Weaving Project 003 - Spiral Houndstooth Cowl
NAME: Spiral Houndstooth Cowl
DATES: 4/23/2022 to 1/2/2023
YARNS USED: Harrisville Shetland in Black and Delphinium
PATTERN: #59
SOURCE: A Handweaver's Book of 8-Shaft Patterns
LENGTH OF WARP: 120"
WIDTH OF WARP: 15"
SETT (ENDS PER INCH): 8 EPI
DIMENSIONS BEFORE WASHING: 14" x 79"
DIMENSIONS AFTER WASHING: 12" x 70"
% SHRINKAGE: 11%
LENGTH OF WASTE WARP: ~16"
GOAL OF PROJECT: a balanced fabric 10 1/2" x 68" for a cowl
WAS GOAL MET? absolutely!
DISCOVERIES:
Firstly, I'm super proud of this one. I absolutely hated weaving it, though. I'm used to knitting and I'd compare the process of weaving this to knitting alpaca yarn on metal needles. It can be done, but it feels kind of slimy. While on the loom the pattern wasn't really that visible. It looked like a simple checked pattern. It really only became visible after the fabric was blocked (I guess in weaving terms this is wet finished). I made a sample so I knew this would happen (post on that can be found here. The sample was also helpful in understanding how forcibly I needed to beat the weft in (which was not very forceful at all!). Even knowing that the fabric would shrink, it was still somewhat magical to see it shrink 10" after blocking! I ended up with a fabric I love, and I knew it would do that, but it was still a little crazy to measure it! Once the fabric was done I tested the sewing machine on the sample too, to make sure the stitches would be ok. The sample is actually living its best life as a cover for the magnifying glass lamp in the living room that I use when I crewel.
I wanted to make this cowl to match a purple and black jacket I have. It will certainly do that. The fabric has such a great drape, but the colors prevent it from being too girly for me. I'm not sure I've made something this me since a lopapeysa a couple years ago that I'm remembering has similar colors!
I was so proud of it that I made a label for it with my label maker. I just can't stop bragging about it! I've shown everyone and am really excited to show it off at the NY Handweaver's guild meeting later this month!
But I did learn a lot while making this!
PHOTOS:
DATES: 4/23/2022 to 1/2/2023
YARNS USED: Harrisville Shetland in Black and Delphinium
PATTERN: #59
SOURCE: A Handweaver's Book of 8-Shaft Patterns
LENGTH OF WARP: 120"
WIDTH OF WARP: 15"
SETT (ENDS PER INCH): 8 EPI
DIMENSIONS BEFORE WASHING: 14" x 79"
DIMENSIONS AFTER WASHING: 12" x 70"
% SHRINKAGE: 11%
LENGTH OF WASTE WARP: ~16"
GOAL OF PROJECT: a balanced fabric 10 1/2" x 68" for a cowl
WAS GOAL MET? absolutely!
DISCOVERIES:
Firstly, I'm super proud of this one. I absolutely hated weaving it, though. I'm used to knitting and I'd compare the process of weaving this to knitting alpaca yarn on metal needles. It can be done, but it feels kind of slimy. While on the loom the pattern wasn't really that visible. It looked like a simple checked pattern. It really only became visible after the fabric was blocked (I guess in weaving terms this is wet finished). I made a sample so I knew this would happen (post on that can be found here. The sample was also helpful in understanding how forcibly I needed to beat the weft in (which was not very forceful at all!). Even knowing that the fabric would shrink, it was still somewhat magical to see it shrink 10" after blocking! I ended up with a fabric I love, and I knew it would do that, but it was still a little crazy to measure it! Once the fabric was done I tested the sewing machine on the sample too, to make sure the stitches would be ok. The sample is actually living its best life as a cover for the magnifying glass lamp in the living room that I use when I crewel.
I wanted to make this cowl to match a purple and black jacket I have. It will certainly do that. The fabric has such a great drape, but the colors prevent it from being too girly for me. I'm not sure I've made something this me since a lopapeysa a couple years ago that I'm remembering has similar colors!
I was so proud of it that I made a label for it with my label maker. I just can't stop bragging about it! I've shown everyone and am really excited to show it off at the NY Handweaver's guild meeting later this month!
But I did learn a lot while making this!
- I made a note to myself that I need to learn how to do warps with stripes better, but I didn't explain t0 myself how I warped, so I'm not sure this will be an actionable lesson...
- Instead of treadling this as it was written, I worked out how to do a walking treadling where I alternated the side of my body that was pressing on the treadles. I broke my ankle in September and I think this walking treadling was helpful when I got back at it in November and January.
- I think I need to learn how to measure? I was measuring the warp whenever I advanced it, but somehow I measured 68 ish inches and it became 78 off the loom just by cutting it off?
- I learned that repairing a snapped end when it happens on the fell side of the castle is no big deal.
- I learned that repairing a snapped end when it happens on the wrap beam side of the castle is no big deal.
- I learned how to repair a snapped floating selvedge and that I need to pay attention to how much slack the floating selvedges have before advancing the warp if they're dangling with weights.
- I learned how to sew a felled seam.
PHOTOS:
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