another baby throw

I finished another (acrylic!) woven baby throw similar to this one.  My physiotherapist is having a baby boy this fall so the latest is blue and white.

I can't believe how much fun weaving with texture is, even with acrylic! washable novelty yarn.  It weaves up quickly too.  In fact warping takes longer than weaving.  I like the effect using the bunny-tail baby yarn but weaving the ends were a bear.

I had trouble getting the warp even on the last acrylic! baby throw so I thought I would try measuring the warp this time rather than direct warping it.  I don't have a good place for attaching the warping board to a wall and wasn't comfortable doing it with the board in my lap leaning against the table.  Putting it on the kitchen counter was the right height so I put cupboard liner non-stick stuff under and behind it to anchor it.  It worked really well.

Yes, I know the experienced weavers will notice that I goofed at the top there.  I didn't notice it until I had enough wrapped that I didn't feel like starting over and it wasn't a problem because the acrylic! yarn has a bit of stretch.  I'll know to make the two sides after the warp cross even next time.

It takes a bit longer to tie the warp on both front and back but I was pleased with how evenly taut I could make the threads.  I used the shelf liner instead of paper for winding on and it worked great for that too.  Shelf liner is my new best friend.  I'm finding all kinds of uses for it, none of which include lining my cupboards though.

The shuttle in the above picture is new and very cleverly designed by Weaving Weft 2 Wright on Etsy for using with a rigid heddle loom.  It fits into the shed well and is long enough to be able to pass it back and forth.  I tried a regular shuttle once and it just kept falling through the warp.  The new one works great!  This one is for the 25" Flip loom and it came with a long bobbin but I found that three regular LeClerc ones fit fine too.  I also bought one of these shuttles for my 15" Flip.  It will be really nice for winding on a lot of fine weft yarn for plain weaving.

I have been creating batts of Malamute/Romney for a custom spinning order.  I have the batts finished and have starting spinning.  It's nice to make progress on a couple of tasks around here.

dianna left a comment on my last blog post asking how the Cascade spindle spins.  It is a little heavier spindle than I usually use but it spins well.  All three of the new spindles work well - being center weighted they don't spin as long as rim-weighted ones like IST or Goldings but they are fast.  I found that the low-whorl, spiral shaft one is a little fussy about how it is spun or the yarn pops out of the top of the shaft but it is a very light spindle for a low-whorl so that might be part of it.  I'm willing to forgive its quirks because it is so beautiful and unusual.