A finish and a bit of weaving...

I mentioned in my last post that I was very close to finishing a project a started years ago. Well...here it is!

It is One Nation by ByGone Stitches. The flag stripes are the 50 states in the order they joined the Union. It's a big one and now has a home on one of our walls. I purchased this chart because I was in a shop that had it framed and waiting for a customer to pick up. I actually walked right by the chart on display, mostly because the photo on the front was pretty dull looking. Hopefully my photo shows it off a little better!

I needed to finish this because I had scheduled a four week beginning weaving class with the Weavers Guild of Minnesota. That class is now complete and I can show you what I accomplished.

This is my first piece. It was completed on a rigid heddle loom I borrowed. The loom had issues (as did the weaver!) and the piece is a little wonky. I decided to not correct my mistakes but to leave them in.

I have a large Beka loom I purchased from a friend a couple of years ago, but wanted to do my next project on something a little smaller. Sooo... I purchased a 15 inch Cricket loom from The Woolery along with an extra heddle.

I found a book at the library that is full of patterns just for the rigid heddle loom and decided upon a log cabin pattern. Instead of using the same two colors in both the warp and weft, I chose two different combinations of dark and light to give it a more subtle look. So far I think it is going well and isn't as wonky looking as my first attempt.

The biggest issue I've had so far is knowing how much yarn/thread I will need to wind on my shuttles. I found this handy calculator online at Weavolution. If you fill in the blanks it will tell you how much you need for both warp and weft and is mostly math free for those who dislike using a calculator. The only calculation you may need to do is to figure out the yards per pound of the yarn/thread you are using, and that is a pretty easy calculation.

Will I become a master weaver? Probably not, but I do enjoy the process and have a few other projects in mind. So far I've used only a 3/2 perle cotton, but plan to explore other, finer thread options.

Next time...the other class I took at the Weavers Guild with a friend.