Handwork and The Craft

Weaving to the Very Edge

Warp Drive has a new meaning for me-- trying to get every single inch the warp can provide to get the project finished. However, in this case, I still ran short. I am not sure why, and probably will need to go over my own thoughtless forms of waste -- too long a tie up at either end on the apron. If I had tied the warp up to long loops tied to the rod, rather than the rod directly, I would have been able to stretch the warp a little longer.  Ah well, that's what learning is about. I did finish up with three very nice usable towels -- though the white weft towel was shorter than the first two -- and I have noticed that my ppi is not consistent -- the dark blue (when I was really trying to figure out the pattern) was not as tight as two and three. Again, lots to learn and improve on. 

Blue Waffle Weave: Third Towel

I am familiar with the frequent knitting panic that occurs toward the end of a project where you wonder if the remaining yarn is going to be enough to actually finish the project. Apparently, this is a weaving worry as well! I am beginning to wonder if I have enough warp left to finish the third dish towel. This last towel uses a white warp and I like it as much as the other two, one in dark blue weft and one in medium blue weft. And as in knitting where one starts knitting faster and faster as if it might help, I am weaving now until the finish line without stopping -- just so I can stop worrying about whether I have enough or not. 

Blue Waffle Weave: Second Dish Towel

Here is the second of three dish towels, woven in waffle weave. Instead of the dark blue weft (see below) this one is done is a light blue. I really it (as I do the first). It takes me a longer time to weave these, but the raised pattern is pretty satisfying.

The Magic of Waffle Weave

This is a seriously fun new project. I tried it once before and just couldn't get my head around it -- too newly returned to the loom after a long break and just not sure enough of myself to persevere. In that first attempt I ended up re-slaying everything for a regular tabby weave -- which was nice enough. But I wanted another crack at the waffle weave.  And this time it worked and I am amazed at the way the pattern just lifts itself in three dimensions to create those little pockets. There are still techniques I need to work through -- keeping each row roughly the same size as the row before and after it (which requires mindful beating) and maintaining even selvedges without drawing in. This is the first of three, with a medium blue weft. The second towel will have a dark light blue weft and the third a white weft.