Weaving Project #9

I'd spotted a draft at handweaving.net that I thought would work well as a bookmark. When I made project #8 I transcribed the pattern on to squared paper, and as that worked well I thought I'd try that again. And I'm glad I did as I'd neglected to realise that as I was only using 16 warp threads (2 x plain for the edges, 2 x 6 for the patterned bit, 2 x plain for the edges again), and the draft was a 6 warp repeater, then I needed to get everything lined up perfectly in the plan so that I could make the most of the pattern. So, I had another attempt as can be seen from the page below and got it right this time.

This draft repeats on a 6 warp, 12 weft pattern, and this made it take quite a lot of concentration and I felt I needed to be quite alert to do it, so no weaving whilst watching the tv or anything. And little chance of remembering the pattern - I had to keep referring to my plan. The photo below shows progress at 4 repetitions and it was, to my eyes anyway, starting to look pretty good.

It feels like this has taken quite a long time to finish, partially because I've been distracted making granny squares and partially because I felt it needed concentration. However, having just checked through my notes, it is only 2 weeks since I warped the loom, so it isn't really that long. January seems to have been a long month already.

Overall I'm pretty pleased with. I need to think of a good back-of-bookmark solution though, as it never feels completely finished off when it's a wool based bookmark as the thread ends aren't as inconspicous as they were with the thinner threads.

And, just so I remember, the warp was Debbie Bliss eco baby and the weft was Rowan pure wool 4 ply, both bought from nearby C&H Fabrics. 

So, the edges still aren't completely straight, but they're definitely heading in the right direction. The tension is pretty consistent along all the bookmark which again is an improvement. So all in all, still progress in the right direction.  And most importantly I still really like the pattern. I am finding the handweaving.net site to be an amazing time sink as I plot and plan future adventures. As I mentioned in my granny square post, I've got a load of different yarns that I can try out for weavability so maybe project #10 should be similar to the sampler I did a while ago where I just try out loads of different yarns to separate the good from the bad and just accept the fact that it'll feel like a bit of a waste of time/yarn but that it's all good practice and learning opportunities.