For years I’ve talked about wanting to try my hand at weaving, instead of crocheting, a charity blanket. Well. . . I finally did it!
Since this was my first attempt, I used yarns from the scrap box for the striped warp and the weft is black vintage Wintuk that I got at Sal’s for 50¢ per 4 oz. skein.
Strips #1 and 2 done. Strip #3 on the loom.
The gold is a scrap yarn header that I’ll remove when I’m ready to deal with the loose ends.
Joining the three strips went smoothly and took less time than I’d expected, about an hour.
I passed a needle carrying a single strand of black through the little loops that form on the edges as the weft wraps around the outermost warp threads. (click on photo for a closer look)
My explanation seems about as clear as mud! – lol – It went something like THIS.
Go ahead, examine the join. . . in the middle of the wide black stripe on the right, between the pale pink and green, below this capital v. . . . . V
Looks really good to me! Far better than I had expected.
Obviously, I had a little evening up to do down at the other end,
but unraveling a few picks doesn’t take long and then, excited to be so close to finishing, I started twisting fringe. . .
which took all the time I’d not needed for joining and more, way more. Let’s just say that although I love the look, I will not be twisting the fringe on every blanket that I weave.
Three Striped Strips
I brought my lovely blanket indoors so I could adore it lay it out on our bed and take measurements. – 40 x 55″ – Terribly pleased with myself, I left to find DH so he could share in my success.
We returned to find “the inspector” had completed her work while I was away.
She seems to be pointing out two yarn ends left from when I refilled my shuttle. – HA – New to weaving, she doesn’t understand that I must wash and dry the blanket before clipping ends.
This project was so enjoyable, I immediately started work on Scrap Stripes #2. Instead of fringe, I plan to give this one double-turned hems.
Note: The last blanket I wove, circa 1977, was a red/green/blue tartan which I gave to my dear Aunt Clara and Uncle Don for their 50th wedding anniversary. I know I have a snapshot of the occasion, somewhere. . . if it should ever show itself, I’ll be sure to share.
alottastitches 
love, Love, LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HI Bettina!
It feels good to be back in touch.
Happy that you approve of my first handwoven charity blankie. 🙂
Beautiful! Love the fact that you used scraps to make a gorgeous blanket!
Thank You!
And I love that I can use even short pieces of yarn for these, less than 3 yards long!
AWESOME – what kind of loom and time creating comparison to crocheting?
Harrisville Designs Easy Weaver B, which comes with an 8 dent heddle. . . better photo coming in a future post. Yarns are RHSS and similar.
Can’t accurately judge the time yet, as this was my first. But my guess is that, as long as I don’t twist the fringe, the time will be comparable. I imagine I could save some time by switching to a wider Rigid Heddle Loom, as that would mean I’d only have to weave two panels, but I wanted to show how you can do a large project with a little loom.