Sunday 29 October 2017

Productive vacation

A few weeks back, I took a few days off work and started working on a new project; an afghan on the loom.

I graduated to the big loom. Here, the ladies are loading it up.

Fifteen threads per section.


Here are the sections, each containing the 15 threads. It is a cream colored thread so we can choose any colors for our afghans.

The counter to make sure the threads in each sections are the same length. Can you image the problems if they weren't?

The very high-end 21st Century technology gadget that assures the threads aren't tangled; a comb. :^D  Hey, it works like a charm. You can see the sections better in this picture.

Now I can't remember how many sections were used to make it to 50 inches wide. Afghans are usually made 75 inches long. To me, that sounded like a time-consuming project, like 3-4 days long. So that's why I took a few days off work.  Before starting on the project, one has to fill up the big wooden shuttles with the wool (which I forgot to take a picture of). There's many shuttles to be fill to make an afghan. The motion of rolling the yarn around the shuttles tired my arms pretty quickly. I thought this project would never get finished if my arms were already tired and it hasn't even started yet. :^(
So we sat, my teacher and I, and started to weave at around 10 am.

And we weaved and talked and weaved and ... then we were done!! Yes, we were done. It was 1:25 pm. It went by so fast that I forgot to take pictures of the process. (Sorry!) My teacher was laughing, saying: What are you going to do with the rest of your vacation?  "Don't worry, I'm sure I can brew more troubles before the day is done, ha!"

So, here's my afghan, all weaved, wrapped on the back of the loom.



For the final touch, a fringe needs to be added at both ends. Each little length of yarn needs a knot at each end otherwise, it will look like a woolly mess in a few months. After, I use a regular crochet to pull the yarn through, then I slip the ends through the loop. It's a slow process but a much needed one as it hides the not-so-pretty beginning and ending of the cream colored threads. You can see it in the previous photo.
Click on pictures to enlarge.



Joining Kathy today for a Slow Sunday Stitching.

Until next time...

;^)


11 comments:

Deb said...

Your woven afghan is just beautiful, love the fringe work you are adding

Quilter Kathy said...

Wow that looks complicated! Such an extensive set up of the threads on the equipment!
Congratulations on making your own woven afghan!

Quilting Babcia said...

Your afghan turned out beautifully. Is that a LeClerck loom?

Kaja said...

That's lovely,and it looks like a fun thing to do too. The fringe sounds like painstaking work but it's a great way to finish off.

The Cozy Quilter said...

So neat to see how you made your afghan!

Carla A Few Of My Favorite Things said...

Wow! How fast was that? Unbelievable! I had a dream last night that my husband had bought me a sheep farm and I was learning to spin wool. I guess going to the fair last week got my mind to wandering. Your afgan is so pretty looks soft too!

Fiona said...

oh my that is beautiful... and so satisfying to have made it yourself.... enjoy the rest of your vacation!
Hugz

Lin said...

Beautiful afghan. It looks cosy and also that it drapes well too. xx

Barb said...

Beautiful!
So interesting to see how that is done - the fringe is the perfect finishing touch.

Sharon said...

Wow, that is gorgeous, and hand crafted.

Ellen said...

Congratulations on making such a pretty and cuddly looking afghan!