Handwoven huck lace "lattice" shawl in Maurice Brassard cottolin
This is my first a weave a month project: a plan to practice weaving techniques and (hopefully) make some functional projects in the process.
In October, I wove a cottolin shawl using a huck lace variation -- more details in the Weaver's Notes section below. To be honest, I'm not sure shawls are for me... currently googling fashion blogs to see how they can be worn (haha). But here's a shot of the shawl on my loom, wrinkled, post-wearing.
A shawl is essentially yardage with fringe attached, so it will be easy to repurpose into something else if I end up not wearing it. But the fringe! Ever since my “Hanna” Woven Blanket by Glimakra, I wanted to make something I could wear with that gorgeous fringe.
The process
Project notes for reference.
Setup
The yarn is thin! Here's a comparison shot (from top to bottom): 6-strand embroidery floss, 2-strand embroidery floss, cottolin, Mara 70.
Warp length: As I was tensioning my loom, I noticed that the start and end loops of each chain of yarn were noticeably different in length. Poor warping board technique. 😕 It might be a combination of winding tighter as I went along and the warping board sides angling in. My board is 4 pieces and currently held together with zip ties. I need to actually get some washers and screws to keep the sides flush with one another.
Tension on the loom: Need to improve my technique for this as well. Perhaps I'll try recruiting P to help wind the warp next time, or keep doing it solo but try using weights to keep the warp tight as I wind. The far right side ended up much looser than the rest of the warp. I didn't notice until I was a good distance into the weaving. I wonder the best way of catching tensioning issues before it's too late.
Warping back to front: I was taught to warp front to back, but I'm super curious about warping the other way. Sounds like it could improve tensioning and reduce loom waste. I might investigate making a raddle.
Weaving
Weaving this shawl was not the funnest process. 😐
My initial plan had a dark plain weave border that matched the warp thread. I didn't think through my draft very well... the border most certainly wasn't plain weave and had huge floats on the back side. So I cut my losses (literally).
This pattern had an 18 throw repeat -- yikes! Usually I like to watch movies or listen to podcasts or music as I weave. However, it was hard to do that and keep track of where I was in the pattern.
The design was also too complex for 6 treadles and often required pressing two treadles at the same time. I labeled my treadles A-F to help me keep the pattern straight. Love that! I plan to keep them way. But I still had look down at the treadles to make sure I was using the right ones. I wonder if I can add some texture to them so I can feel the difference with my feet and not have to look down?
The cottolin didn't flow smoothly off the bobbins. My guess is that my bobbin winding technique could also be improved -- perhaps I was winding too tight or unevenly and the threads ended up nestling into one another and not staying in neat layers. It was "sticky" in a way. It kept catching as I threw so I got in the habit of pulling out a few tugs of yarn before each throw.
G wrapping her little paws around my arm and instituting a mandatory weaving break.
Finishing
Finishing is my favorite part of the process. I love seeing the transformation: how the hand, texture, and pattern of the cloth change before and after water.
Before water, the fabric felt wire-y and stiff... with a drape more akin to paper than cloth. Afterwards, it became a wonderfully textured fabric.
Here are some pre-post pictures of the front:
And of the back:
Weaver's Notes
Sett: 30 EPI in a 10 dent reed (3 ends/dent)
Total ends: 810 (27" in reed)
Length: 3.5 yards = 2835 yards total
Yarn: Maurice Brassard cottolin 16/2 in Bourgogne (warp) and Wine (weft); 60% cotton, 40% linen
Pattern: From "Best of Weavers: Huck Lace," treadling J on p. 8/9; each diamond was 10 ends, so this was 3 diamonds/inch
Fringe: trimmed edges to 4.5" then hand twisted two-ply fringes, 18 ends per fringe
Measurements On loom / Off loom / Post-Washing
Width: 27" in reed / 25.25" / 23" (-15%)
Length: ~70" / 68" / 62" (-11%)