Considering making baby blankets using worsted weight Lily's Sugar n' Cream for thick and 8/2 cotton. Would the difference be enough and what sett should I consider starting the sampling with? I love these blankets and it would be fun to even use Caron Cakes in acrylic for the fun multi-colors available. Not sure what thin would work for it, but washable wool-like blankets are nice for family members. Please post any combo yarns for thick & thin, I am curious which ones work best.
Episode 3 Diversified Plain Weave
I've not woven with that thick yarn, except for as thick yarn (multiples) in Repp weave, so have no idea where you should start for sett. I would do a ruler wrap with your thick and thin yarns as they would be in the reed (thin thin Thick) and divide by two to get a starting point. But, as you said, sample. The same goes with acrylic. But be sure to use a thick and thin yarn with the same amount of stretch, so don't mix thin cotton weaving yarn with thick acrylic knitting yarn. That way lies disaster. Our thin linen with thick wool warp proved to be a disaster, don't repeat our mistake (and huge waste of yarn).
I purchased the yarn for the Divisified Plain Weave baby blanket. The thick yarn is very tender. Has anyone used it yet? Am I setting myself up for a disaster? I am very concerned because it's so tender.
When I was weaving the sample blankets, I wove two separate six yard warps with it, and didn't have a single warp thread break on me. Just avoid over tensioning your loom and you should be okay. It's stronger than it looks!
Hi Sandra,
Just jumping in! You will be fine with JST's Organic Cloud Cotton, like Rebecca, ThatLoganChick, mentions, just ease up on your tension to avoid breakage. We have several popular kits that uses this wonderful yarn like JST's Original Baby Blankie, the Fireside Wrap, the Hygge Blanket and the Baby Hygge Blankie! You can check them out right here:
https://janestaffordtextiles.com/product-category/weaving-kits/blankets/
I purchased the Diversified Plain Weave kit and am in the process of winding on the warp. About 3/4 of the way through the beaming process two of the cotton cloud warp threads broke, also one of the thin threads, too. Very disappointing! I’ve never had a warp thread break at this point. Should I just continue beaming and fix it when threading the heddles? Also, the thin threads that I warped in “threes-one thick and two thin” are very loose. It’s taking forever sorting out and straightening the thin threads during the beaming process. Help!
I would tie the broken ends together while beaming, using an extra length of yarn if necessary, to make sure the threads are all continuous in the warp. Then when you come to the mended area while weaving, take the usual steps to mend a broken warp thread.
When I beamed, both warps went on easily, so I am not sure how to respond other than to make sure you have constant tension on the warp ends. Loose threads (without tension) like to misbehave, whereas threads under tension generally can be kept in order. Although on a different recent warp, even with constant tension on the warp I had a few super misbehaving ends, for no obvious reason. Maybe it was just the luck of the draw? I don't know. But keep tension on everything, work slowly, and remember to keep your packing material straight and full width. Take your time and it should work out. Some warps go on super easy, while others require finessing.
Best of luck!
I was fascinated by the heart and arrow patterns shown in the show and tell episode of 8 shaft diversified plain weave. Is it possible to get the tie up and drafts to weave those patterns
Aren't they great? Those were woven by Sharon Broadley, who has an amazing eye for colour and design. Sarah, if you email JST at [email protected] and ask Elizabeth, I will see about sharing those tie-ups with you through JST, as I cannot post drafts here in this forum.
I'll send the tie-ups to Elizabeth, but the drafts themselves you won't need, as they are straight draw using all six blocks available, three unit repeats of each block. So AAABBBCCCDDDEEEFFF in both threading and treadling, with the tie-ups as normal in Diversified Plain Weave.
I wrote to Elizabeth. Thank you for your help. I am having a lot of fun with this.
She'll likely get back to you next week. I've sent her pictures of the tie-ups. But honestly, if you have weaving software you can probably figure them out yourself now that you know the threading and treadling. All you need to do is fill in the 6x6 pattern portion of the tie-up exactly how it looks - one with an arrow and one with the heart. Give it a try, you might come up with something fun and interesting on your own while playing around!
Thanks Always up for a challenge!!!!!
I haven’t done this weave structure yet. I have a lot of 5/2 cotton and 16/2 cotton and bamboo. I’m wondering how these would work as thick and thin.
I've not worked with 5/2 cotton before, but I don't see why not. You'd definitely have to sample to find the sett that works to give you the fabric you like. Start with a tad bit more open than you'd use for plain weave with 5/2, and continue to open it up from there. A short warp (roughly 3 yds) that is maybe face cloth wide will do for sampling. I sampled this way, and cut off / re-sleyed I think three times to get four samples for wet finishing before I was happy with my final sett.
You will get more flexibility out of 16/2 bamboo than 16/2 cotton, but I think the 5/2 cotton will be the limiting factor re flexibility.
Thank you Rebecca I use 5/2 for inkle weaving and have a ton of it. Also plenty of 16/2 bamboo. I’ll try the sample and the re-sley idea. I’ve been wanting to do this structure before you do the.next installment in season 10. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Sounds like an excellent plan!
Just took the 8-shaft baby blankets off the loom - love the result. I wasn't willing to spend to import the Cotton Clouds from Canada to Australia, so I did some stash diving. I had some Bendigo Woolen Mills Calypso yarn (now discontinued) in a cream colour and lime green - it's the equivalent of 8-ply (DK) knitting yarn with two plies of wool and one ply of slubby cotton. I used 16/2 cotton for the thin thread. I only had enough of the Calypso for a 4 meter warp. I found that the 18epi used in the pattern was a good sett and had no problem beating it square (actually had to be a bit gentle) - so I did 5 pattern repeats in the weft for square blankets. After loom waste I got 3 full size blankets and one that's a bit short (4 pattern repeats instead of 5). I ended up designing my own tie-ups, but didn't change threading or treadling from the published pattern. Looking forward to the next DPW episode.
That sounds fantastic! It's a good thing when you're able to use up stash yarn. I'm really happy you designed your own tie-ups, that is the superpower of this structure.