Warp woes and herculean projects

Warp Woes (wars?)
Jill certainly deserves a medal for having the patience to endure the trial and tribulations this warp has created in trying to weave her shawl project. She used a lace weight yarn and we have discovered firstly, that it breaks too easily under the tension of a warp. In addition, I also failed to advise Jill at the start (likely because there was a lot of other things going on in the class) that it would have been technically better to wind this warp with the back to front method, however that would not have caused the problem that we see here, which is that the warp threads have an uneven tension as as one progresses through the weaving, the uneven warp threads become looser and looser. The only way around this is stuffing cloth where you need to increase the tension of the threads, but only at the back. Jill is almost finished this shawl and it will be a very sophisticated and elegant shawl despite all the trouble it has given her.

Another herculean project

Donna rose to the challenge to weave on the 60" loom. How long did this take you Donna? Did you start last spring or in the Fall of 2010? She is, rightly so, very proud of her achievement and looking at the blanket was hypnotic as it was a variegated twill. You can see how lively it is in the detail below. Donna used Lemieux 2 ply yarn which comes in about 50 colours and is relatively inexpensive at $5.25 a skein. She made the blanket longer than intended because our calculations provided her with some extra length.

detail of Donna's blanket

More projects from the Knitters Loom

Cheryl Yetman and a number of us are addicted to the spontaneity and simplicity of using this loom which is so portable and just plain ol' cute. These were the first projects that Cheryl attempted on her knitters loom with a lemieux 2ply warp and then using assorted knitting yarns she had in her stash at home. The colours are very spring like.

Bamboo

Incredibly this is Cheryl Yetman's first project on a floor loom. She has only recently started weaving seriously last Fall and she has hit the ground running. This is an undulating twill that imitates an overshot pattern found in the Handweavers Pattern Directory. Woven with 2/8 bamboo yarn, this fabric that will be made into a shrug feels luscious and satiny.