project update

I finished the little dishtowel sized cloth I was weaving. As you can see, at the top, I was playing around with different patterns before I finally decided on one that worked well. It most certainly isn't the prettiest thing ever woven. You can see on the left side of the cloth how much thicker the blue edge is before the off-white and how on the right side it doesn't match. That is where I ran out of room due to all the extra heddles. This next picture is of the project I started this afternoon. I'm using the blue in a "tubular" twill, as my book calls it. That particular pattern makes a very dark, thick weave and it is excellent as a border. Then I began using the off-white in a "left twill" pattern and then reversing it, giving it the zig-zag appearance.

I believe this project will go better because I decided early on what I wanted to do and didn't play around with it. I like the way this one is turning out. Perhaps if I do a good job, I can make placemats out of them....

Desire

Crafts and hobbies are dangerous to the pocket book! There are many hobbies I have avoided for just this reason. You always need just one more thing, one more color, one more sticker, one more something.

I'm finding weaving to be the same. I check Craig's List constantly for various things for the house. Craig's List is how I found my Dorothy loom. She is usually $500-600. I got her from an estate sale that I found on Craig's List for $65! What a deal, right?

So, recently a floor loom appeared on Craig's List. Oh, how I want a floor loom. It's a $3000 loom, and the lady is selling it for $1200. That's more than half the price. Still, I would have to take out a loan for that. Someday I'll get my floor loom. Someday.....

Still, I'm working on my latest project of the lovely blue and grey, but I'm already thinking how I need some different color yarn. Oh hobby bug, how you have bitten me!

on the loom

I started a new project on my Dorothy with some of the cotton yarn I bought earlier in the month. The warp is made of a grey 8/2 cotton and a peachy/off white textured cotton. The weft is a much thinner denim blue 10/2 Astra. It's pretty obvious how much of a beginner I am, but considering this has all been self taught, I think I'm doing alright.

On my warping board, I carefully counted out what I wanted of the two colors. I'm glad I went with a smaller amount of the white. It is very delicate and breaks easily. It will make a better weft thread than warp. After getting my threads off the warping board, I began the tedious job of threading it through the heddles. I'm quite slow at this, but getting better. I really need some help with this job. Although I get it done, it is slow and sloppy.

I planned on using around 180 threads on the four shafts, and threaded 24 of the grey, 12 white, and then a wide patch of grey before ending on the other side with 12 white and 24 more grey. Well, I made it to the last 12 white and ran out of room with all the extra 200+ heddles on the loom that I'm not using. I managed to fit 12 grey, but not the 24, which would have made a matching edge to the other side. So, this ended up being an approximately 164 thread project instead of 176. It really makes a difference.

Oh well, live and learn.

I like the way the grey, off white and blue look together. The weaving is going well, but since the blue is so thin, I can't hand wind it onto the spindle. I've been putting the spindle on our power drill, but it's pretty unstable and I end up with really uneven tension on the spindle. It's also a two person job to wind it that way.

Anyway, I'm having fun. I'm going to make this particular project a little longer and cut it off. I'll see how it works as a dish towel. I would love some red, green or gold thread right now. I would like to make some things for Christmas, but I can't justify spending any more money right now.

scarf

My scarf that I finished on Sunday. It is so pretty. I found the yarn at the Dollar Tree and paid $5 for all of the yarn I needed. I was shocked when, a day after I bought the yarn, I was at JoAnne Fabrics and saw the same yard selling for $5.99 each. That would have cost me $30 at JoAnne's. Thank goodness for Dollar Tree!

The colors are just beautiful. It is as long as I am tall, so it is 5 feet, 6 inches in length. Long enough for a scarf. I really had no idea how long it was getting, I just kept weaving. I don't know how to measure things once I start weaving. I guess I'll need to learn to do that.


I'm learning my Dorothy and I'm glad that my warping job for this scarf worked out perfectly. Let's hope that all warping in the future works out just as well.