Category: Weaving

Log Cabin Strap

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  • image from www.flickr.com
  • image from www.flickr.com
  • image from www.flickr.com
image from www.flickr.com

I wove a narrow sample of the log cabin pattern on my rigid heddle loom. It's long enough to become a strap for a bag or purse, or trim on something like a bag or a purse. Because I used two similar colors, green and blue, the pattern doesn't stand out clearly but I still like it. To do a log cabin pattern, you simply need to warp the colors in the correct order, followed by using the same pattern in the weft. For example, on this small strap I did BGBGBG and then GBGBGB (repeat). Again, the weft follows the same number and color, BGBGBG followed by GBGBGB. Easy! I'd love to do a wider project.

And then there's this sad Weave-It loom. Marked a dollar, I couldn't pass it up. I wondered if I should try to glue it but then decided that I already have three of the 4" squares, so for a dollar, it can be my spare peg loom in case I ever need parts.

An Awkward Scarf, or Why I Should Never Use This Yarn Again

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  • image from www.flickr.com
  • image from www.flickr.com
  • image from www.flickr.com
image from www.flickr.com

 

In my defense, it was extremely early in the morning when I decided to use up some of the four skeins of Lion Brand Homespun I had purchased a long time ago, probably thinking I'd knit an afghan or shawl. But have you ever used this stuff? It's not easy to knit at all. So, I wondered how it would look as a woven scarf. I warped my loom (again, very early in the morning), extending the warp. I can get exactly 87" of a warp from the back beam of my loom to the far wall, so I extended the warp to the end of my bookshelf, adding an additional 30". That's one smart thing I did. The other was I only warped every other slot/hole to change my 10 dent heddle into a 5 dent heddle. Yes, part of my brain was awake and thinking.

But after weaving a dozen rows, I was terribly unhappy with my scarf. It looks like a muppet, but in a bad way, because most muppets are cute, and this isn't cute. So, I spent at least an hour experimenting with different ways to add in some really pretty homespun (in this case, it's actually homespun) of a plum color with a touch of sparkle. I tried using pick-up sticks, which didn't work well with the spacing of the warp (too wide), and I tried Danish Medallions. I actually think these are pretty, but my silly wide warping is messing up the edges. 

I think I'll let it sit for awhile and come back to it. One idea is to just add in a single strand of the plum color for every three or four of the LB Homespun. My weaving motto: if you don't screw up, you're extremely boring.

Finished: Tangerine Scarf

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  • image from www.flickr.com
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image from www.flickr.com

 

 

 

I hand washed it this morning and it didn't shrink one bit, so the edges are still a bit bumpy but oh well. There you have it, a bright orange mohair/merino/cotton scarf, washed, dried, ironed, triple fringe knotted, and waiting for cooler days. It was woven on my trusty Glimakra Emilia rigid heddle loom. It's a fun and cheerful scarf, although the pictures captured it in a quiet, rather somber mood. 

Tangerine Scarf

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  • image from www.flickr.com
  • image from www.flickr.com
image from www.flickr.com

 You know, I must have my old orange Vox blog on my brain, because this scarf reminds me of it. I used Cascade Pima 100% cotton for the warp, warping 8" wide and 88" long. I used the 10 dent heddle on my Glimakra Emila, which as of right now is the only size heddle I own. The cotton is smooth and a little shiny. The warp is a bright, orange mohair. Orange! It's stranded, which means there's one fine strand of mohair right alongside another strand of merino. Out of the 220 yards of the warp, I used practically the entire skein. The weft, though, left me with about 100 yards, so there's enough for another project if I ever foresee needing another bright orange mohair woven item. I started this last week and took it off the loom this morning, with just a handful of hours of weaving. Now, I need to wash and finish off the fringes.

It's time to think about pumpkins and nice orange leaves. What better way to welcome fall than with a very bright orange scarf?

Coming soon: the sad story of a broken Weave-It 4" loom.