Dishtowels

Since the dinner napkins are off the loom, the next project to come are boucle dish towels.  This was a kit I purchased at Jane Stafford's weaving retreat I attended earlier this year.

I found that winding the warp wasn't too difficult but there were quite a few knots in the yarn.  However, I didn't like the tangles I got getting the warp wound on.  I finally got the warp wound on the back beam but it was very challenging.  I ended up with two strands that were significantly shorter than the rest so I'm not sure what happened there.  Luckily I can prepare substitute warp threads for these so I'm not too concerned.

This is the waste I ended up after winding on.

Since it is a plain weave or tabby pattern, the heddles are pretty easy and sleying the reed went pretty well as I'm using a 12 dent reed instead of the 6 the pattern recommended since I don't have one of those.  Instead of 2 strands per dent, I will have one.

One thing I seem to have trouble with is the built in raddle.  The pattern calls for a finished 16" width, but when I placed 2 strands per space, my width ended up at 25".  When I doubled that with 4, the width was a little over 12".  I tried 3 per space at the end and came up with around 15".  I'm not sure exactly how to space that raddle to get the right width.  Something to investigate for the next project.

The finished tie on and ready to weave.  I'm suppose to get 6 towels from this warp and it will be fun to play with patterns in color.