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October 12, 2016

More Waffle weave

The waffle weave washcloths are off the loom.  I was going for elegant, but they kind of look like ratty old dollar store dishcloths.   However, I washed one up and used it for it's purpose, washing people, not dishes.  OHHHH  MY!    After wet finishing by tossing it in the washer and dryer, the waffle weave had shrunk up nicely.   I was a little disappointed in the amount of loss due to the weave structure and the fact that my sett might be a little loose.  But when I actually used the cloth to wash my face, I experienced a bit of bliss.  It is so much nicer than terry cloth..   So, if they aren't perfectly elegant, it doesn't matter.   They are the perfect replacement item and worth the time spent on weaving them.

So... I wound a new warp.   I had a few partial and single tubes of cotton.  It was a mixture of mercerized and regular 2/8 cotton, though the purple might be just a tad thinner.   I tied it on the the previous waffle weave warp.   As I was sitting there, knotting all the threads together, I had a very intense but useless conversation with my sweetie because he felt there must be a better way to do this.   Hmmmm, now matter how I explained that I was pretty sure there wasn't actually another way to tie each thread together singly, he insisted there must be a better way.   Talk about a conversation going in circles and ending no-where!

I love going from the above and after a few minutes of winding the warp on, it's all straight, smooth and ready to weave.   These are colour gamp waffle weave face cloths.   While it is the same structure as the white ones, I hadn't realized how much interest the changing of colours add.   Plus these are so much prettier and cooler looking. The bonus is all those partial and single cones which I've had for ages are getting used up.   The downside is that most of my bobbins are currently full bits and pieces, so I'll have to dig out some new ones or empty the old as I'll need 6 empty bobbins to rotate through each towel.  
I think I do funky and fun much better than I do elegant :)

2 comments:

  1. ach, I wouldn't worry about elegance in washcloths - it's the feel on your skin that counts:) unless you weave them for a fancy hotel or something... I have a shop-bought cotton waffle weave blanket that I love to bits - the only thing that annoys me a bit is that the fairly loose weave makes pulling single threads out (accidentally) fairly easy. one day soon I have to take it off the bead and spend some time weaving all of them in again before the blanket falls apart:)

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  2. I was going to say that I haven't tried Waffle Weave and would like to when I realized how pointless that comment is. I haven't tried most weave structures and I want to - one of these days. I'm with your husband actually. I'm not a fan of tying to a dummy warp. I did it all the time when I was weaving rugs but I'd rather start from scratch with that many ends. You are a trooper! The game towels are super pretty.

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