Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Boundweave rug

I finally finished my boundweave "sampler".  And even though it is slow weaving, I love the result.

This is the rug that was in progress when the harness cord broke.  I did three rugs as a sampler to try boundweave.  I used carpet warp for the warp and three strands of cotton chenille for the weft.  While I know cotton chenille will shrink in the 15-20% range, I forgot to consider the longer floats would contribute to shrinkage.  After washing, there was a definate 20% shrinkage in width.

The cotton chenille creates a fluffy, thick rug which I like.  If I use cotton chenille again for boundweave, I will choose a pattern that minimizes floats, use a closer sett (this was 10epi) or add in some plainweave to reduce shrinkage.

Monday, April 8, 2013

Equipment failure



As I was coming to the end of my boundweave rug warp, I pressed a treadle and one of my harness cords gave up!  I probably should have checked them before starting the rugs.  Luckily I had some appropriate cord and was able to fix this in about one hour.  I may make up a few spares to have handy for the next time.

As an aside, it is funny how weavers often treat their warp like it is fragile.  I can tell you this warp was no worse off for its one hour supporting those harnesses.

Monday, April 1, 2013

Blanket for Boy Baby

In the past few years I have done a number of baby blankets ... all for girls.  It was a welcome change to do a boyish one this time.  This was also one of my fastest projects. On and off the loom in 2 days!

Twill blanket

The cotton warp is yellow and white  stripes in a twill threading. The cotton weft is a pale blue.

I love the way the jungle animals on the binding peek out.  The mom-to-be loved it too!

Another blanket is in the finishing process and will be posted soon.

Then on to some yardage.