We have friends that we met while my hubby Chris was in his master's program at KU. They are the nicest people, and even though they live in Texas, we try to get down there to see them once a year. This year, they welcomed their first child into this world, and we were thrilled for them. Chris asked me to make them something for the baby to use. Here's what I came up with.
I'd seen a lot of really stunning blankets using a single our dual colored warp combined with a variegated weft, so I decided to give it a try. I found this beautiful colorway (Agua) in Manos Del Uruguay Maxima (100% wool, single ply) :
and found two colors of 3/2 cotton to match. In retrospect, I would have picked two colors that were slightly more different, because I think it's hard to see the difference between the blue and teal. But it's still pretty!
I was shooting for a 40"x40" receiving blanket size, but inadvertently wound a few too many warp threads, so I FILLED my 45" floor loom, each dent was occupied. That meant I also used 540 heddles! Whew!
I used a 12 dent reed, and I think if I were to try to make this better, I would thread it with a 10 dent. The warp could have been farther apart to let the weft really shine.
I did plainweave, with blue up in one shed and green up in the next. Simple and fast! Once the loom was prepared, I finished weaving this in less than 4 hours.
Now Manos Del Uruguay hand dyes their yarns, and I realized after starting that there was a hue difference between the 2 skeins I was using. I alternated skeins on two shuttle bobbins, but another point of improvement would be to alternate those two bobbins ROW by ROW to better merge the colors.
But there is the finished project. It ended up 45"x43", and is soft and colorful. I made 4" twisted fringe at each side, and it's beautiful.
Yeah, I should have pressed it before this picture....but I didn't. Lazy, lazy...I know.
I hope this baby boy will use this up through childhood and wear it till it has holes! It sure was fun making it!
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