A Weaving Do Over
Sometimes the only way to learn is try and see what happens. A favourite phrase from me to my children as they were growing up was, “what is the worst that can happen?” They found it a particularly unhelpful bit of advice. It certainly isn’t advice suitable to every situation, but for the little things it can help keep things in perspective. I know most of us worry a lot. And worry can stop us from trying something that we might really regret later. So, thinking about what the worst thing that can happen can spur us on. If we can cope with the worst-case scenario, we should go for it! (Besides, the worst-case scenario hardly ever happens!)
The thing about weaving is that if it doesn’t work you have only lost some string and time. And, you can always have a do over. Almost 2 months ago I did a post ab )out Boucle and Chenille. Click here to see post: www.therogueweaver.com/blog/2019/4/5/boucle-and-chenille It was a post about risks and me not liking them. In it I mentioned that chenille tends to worm. Here’s an update on my chenille towels. I have used these 2 towels exclusively as hand towels in the bathroom. We have 4 people living in the house, 2 of whom work from home so are home (obviously) all day. These towels see a lot of use and have each been washed at least once a week, sometimes twice. The plain weave towel is standing up reasonably well. It has no worming, but it seems to feel a little thinner and it is quite stretchy. The waffle weave, well, you can see from the pictures that it hasn’t stood up so well. However, it has only wormed badly at one end…the end I started weaving from and wasn’t beating as hard. The other end has worn quite well. (That was sett at 10 epi and 15 ppi)
Overall however, I think they can be better. I’ve done a little more research and actually found a floor loom pattern that uses chenille. It recommends a sett of 16 epi for a scarf. So, I went back to my loom: I really want chenille bath towels. I could have been patient and waited until I had my current project off the floor loom, but I also really want to do these on the rigid heddle. I have a 15-dent reed but I’m really not sure that the chenille would fit through the holes, so I used my 12.5 instead.
Again, I wove 1 in plain weave and the other with warp floats. As you can see from the picture at the top and bottom, I also alternated my warp floats hoping this would give a little more structure and help reduce worming. Since using pickup sticks would require replacing it every 5 picks, I used string heddles for the first time. At such a tight sett and fuzzy yarn, it was a challenge but so worth it! I’ve washed these and just need to hem them. The plain weave feels like velvet, still a little thin for a bath towel but lovely. The one with warp floats? Oh. My. Goodness. It feels so good: soft and velvety. So much nicer than the purple waffle weave. Which I think is odd. The waffle weave, at a looser sett feels a little stiff, but this new one has no stiffness at all, just velvety softness! Now I just need to hem them and put them to use. If they wear well, I’ll make some bath towels, if not, I guess it will be back to the loom!
Right side and wrong side together
