Twisp of Fate

The Methow Valley Spinners & Weavers Guild has an annual “challenge” project, due in April of each year.  Usually the challenge is to weave something in a particular weave structure (2 years ago it was “overshot”).  This year it is more of a fabric type – wadmal.  This is a woven fabric that has been felted so the weave structure is no longer apparent.  Often it is used for apparel (jackets etc) or it can be made into mitts or slippers.  Usually it is woven as yardage, loosely, in plain weave or twill and it is the color choice and final treatment of the fabric by machine felting that gives it the final appearance.

So I set out to make a small blanket using miscellaneous colors of 2-ply Shetland knitting yarn, because I also wanted to make a gift for some friends who have recently had their first child.  I got some of my ideas from a project in the Jan/Feb 1996 Handwoven Magazine:  Cloud-Light Lap Robe by Sharon Alderman.  I liked the braided fringe, and her instructions for machine fulling leave the fabric dense but still soft and drapey, not stiff as a board (soak in hot water with detergent for 4 hours, followed by only about 5 minutes of agitation plus a couple of gentle rinses and spinning out).

I used 5 colors of Shetland 2-ply for the warp (a total of 8 skeins at 150 yds each), but the weft was a New Zealand DK-weight wool I got in a fiber exchange a couple of years back.  It was sett at 8 epi (that’s ends-per-inch for the non-weavers out there).  I threaded it as a 2/2 twill and treadled it in a broken zig-zag pattern, trying to maintain 8 picks per inch.  To maintain the openness of the fabric, the weft needed to be nudged into position, not beaten, after changing sheds – another tip from Sharon Alderman.

Here’s the fabric before fulling:

After fulling:

It was 41″ wide on the loom and I wove about 2 yards, maybe a little more.  Off the loom before fulling it measured 37″ x 64″ (excluding fringe).  After fulling it measured 30″ x 57″.  I still need to trim the fuzzy ends of the braided fringe, but otherwise it is done:

I am really pleased with how this turned out.  Maybe it isn’t exactly “wadmal” (not felted to jacket fabric consistency) but I love the feel of it.  I am tieing on another warp already and will try a different treadling pattern on the same twill threading.

Hey, what’s that peeking out from under the blanket in that last picture?  I finished the Notre Dame de Grace Pullover designed by Veronik Avery!