Weaving Faith

When weaving  the yarns are under tension on the loom so they look thinner than they will at the end of the process. In addition the yarn looks thinner on the cone than if it is wound in a skein. So there is some faith involved in planning a weaving project. It is important to know how the yarn will look once it is relaxed and after the very important step of wet finishing.This is one dramatic example of the same yarn on a cone and wound in a skein and washed. Here is a project that I just finished:

.This is Jaggerspun Maine Line 3/8 sett at 10 epi (that's ends per inch, or the number of threads wound in an inch, for you non-weavers). That photo is off the first blanket I wove as it was going around the cloth beam. The two colors alternate in the pattern blocks.

 This is the second blanket on the warp. I didn't have enough of either of the warp colors so I used a third color and wove the whole blanket in the same color. Notice how much space there is between all the warp and weft threads? It's harder to weave this way with it so open. And this is where the faith comes in. It sometimes takes awhile for brand new weavers to have that faith that it will all work out in the end.

The photo above shows what the blankets look like off the loom and not under tension and there is a greater difference after washing. (Not the color difference--that is the lighting. I took the photo above in the evening because I wanted to get these washed that night.)

 The photo above and below show these blankets after washing and fulling.