A New Weaving Project

 

I warped the loom over the weekend, and this time I'm not weaving a scarf - I'm weaving a wrap!  I'm using Malabrigo Mechita in Aniversario (I showed you some of that last Friday) and Malabrigo Sock in Cote d'Azure.  The original plan was to use the Mal Sock (it's the dark navy blue) for the warp and the Mechita for the weft.  Then I started winding the Mechita on the stick shuttles and realized that the two skeins I had were very different (this is common in Malabrigo).  If I had started weaving with one skein and then switched to the second, the two ends of my wrap would be very different.  I realized that I would need to alternate skeins all the way up the length of the wrap.

Then I decided that if I was going to alternate, I might as well do a houndstooth pattern* and make it more interesting.  The only problem with that is that I would need to use one skein of Mechita in the warp.  Mechita is a singles yarn which is more prone to damage than a plied yarn would be.  The warp takes a lot of abuse over the course of weaving.  I think it will work, but I'm trying to be very gentle and weaving a little slower, paying attention the angle of the heddle when I beat to try to minimize abrasion.  I set the warp up so the Mechita is on the right and the Mal Sock is on the left and I'm carrying the yarns up those sides.  I'm seeing the pattern emerge and while it's subtle, I'm loving the way it's working!  (I did work the first six picks in the navy and then did hem stitch at the edge in the navy. I thought that would give me a nice edge.  I'll repeat it at the opposite end.)

*A simple Houndstooth is worked by warping with two strands of color A, alternated with two strands of color B.  Then it's woven with two picks of color A, followed by two picks of color B.  It's still a plain weave, but the pattern emerges through alternating colors.