Huck Lace Shawl

I have just finished this shawl. It is based on the draft from Handwoven 2009 May June – “Light & Lacy Huck Scarf. I used a 4ply knitting yarn (Morris Estate 4 Ply) set at 10 EPI and widened the draft so that the shawl came out at 22” wide. It is a 4 shaft draft which I wove on a straight 10S threading. All good but I have made it a bit too long and it is very chunky.

 

Waffle Weave Shawl

After a little break from weaving I have started work on a Waffle Weave Shawl. The warp is a straight 24 threading left over from the mock leno shawl that I wove just before Christmas.

I am weaving bands of colour which will use up some of my old stocks of Bendigo 2 ply. The draft uses a 4 shaft point threading which I have extended to 24 shafts. It is all coming along nicely and should be finished by the end of the week.

Differential Shrinkage Shawl is finished

The shawl is finished and I shall put it in the post tomorrow. Not bad, even though I say it myself.

Lessons learnt? Don't panic and trust the fulling.

Brighton Honeycomb

I like Brighton Honeycomb. It is some time since I wove some but I have a few scarves that are favourites, just the thing to wear when having a nap, admiring the view from the top of the Rockefeller Building or just off camping.

Carol Strickler (#21 & #22 - A Weavers Book of 8 Shaft Patterns) gives two treadlings, the second of which produces a rib effect (Black Scarf - Rockefeller). The left hand draft below is a copy from Strickler.

One of the nice things about Brighton Honeycomb is that if you thread your selvedge threads on shafts 3 and 6 you get a plain or basket weave selvedge. The draft on the right shows what I am weaving. It is the 8 shaft draft extended to 24 shafts with selvedges and header rows added.

I am currently working on the trial/sample area, sorting out my beat, the shuttle tension and the warp and selvedge tensions. I had one crossed warp thread which was easily fixed.  The warp is two close shades of orange and I will be using a red weft.

Weaving 8 shaft Brighton Honeycomb in a single or analogous colours is just a starting point for this structure. There is quite a lot of information on the web. I like Priyank Goyal's notes, and Posselt has some interesting things to say, particularly on the use of colour.

I am using a twill sett which seems to work fine for scarves. If I have room on this warp I shall re-sley to a looser set for a small sample - shawls perhaps?

Three Shawls

Having resolved my selvedge problem I wove a further two shawls using novelty yarns as the weft. It all worked very nicely and they were a joy to weave.

I used Paton's Sorrento for the weft on a lacy shawl - it's OK [just] but there are too many completing elements with lace and a very nubbly yarn combined. I will use the yarn again but in a different combination - probably just a very open plain weave.

So, now I have to decide what to do next. Looking at my shelves I don't seem to have a shortage of yarns with a good selection that I bought in America a couple of years ago.

The trouble is that I got carried away with the colours and bought lots of little bits. For example I bought 2/18 wool in 8 colours but not more than 2oz of any particular one. I shall have to do few calculations to see what I can come up with. Whatever I weave next there must be movement, bumps and puckering!