Monday, March 15, 2010

Weaving lace, or not

Well, I had intended to make a lace scarf with my handspun wools:


Specifics:

Pattern: Swarthmore Lace Weave, on p. 94 of A Handweaver'sPattern Book (The pattern has 5 grouped threads in one slot, skip a slot,and repeat)

Yarn: Handspun warp (Masham wool) and weft (Corriedale and Angelina), 16wpi, so I'm assuming 8epi to start with

Reeds available: 10 and 12, I'm using the 10

Warping back to front, with warp spread to 8epi. Warp width would be 10" for plain weaveI began threading the reed 5" right of center, and quickly realized that thewarp would be pulling diagonally and not work, so began again, working fromthe center out, with one skipped slot, as the pattern stated, but it wouldhave too much draw in, so began a third time, skipping 2 slots instead of one. [Reed is threaded 5,0,0,1,0,0,5,0,0,1,0,0 (original pattern stated it should be threaded 5,0,1,0,5,0,1,0).] I had what I thought were huge gaps, and the grouped threads didn't spread much to fill in, so I asked the WeaveTech group: Should I stop worrying about the draw-in, andjust rethread, skipping one slot, as the pattern stated, continue, because the large spaces are expected, and finish the sample to see what I think, or pick a different pattern for this yarn, until I can get an 8 reed?

I received several great answers, which I plan to try in the future, and in the meantime, I cut the sample off the loom and finished it - it's the sample pictured above, and if my warp and weft were the same yarn, I would make the scarf without making any changes. However, I only have a small amount of the green left, and I really don't like it with the weft being a different color from the warp, so am going to choose another pattern for this yarn combination, re-thread, and begin again.

I'm currently spinning up 8 oz. of a varigated yarn that I may use for this pattern in the future.

1 comment:

Jenny Bellairs said...

I saw your question earlier on weavetech and just looked at the pattern in Davison. Actually, your sample doesn't look too bad. I'm assuming by finishing, you mean you cut your sample off the loom and wet finished it. Usually, with lace weaves, it is hard to see the lace until it is wet finished. Then the threads group together or space out, giving the lacy appearance.