The Joy of Blankets

There is a great joy in making a gift for a new baby.  I love weaving little blankets and try to make each one unique.  I do not always get feedback beyond the initial thank you. But in the past month I have had two Moms tell me the blankets are favorites of the child.  How great is that!

Doubleweave Wool Blanket

My DH has been hinting that HE might like to have a nice couch blanket to get through the winter.  For his birthday his wish was granted.  I decided to make it 60" wide and that meant doublewidth since my widest loom is 45".  I kept it simple with a plain weave structure. This is my second attempt at doublewidth.

I used a mix of wool yarns from my stash, including some NZ wool and mystery skeins. A small amount (brown in the pic) was really more of a knitting yarn meaning it had a bit of a stretch.  This meant a little more caution to not over tension.

DH was very happy with the gift and enjoys it when there is sub-zero temps in the air.

More Varigated Chenille

Last year I picked up a number of cones of varigated chenille from a weaving who was moving and sizing down.  Varigated chenille is not something that was on my radar.  But it was high quality chenille at a great price so who can resist.

I am currently finishing up a couple of lap throws using varigated and solid chenilles in a herringbone structure.  The sett is 18epi with weaving width of 40".

The warp looks lovely on the loom.  And the herringbone looks great even though it seems to be obscuring the variation in warp colors.  Am hoping that when it is off the loom everything will come together.  Will post another picture in the future.

Infinity Scarves

A long time without posts does not mean I have not been weaving!  Most recent project was an experiement with some varigated chenille I bought last year.  The colorways were mostly dark with green and orange tones.  (The sample colorway is listed on the cone as: hemp/cognac/forest green/dark brown) The project goal was to determine if using the varigated chenille alone in the warp could result in an appealing scarf.

I settled on a broken twill structure.  Warp was 6 yds sett at 18epi for a target of 3 scarves approx 65" each with a little extra for sampling other colors and fibers.

First up was the coral chenille weft.  It is so bright that I thought it would brighten up the dark warp, while the warp toned down the coral.  The result was my personal favorite.

Next, my color wheel helped me pick out a triad that pointed to purple as a good choice.  Seriously not one I would have picked on my own, but the color wheel did not fail me and the purple chenille is very nice.

Last choice was a very safe one in a neutral beige rayon slub.  Since the slub was so fine, I alternated sections of it singled and doubled to add some visual interest.

The picture shows the colors and overall resultant look.  Definately stripe-y.

Next experiment will probably intersperse more solid color with the varigated.  Maybe just enough varigated to give streaks of color.