April came and went and we are well into May! and I haven't got around to writing my blog so - before I show you the weaving process for some baby blankets I told you about in my last posting, I want to do a quick catch up with the hand spun yarn I was working too. It has been washed and is now being woven up Saori Style.
Okay sort of caught up, let's get blogging...
Baby Blankets Part 1
In my previous post I told you about the inspiration, planning and practicality of these blankets. Now I will try to give you a snapshot of each stage in their making.
Before I start there is always a bit of maths to work out such things as length, width, density and of course the exciting bit yarn, colour and pattern. Once I have got this sorted I start to wind a warp.
Here is my warping frame, note the centre pegs where the cross is formed as I wind the threads.
Once I have my warp made, I need to remove it without it getting in a tangle! to keep the cross in place, I secure it with ties of strong cord ( shoe laces are brilliant for this). then I chain off the warp which also keeps all the threads in an orderly bunch.
I can now transfer my warp to my weaving loom. I tie it to the top frame so as it doesn't slip or pull while I'm sleying the reed.
I hold all the threads of the cross in my hand as the photo below shows, this keeps the threads in the correct order and I'm able to take the topmost thread each time and put it through the reed.
This is the loom's reed and my reed tool
Here you can see the sleying of the reed.
Come back soon I will show you what happens next.
