So I finally got to the AVL today. This poor neglected warp was put on the loom the beginning of September and ignored for two months!
And guess what? It's being woven in - ta-DAH! Plain weave! :D
The yarn is fairly hefty - for weaving yarn - at 2000 yards per pound. It's also a fairly dense yarn with a high percentage of bamboo and silk. The cloth that I wove earlier using it for both warp and weft were - well - okay - but not exactly the quality of cloth I really wanted for shawls.
Now 3 of them sold at the craft fair, so obviously some people loved them! But they still felt a little sturdy to me. And let's face it - you can't weave thin cloth from thick thread!
During one of the rootlings in my storage area I discovered a box of pirns with a black alpaca lace weight yarn on them, and a full cone of the yarn still to be wound. The weight seemed just about right to lighten this fabric up and so without doing any samples (yikes!) I went ahead and started weaving with the wound pirns.
There is enough alpaca yarn to do several shawls and since I've still got four large boxes of the Bamboo Rain, I will reserve some of it for the next shawl warp and probably use the Bambu 12 for weft on the rest of this warp.
My yarn order from Silk City came in last week, so I'm well stocked with Bambu 12 again.
I'm also thinking that since my 'new' winter coat isn't nearly as warm as my old one that I may keep one of these shawls to wear over my coat on days that aren't cold enough for my down filled stadium coat, but too cold for just my 'new' winter coat......
Currently reading Pythagoras' Revenge by Arturo Sangalli
4 comments:
Another possibility I like for warps that are heavier than I like is to use a VERY fine weft - silk or soy or something similar in fiber content to the warp, but so fine it'll just disappear. And plain weave works beautifully with it, because the weft (and thus the structure) is nearly invisible.
Great minds think alike. :) Sounds like you are champing at the bit to get your Jac3. :D And I've regressed (?) to plain weave!
Cheers,
Laura
That would make one gorgeous jacket/coat. You are almost tempting me into some plain weave........ I had forgotten how perfect it can be.
Hi Peg,
There are times when plain weave is the perfect weave structure. :D Lately I seem to be focussing on these. :)
Cheers,
Laura
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