Bullet Proof Weaving

Last night during weaving class we finally got to take our items off of the loom. Only two of us were ready, but it was oh so interesting. We both started out with one skein of Noro yarn and a solid yarn of the same size, but our results could not be more different. I loved the way Lisa's came out. Here you can see her piece on the loom and then on the floor. The photo does not do it justice. It is really lovely and flowy. Her weaving style is very light handed so you can drape the piece nicely.

Next we see my piece, the one with the rainbow of colors. I am thrilled with how it came out. When we took it off of the loom the instructor says, "Oh, you are a rug weaver!" I looked at her with a raised eyebrow - what do you mean? She explained and showed us how my weaving style is very dense. As a result my cloth is much thicker and much shorter than Lisa's you could use my piece as an eye cover for a "Hide and Seek" game. Holding it up to the light you cannot see anything through it. My piece is about half the length of hers. We even went so far as to make jokes about how it could be bullet proof. I am okay with all of this. Sometimes you might even wonder if my middle name is "Overkill." I can get pretty intense and into it. I will just have to keep that in mind when planning other projects. This one is a plain weave, also known as a Tabby pattern.

Ellie has already asked for this piece both directly and indirectly. She would saunter up to the loom and say, "Mama, I have a bare bit of wall in my room just about that size." (There might have even been a slight wink added in for effect.) Another time she sat down and said, "Mom, what are you going to do with it once it is finished? If you can't come up with anything I would like to have it." As you might imagine I did not bother to attach myself to this piece, I knew about ten minutes into the weaving who this would be for. The salvage (edges) are not exactly wonderful, not really bad, but you can tell I am a beginner. Thus, I was thinking that I would work this into a quilted piece that was designed around it. That was the edges would be hidden and I would have a use for it. We will have to see what Ellie wants to do with it. I could also imagine just putting on fun, bead studded fringe and calling it good.

The next piece will be for Ethan. He wanted Southwestern colors, but they were not to be had, so I went with more Noro yarn. This time it has greys, greens, blues, yellow (sort of gold, really) a bit of orange and a small smear of pink as it shifts from one color to the other. I have two skeins this time. It will be a twill weave. I am going to try and do it on my own as homework. I will let you know how it goes. Tonight we are getting ready for the party we will have tomorrow evening, so I cannot get started yet.