Playing with clasped-weft weaving

Several years ago, the program at our local weaving guild was about clasped-weft and clasped-warp weaving. Even though it may seem like I am not paying attention, I really am. This summer I decided to play around with the clasped-weft method.

Clasped-weft weaving results in a mostly weft-faced fabric. When executing the clasped-weft rows, each pass has double the weft. This left me questioning what to do with the rows of just one color. Sometimes I wove with just one strand, other times tried it with two. The results look different, but not necessarily wrong.

My efforts were based on a pattern in The Weaver's Idea Book, by Jane Patrick, called "Summertime Coasters". For warp, I used some Maurice Brassard 8/4 cotton warp (colorway 'Linen' I think). For weft, I started out with Tahki Stacy Charles Cotton Classic 100% Mercerised Cotton, in 'Milk Chocolate', 'Raspberry', and 'Leaf Green'. The yarn is a bit springy, if you know what I mean, and I had a hard time beating it down with the heddle alone.

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Then I switched to Pisgah Peaches & Creme Ombres ('Spring Meadows'), Lion Brand Lion Cotton Solid in white, and Den-M-Nit Pure Indigo Cotton (dyed). Although all are rated as worsted, the denim yarn is on the light side, yet it seemed to work okay with the heavier worsted.

By now I was getting the hang of things, including beating the weft with a fork to pack it down better. These are in the Den-M-Nit Pure Indigo Cotton (dyed and undyed).

Ordinarily, I don't use hemstitch for securing the warp fore and aft, but this time got in a lot of practice. A couple of these examples show you how it looks when you do it wrong, which forced me to learn to do it right.

These coasters were made on my Ashford SampleIt 9" loom, which is becoming my favorite loom of all.

But first...

Starting a new project requires gathering one's tools and selecting one's fiber. And then what? Sometimes it involves learning something brand new on step one. That is the case with the Essential Tee from Purl Soho.

The "Provisional cast-on: One-step method" threw me a bit. I tried learning it with the yarn for the tee, but decided I'd better practice with something a bit woolly-er. I won't say I mastered it, but I comfort myself with the fact that the cast on won't show once the bottom of the tee is hemmed.

Knitting: Working on the latest socks as my portable project. Started the Essential Tee using Oleander, a fingering-weight cotton linen blend, without swatching; then I chickened out and started a swatch because I don't know how the fabric will come out.

Weaving: The clasped-weft coasters are off the loom.

I really thought I would have more time for fiber this summer, even imagined myself spinning on the deck. But the weather has been superbly uncooperative - hot and sticky. Thank goodness for AC.