Project: Houndstooth Shawl in Peruvian Wool

My most recent project is another one of my beloved houndstooth shawls.  This one is in a bold blue and black using Cascade 220 100% Peruvian Highland wool from Camilla Valley Farm.  The colours were Black #8555 and Blue Velvet #7818 (trust me, it is a rich royal blue, no matter how purple it is in the below photograph!).  I know I do a lot of houndstooth, but it's only because I love the pattern so much - - it's a true classic that looks good year after year. 
 

For this project I went through 4 x 100g skeins of each colour using my 8-dent heddle on my trusty Kromski Harp rigid heddle loom.

I measured out about 116" warp across 240 ends, alternating 2 ends of each colour across the reed, with the intention of working a standard 2 x 2 houndstooth. 

This wool is somewhat stretchy so I got a lot of mileage out of each skein, and it was very easy to work having comparatively few tangles when warping the loom, especially when compared to some of the "grippier" yarns I have worked with (like unmercerized cotton).

For finishing I hemstitched in bundles of 4 ends and then made 30 tassels of 2 x 4 ends each.  The alternating warp yarn created a really neat variegated look for each tassel.

Because houndstooth is a straight tabby weave the pattern actually weaves up pretty quickly, especially on an 8-dent heddle - - although probably not quite as quickly as shown in the video below!

The finished project measured 25 1/4" x 78 1/2" before washing and 24 1/2" x 77" after washing. 

Fresh off the loom before washing and finishing

Finished shawl after washing and finishing

I really enjoyed this project, and the wool was a pleasure to work with. 

I know my camera and the lighting does magical things with the colour of this shawl, but trust me that this is a royal blue and black houndstooth shawl (not purple and black, although that would look awesome too).  The above photo of the shawl over the chair back is probably the closest to the true colour of the photos in this set. 

Project: 3/1 Lace Shawl in Merino Wool

It has been a while since I have posted, and I have been remiss because I have actually been checking projects off my list - - I have just been too busy weaving to blog.

For this project, I wanted to do some textured weaving for someone dear to my heart.  I was told that her favourite colour was light yellow, and I thought that a light colour like this would be the perfect choice to showcase a 3/1 weft float lace pattern worked using my trusty Kromski Harp rigid heddle loom and a single pickup stick (lovingly handmade by the Nerd). 

For this project I went back to my faithful standby the Purple Purl wool emporium for some lovely Tanis hand-dyed DK weight superwash merino wool in a bright Buttercup yellow.  The weight was perfect for the 10-dent heddle.  Fresh off the loom the shawl was 23 1/2" x 74 1/2" [excluding fringe] and after washing it measured 22" x 73". 

I used Betty Lynn Davenport's fabulous book Textures and Patterns for the Rigid Heddle Loom as the guide because I simply love the look of the 3/1 weft float lace - - it's especially nice after washing, when the texture really comes into its own (see the bottom photo, below). 

I warped up the loom in the usual way with about 110" warp across 240 ends.  For finishing I hemstitched in groups of 4 ends which I then twisted into tassels of 2 x 4 ends each x 30 tassels across each hem. 

Tassels in progress...

The finished shawl is a warm butter yellow colour, very soft to the touch and warm, thanks to the wool.  I am very pleased with this project and how it turned out, and hope that the recipient likes it as much as I do.

Finished shawl before washing and trimming woven-in ends

Finished shawl after washing and trimming

Finished shawl after washing and trimming