I don’t expect anybody to read this. Maybe my mom. These are my weaving journal notes which I would normally throw into a binder for later reference, but I’m sick of binders. So, since I decided it might be fun to take some photos of my weaving, I’m going to just stick my notes right here!
For this project I purchased Perle cotton yarns from Yarn Barn of Kansas. The warp and tabby yarn is 5/2, and the two pattern yarns are 3/2. Warp/tabby color is Mint. The pattern colors are Crab and Willow. Crab? I don’t know about that. I think I would have named it something else if I were the color namer. Crab is the one on the right.
The draft for this overshot pattern, Leaves, is from The Handweaver’s Pattern Directory by Anne Dixon. The pattern is a repeat of 42 ends, and the sett is 18 epi. That worked out nicely at 21 inches – or 378 ends (plus floaters)!
I made two warp chains at 10.5 inches each. Here is one of them on the warping board:
I didn’t measure that. I just threw on what looked about right for three towels. It worked out.
I have to count out my heddles on the left side. There are 189 ends in the warp chain. Pattern is 42 ends, so that goes 4.5 times. Fourth harness gets 54, third harness gets 56, second harness gets 40, and first harness gets 39.
At 18 epi I used my 6 dent reed.
I’m no good at machine or hand sewing, so most of my stuff gets fringe. I know, I need to do something about that.
I did five picks of tabby before starting the pattern color. For the hem stitching I grouped my threads in threes and went up around three picks of the tabby.
My beating was a little off, I guess. My on loom measurements: about 20 inches wide, first towel 27 1/4 inches long, second towel 29 inches, third towel 29 1/2 inches. Oops. Well, they didn’t look too far off when they were washed.
I’m so bummed, one of them has a little mistake in it. It’s hard to see, but I’ll be keeping that one for myself and giving the other two away.
Up next: something with tencel! I have a ton of it that I really need to start using up.
Vermont Wheelers 
OK, so someone else besides your mom just read this! I have no clue what “At 18 epi I used my 6 dent reed” means but you do and that’s all that matters.
Do you sell your work? No pressure as I hardly ever sell the stuff I make cuz it’s way too precious; thought I’d ask just in case.
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Ha ha, yes, there was a lot of jargon there! Epi is ends per inch, chosen based on the size of the yarn mostly. The reed is that metal slotted thing in the beater bar. A 6 dent reed has 6 little slots – or dents – per inch. So each slot in the reed gets 3 threads in this case.
I haven’t sold anything yet but am always thinking about setting up a little Etsy shop. It’s a little tricky because it would have to be something that weaves up quickly and probably with yarns on sale in order to not sell it at a pretty expensive price. I’d also have to put on a bigger warp to make several towels or place mats or whatever at once, which I’d probably get bored of fast. I guess custom jobs, like making napkins to match somebody’s funky set of dishes for example, is what I’d want to do if I got into selling stuff. Hmm…
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I always like to see the technical details of a project so thanks for sharing. The pattern looks great. Is there anything you would do differently next time? It’s a question I like to ask myself.
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For some reason I am unable to ‘like’ but I enjoyed the pics so much! Thx for sharing!
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Great job, Jen!
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