Wintry Night Blanket

The past week, I've been working on a doublewoven blanket. I wish I had thought about documenting the whole process that I weave these but didn't have that idea until the warp was already on the loom. Next time I'll get the whole process with photos. The warp is several yarns about 800 yds/pound. It is hard to see from the photos but there is a deep green, 2 navy blue shades, a little red, several grays and a brighter blue. The weft is alternating light gray and a deep navy tweed. I wanted a color and weave pattern and arranged bands in the warp using a Fibonacci series of 2, 3, 5, 8 and 13" stripes which I could readjust slightly so it fit evenly on an 80" warp width. My loom is 40" wide so I can get a maximum of 80" doublewoven. For this weight of yarn, I sett it at 6 epi so double is 12 epi. It seems thin as it is woven at 6 ppi but it fulls up wonderfully and makes a light but warm and cozy throw. You can see in the photo that I have my fold on the left and the selvages on the right. I don't use any additional yarns to hold the fold like some weavers do. With a little care while weaving and the loose sett, I've never had any trouble getting invisible folds.






I like to set up a mirror so that I can see the sheds as they open and make sure that none of the lower warp threads are sticking somewhere they don't belong. When I do this, I have had no problems with skipped warps or weaving layers together or any of the other nightmares associated with doubleweaving. I'm just using a small mirror on a music stand so that I can adjust the angle and see the open sheds without bending down and peering through. It makes the weaving go a lot faster.




The reed is sleyed double in a 6 dent reed with a thread from each layer in each dent. My loom is 4H so I need 2 harness for each layer. I use harness 2 and 4 for the top layer and 1 and 3 for the bottom and then just use a straight threading of 1,2,3,4 for the heddles. The treadles are tied up 1, 123, 134 and 3 so that with the open edge on the right and using an alternating weft color, the treadling is 4321, 3412.

Here is a photo of the blanket off the loom. The fringe is tied but not trimmed and it hasn't been washed yet. The colors don't seem to blend well and the whole blanket is stiff and loosely woven. Not very nice at all.




After fulling in the washer with warm water and a natural citrus detergent for about 10 minutes and then rinsing, it is a whole different blanket...thick and cuddly. Perfect for the coming cold and snowy nights!






Hugs to Cory and the gang at UEN!