10th Set of Shetland Wool Blankets Finished

Seven new Shetland wool blankets are finished and ready to go. Most are 130 cm (51") wide and 180-190 cm long unless noted as an exception.

Here they are!

SH052 | 100% wool | 200 cm long

SH053 | 100% wool 

SH054 from the Deep Forest series | 100% wool 

SH055 | 100% wool 

SH056 | 100% wool 

SH057 | 100% wool 

SH058 | 100% wool | 160 cm long 

Deep Forest Series

I've always loved forests for the many feelings they give me, including the protection I feel from a tall stand of trees or the vibrant youthfulness of a young forest. The fragrances, nuances of different light through the day, and sounds of my boots on the forest floor and brushing through the undergrowth are all really special to me.

And I melt over the sight of deep, luxurious shades of green. A dark mossy green is one of my favourites. So when I discovered two shades of beautiful green in the Shetland wool I use, I knew I'd found the start of a new series, the Deep Forest series. These greens work really well with the shades I like of near-black, dark brown and grey.

I expect to be weaving blankets for this series from many different projects over the years. For now, here are two to begin the Deep Forest series.

SH047 | 100% wool | $230

SH047 Detail | 100% wool | $230

SH054 | 100% wool | $250

SH054 Detail | 100% wool | $250

Big Cotton Chenille Bath Sheets

Long ago ... I wove big bath sheets of 100% cotton with fuzzy chenille for the weft. They made great gifts and I found that they last well for a very long time, longer than any store-bought bath sheet. Recently, a friend was over and noticed a bath sheet on the towel rack. She was interested to know if I had more or was planning to make more.

I rifled back through my weaving project records to 1986 and found the project details. These bath sheets were obviously woven on my original loom that was 36" (90 cm) wide because my big loom arrived two years later. And when I rifled through a deep shelf unit I discovered some of the original chenille that I know will stand up to lots of use.

These new bath sheets are being woven 42" wide in seven wide stripes of Dornik twill herringbone. The stripes should look quite subtle in the finished towels. My interested friend commented on the dark coral specks and I was able to use that colour in the varied warp.

Beaming the warp onto the loom's back beam

Threading the 840 heddles (42 inches wide x 20 threads/inch)

Warp is sleyed through the 10-dent reed at 2 threads per space

Warp tied on and header woven. Note the faint wide stripes.

Starting a bath mat in 4-4 twill (over 4 threads, under 4, over 4, etc.)

And I'm off to a long warp of 18 metres.

I'll soon notify my friend when the bath sheets are ready. I appreciate receiving good ideas like this one, so once I finish the bath sheets and some bath mats I'll offer her as the idea person a first look to decide whether or not to buy. Instead of a formal commission project, there are no expectations on anyone and everyone's happy.

10th Set of Shetland Wool Blankets

This latest set of Shetland wool blankets is woven in the same twill pattern as the recent zingy cotton blankets. That was the plan - make a set of blankets in cotton before weaving with Shetland wool, just to give myself a better sense of this twill pattern.

The tones I used are stripes of near-black with charcoal or dark brown, interspersed with medium grey. The twill pattern is bold and perfect for big, warm blankets.

SH052

SH053

SH054 | Colours going across are near-black, dark brown and dark green

SH055

Some Finished Zingy Cotton Blankets

These blankets were fun to weave, easy to hem, and nice to finish up for measuring and photographing. These four are 135 cm (53") wide and range from 185 cm (73") to 200 cm (79") long. They're soft and drape well, and would be nice to wrap up in.

Here is one of my favourite colour combinations in these blankets.

And the four finished blankets (four more almost done, too) ...

C152 | 100% cotton | $170

C153 | 100% cotton | $170

C154 | 100% cotton | $170

C155 | 100% cotton | $170

Starting Off 2014 Well

This was a special Christmas gift from my sister, Alison, and an amazing surprise! I'm still smiling about it.

Each month has a photo of one of my blankets beautifully displayed in her house. January shows a wool blanket with handspun Romney wool from the Wenger Sheep Farm with one of Alison's needlepoint pillows. The rest of the calendar is just as beautiful. Great job, wonderful gift, thank you!

Zingy Cotton Blankets Finished on the Loom

Yesterday I finished weaving the zingy cotton blankets. One is being fringed and the rest will be machine hemmed. These were fun and interesting to weave, and will look better after washing than they do on the loom.

Warp colours in winter sunlight

C150

C151

C151

C152

C154

Hope your new year is off to a good start. :-)