Thursday, December 17, 2009

Without Further Ado


Behold! ;-)


Now, down to business. There was a lot of things to love about the triple weave. It was really a very pleasant experience. Easy to check the layers were staying separated each time I moved the temple. I could see the under side, but everything in the middle, forget it. The ginormous shed on the Louet loom made it all much easier and did a great job of freeing grabby yarn from the warp. The end feed shuttle adjusted worked nicely with the Harrisville Shetland, although it took some time to get it adjusted well. BTW, dropping a shuttle can put it out of adjustment. I sent it sailing a couple of times much to my shame and Jack's delight.


I still had some cramming at the folds, it was much better than the twill cotton blanket
and fulling the blanket certainly helped a lot. Had I made this bigger and fulled more, I suspect the fold areas would be gone.

The fishing line in selvages and folds worked beautifully. I had no help to remove them and found an easy way to get them out without rumpling up the blanket a lot. I tied a fishing line end to the deadbolt knob on the door, went to the other end of the blanket and eased the fishing line out with steady pulling pressure. The problem I had with the fishing line was them tangling with each other off the back of the loom. Must find a better way to keep them from doing that for the next blanket. Selvages were actually acceptable.



They do tend to slide around on the line, but none of the edges abraded or broke, so it was a good trade off and using a temple also helped to keep draw in and resulting frayed wool warp at bay. Speaking of temples, I want to thank Lynette over at Dust Bunnies Under My Loom, for such a good tutorial. Sharon had asked about temples
and I went over to Lynette's to get the link and read the tutorial again while I was there. I had my temple adjusted too tightly on the warp. Once I readjusted it to be easily put in place with a finger's worth of pressure, my selvages improved some more. Thank you so much Lynette for having some great resources on your blog.

I love the mohair and wool hand spun in the blanket, but it does cause a little rippling. I don't mind it, I knew it would do that and for me is a feature.

Others may not like it but it certainly could show up in future blankets. The fabric sitting there is what I am going to bind the blanket with.


So, Dawn asked if I would weave another blanket this way. Yes, in a heartbeat. In fact I have at least two more blankets in the planning stages and an overshot coverlet that is just a little spark floating around right now. I can't do the overshot in triple weave since I don't have 12 shafts (dang!) but I can do double width. And thank you Cindie
for coming up with that wonderful simple triple weave draft. It's a keeper!

A bit about the Harrisville wool itself. I never would have guessed it would soften up as nicely as it did. It's not merino and will never be merino, but it is plenty soft for me and Gene and the added durability this wool provides makes making a blanket worth while. It should last for years. It is light enough to be a summer blanket with just a sheet, assuming you are cooling off into the low 60's at night. What I like about wool as compared to cotton is the weight. I can't stand a lot of weight on me while I sleep and cotton blankets are heavy especially in a king size. I sleep with my feet thrown out even on the coldest night and hate to feel like I'm in strapped in with heavy bedding.
Wool works for me in just about most circumstances.

Some changes for the next blanket... I'm still thinking about going to 8 epi
making the blanket width say 35" on the loom and fulling a bit more. The fishing line needs reining in from twisting on itself as it hangs. Doubling and cramming the selvage edges to keep them a little nicer when weaving and also provide a bit heavier hand for the finished cloth. I am going to try some different wools for future blankets.
After the New Year I plan to get in some MacAuslands 2 or 3 ply. And look for some mohair to make an appearance in the warp.

16 comments:

Life Looms Large said...

Congratulations!! The blanket looks great!! Nice job!!

Very encouraging to me as I sit in my chilly sunroom under a cheapo store-bought throw. I really, really want to weave a lap blanket....and your success with your much bigger project makes me think I have a shot at success.

Harrisville is really nice yarn. When I finished Jim's sweater, I was amazed at how much the yarn softened up. Perfect for what I was using it for.

Beautiful job on your blanket! I'm so impressed that triple weave worked so well for you!

Sue

Julie said...

It's just lovely!

DEEP END OF THE LOOM said...

It's gorgeous! Love the colors.

Hilary said...

Wow.. that's very pretty. The colours appeal to me.

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on a super project! What a great blanket and triple weave! I have never had the patience. I love the rippled stripes too and love Harrisville shetland and highland.
Did you really post this at 3:45am?
Evelyn

Theresa said...

LOL, Evelyn, yes, I get up around 3:00, feed dogs and then settle in until 5:00 when I go out to feed the farm critters. Love it actually. Of course after dinner I'm ready for bed, but usually hang on to around 8 or so.

Thank you all for the very kind words on the blanket!
Such a nice bunch of folks to stop in and compliment it.

Susan said...

Its gorgeous Theresa! Its a great size and I love the mohair stripes...they are a lovely feature and liven it up.

There was a triple weave article in a Handwoven and while the weaver did complete it, she said it was a nightmare. You have actually given me hope to try this someday and is it possible to share the triple weave draft? Would Cindie be good with that?

As for your fishing line tangling: take some card board and using a hole punch make holes at convenient places. Then thread the line through and into film cannisters. They hang nicely and separatly being forced to behave by the cardboard barricade.
...Another Lynnette tip! Smart girl that.... I'm looking forward to seeing her at Xmas.

As for your previous post: Connor says yes, he's been a high maintenence dog but he's worth it.
We would agree whole heartedly...

Susan

Anonymous said...

I am really impressed with this project. It turned out beautifully, and it's the only blog entry I've seen about triple weave! That printed fabric is a treasure too. I'd be hard pressed to cut it up into binding if it were me, but your wonderful blanket definitely deserves it!

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad you posted this today - I was anxiously awaiting the photos! Looks great Theresa. I love your color selection and it fits your bed perfectly!
Weave On!

Michelle said...

That is impressive!

Sharon said...

I still don't have a temple - it appears they come in sizes. I'm also still weaving dish towels. I consider them homework and I have a lot of it to do. I'd like to know more about the fishing line. Why use it and pull it out instead of a floating selvage?

Kris said...

Theresa, it's absolutely gorgeous, and I really love the added texture. Say, would you like to borrow my 16 harness AVL? It's still sitting in pieces in my living room.

Then you could do overshot on four layers of cloth? How about that?
Sounds like fun to me (well, maybe not)

Leigh said...

Fabulous! You should be proud of yourself. It looks so warm and comfy. I'd be interested in how the 8 epi works in comparison.

charlotte said...

Congratulations! The blanket looks fantastic, what a great job!

Theresa said...

Thank you all for the comments on the blanket. If anyone is interested I did find a draft just like the one that was given me from a Jennifer Moore class that was attended, so if you e-mail me, I'll share it. You'll need at least 6 shafts and 6 treadles.
camprunamuck at hughes dot net

R. Delight said...

Congratulations! The blanket is stunning.
When I first used my end-feed flyshuttles they went sailing over the loft rail and nose-dived into the stairs! Fortunately only the stairs took some damage, a permanent reminder of my learning curve that someone else now owns. : )