn (900 ypp) is very close to that of my handspun.  And when I wove that blanket, it bloomed very nicely when I fulled it in the washing machine.

THE PLAN (AS OF NOW…..)

My plan is to put on a long enough warp both to sample the treadlings and to weave off a scarf.  This assumes, Harrisville wool cones of course, that I have enough  yarn!

I am thinking of warping sort of wide stripes in the blue and the gray, not because I think that is what I might want to do, but because I want to see what happens with blue crossing gray and gray crossing blue.  And, actually, I do want to see if using the two colors in stripes might work!

Related Post: 
    Handspun and Computing Sett: Part II
    Spinning for Weaving


"Next Project: Handspun Shawl" was written by Margaret Carpenter for Talking about Weaving and was originally posted on December 8, 2008. © 2008 Margaret Carpenter aka Peg in South Carolina

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I look forward to seeing the blue and grey on your loom. I have been meaning to add extra length to the warp in order to have a sample, but always ran into the problem of not enough thread!

Geodyne said...

Forgive me, but the first thing I think of when I see blue and grey together is hospital blankets! Which is odd, because I've never worked nor stayed in a hospital (touch wood), and the thought is a warm and comforting one.

The colours you've chosen are lovely together - I can picture them making something soft and gentle on the eyes.

Peg in South Carolina said...

SpinningLizzy, not having enough thread can be a definite problem!
Geodyne, these yarns made a lovely blanket, done in large twill squares. I think it will be a bit heavy for a scarf, but perhaps, assuming I do get a scarf out of it, hard pressing might thin the fabric a bit.

Leigh said...

I love the colors. And it will be interesting as it is something a little different for you. I have some similar yarn, so maybe I'll get some inspiration here.

Peg in South Carolina said...

Leigh, definitely something a little different. First the towels. Now the sample/shawl. Meanwhile I continue preparations for the next silk crackle project.