Double Width Shawl

I am not finished with weaving this piece, but wanted to post my thoughts thus far. Oh my. Between the Beam and Mallo cotton slub, this yarn is sticky. That means that when trying to separate the sheds it can at first feel impossible. Threads stick and the shed doesn't want to open. This pattern requires very careful attention to a few things. First, twisting threads are a problem (duh, right?). When a strand passes through the first heddle into the second heddle, it is very important to not cross under/over, but this applies to any double heddle projects. What is even more important is when you set up the pick up sticks. If you don't pick up the correct threads this can really mess things up. When picking up the threads for the first pick up stick, you place Stick 2 in front of the heddles. Not sure if I particularly like this because opening the shed in the back wasn't easy, either. But, it is very important to tug on the threads that you pick up to make sure that it is the right one. The first thread is OVER, then the next one UNDER, etc. Each of the OVER threads were the 2nd thread in a pair. If I tugged on the one I thought was the 2nd thread in that pair, sometimes I wouldn't even realize that they had gotten twisted. Not sure if I described that well. BUT...regardless, setting this up took a very long time and multiple redos. I thought it was correct, then started weaving. Something wasn't right, so I had to start all over again. Worth the effort, though.

Once you get to the actual weaving, the sheds do open much easier. One trick is to tug on the threads pulling them towards you. That makes them untangle in the back. You'll feel a satisfying pop as the thread that is supposed to be down untangles and moves down. You do learn the pattern of each of the 4 picks so you can spot check to make sure you are picking up the right threads consistently. You don't want to get a step ahead only to realize your doubled fabric will not even open.

It is a beautiful pattern and I can't wait to finish. I do love the Beam 3/2 and Mallo.

I love the yarn and patterns I get from Gyst. It is one of my favorite sources to support my weaving fun!

Unfortunately, I learned the hard way, after hours of warping, that this does not work well with a Cricket Rigid Heddle Loom. There are no places for the necessary two heddles. There is a way to work around this, but I didn’t find it satisfactory. The instructions are quite confusing, as well. I found a couple of YouTube videos that were extremely helpful, one of which explained why I wasn’t able to use the Cricket Loom for this.

This was the first time I’ve tried double width weaving on a rigid heddle. Once I figured out warping (a me problem not the pattern) I was off to the races.