learning to weave

Since my Ashford rigid heddle loom came in the mail (and I worked up the courage to put it together :o) I have been really enjoying learning how to weave. Weaving is very different from knitting.

• while knitting is super portable, weaving isn't
• knitting uses a lot more yarn than weaving to make a similarly sized item
• weaving goes faster than knitting
• some yarns seem better for knitting or better for weaving

My current project on the loom is a set of four place-mats, and uses some odds and ends of cotton yarn, in a rainbow of color for the warp and black in the weft.

My last project was a nice long scarf. I decided to use some Darn Good Yarn recycled sari silk yarn for the warp, which was probably a mistake. I had used the yarn before as a weft, which worked fine, but it was not so good on the warp. I used a variegated pink (red, fuchsia, tan) alpaca yarn with the scarf, and that I was very happy with. The scarf is a little too openly woven, but it does have a nice drape, and it is very pretty. The colors go together very well.

The project before that was another scarf, using fingering weight superwash wool that I dyed sapphire blue, silver gray, and chestnut. I dyed on the stovetop, using a dropper to add color. It is not a completely controllable method, but it gives a nice mix of solid and blended color for a really pretty yarn.

ps. I will add photos soon

woolen language

Dyed in the wool: The phrase relates to the medieval method of adding dye to raw wool rather than to spun wool or finished cloth. The final colour was much more long lasting and deeply ingrained than dyeing at later stages of manufacture. If something is dyed-in-the-wool, it's unlikely to change.

Pull the wool over your eyes: may have come from the practice of wearing woolen wigs

Spinster: originally, someone who made her living from spinning wool. So many single women had this profession that it gradually came to mean an unmarried female.

The last one has nothing to do with wool, but it was funny, so I wanted to include it. It is also surprisingly recent. Pull your chain: This North American slang originated in the 1980's. Feisty Charlotte Whitton, the former mayor of Ottowa, was introduced to the mayor of London, England. He was wearing many medals and chains of office, while she only had a flower in her lapel. The mayor of London haughtily asked, "if I smell your rose, will you blush?" and she asked in return, "If I pull your chain, will you flush?"

weaving 101

I recently got a loom for weaving- a small simple one that came in the mail in pieces. Fortunately, it was pretty easy to put together, once I got started. The holes were all predrilled, and the directions were clear.

For my first scarf, I chose a peach cotton crochet thread for the warp, and a vivid red recycled sari yarn for the weft. I thought the colors worked nicely together, and that the texture of the recycled yarn came across better, perhaps, in weaving than in knitting. The red yarn has bits of light patches, which makes a nice overall pattern in the scarf. The weave is pretty open- it might be interesting to try this combination again with a reed with more strands per inch. Still, I was happy with my first efforts, and looking forward to many more projects in the future. :o)