Hi, everybody,
I'm brand new at this blogging/chat stuff so please forgive if I goof.
A good friend is newly and happily pregnant and I'd like to weave her a baby blanket. I'm thinking a 6-thread waffle weave. It sounds cushy and soft. Cotton, of course, so it's washable & cool (we're in South Carolina). Does anybody have a good source for soft yet strong cotton? Last time I had the same idea & wove a sample, it came out more suitable for a dish cloth than for a baby's skin. It was rigid and scratchy, using 10/2 cotton. Any ideas would be appreciated. Oh, and I'm not stuck on the waffle weave; I'm open to other suggestions for structure, etc.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Peri
Hi Peri,
I've had good results with both 10/2 and 8/2 unmercerized cotton. Be sure to wash it well before you judge the feel. I usually wash blankets about three times in hot water to make sure they are preshrunk. One of my favorite yarns for baby blankets is the FoxFibre color grown organic cotton.
In addition to the standard waffle weave, you might look at Brighton Honeycomb (which is in the waffle weave family) in Ann Sutton's book, Structure of Weaving, p 161. Also, from Fabrics that go Bump, pp 46-47, the Raised Squares threading makes a nice blanket. When I first started making blankets, a friend reminded me that anything would work as long as floats were short enough that very tiny fingers and fingernails wouldn't get caught in them.
Whatever you choose, I'm sure your friend will be delighted with the thought and care you've put into making something special for her and her baby.
Mary Ellen
Hi Peri, I just finished a baby blanket for a friend due in July. Since we are in Texas, where it is pretty darn hot July through October, I opted to use 8/2 Orlon from The Yarn Barn of Kansas. I wove it in a straight twill in two colors of blue, she's having a boy. It turned out quite nice and it's just the right weight for a hot summer. Just thought you'd like to know what other people are using.
Michele
Mary Ellen,
Thanks for your input. Maybe I didn't wash the sample enough; you'd think that 10/2 cotton would produce a soft fabric. What size do you make your baby blankets? I'm sure there's a standard somewhere, but darned if I can find it. (By the way, I now have TWO friends who are pregnant - I'd better get busy! :-)
Michele,
Thanks for your input. Since my 24-year-old son moved back home, I'm trying to empty out my weaving supply closet, which has TONS of 10/2 cotton in it, so I probably need to stick to that. However, I would like to know what size you made your baby blanket. I can't seem to find a "standard" listed anywhere. Oh, and it turns out that another friend is pregnant, so I'll be making two, from the same warp, most likely. Gotta get busy!
You would think 10/2 should be soft. Do you remember if it was mercerized or unmercerized? I've used unmercerized for the blankets . I'm really bad about making samples, so I don't have anything I've done in mercerized cotton to feel and compare. The last blanket I did was using 8/2 in the Raised Squares. The sample I have from just off the loom really does feel like a scrub cloth; the piece i washed 3 times feels much softer and thicker. I don't use fabric softener or dryer sheets since they seem to make things less absorbent.
As far as size goes, I have a 40" loom so I generally do something between 39" and 40". Any of the textured weaves really shrink, so I end up with something about 30" wide. I have been doing blankets about 46" to 47" in length. That gives me a finished length of about 38". Recently I was in a small shop which carries some handwoven baby blankets. They came in 3 sizes: Regular - 28" x 42", Large - 33" x 55", and Crib Size - 40" x 55". I think I will make mine longer in the future.
It sounds like your friends are going to keep you busy. Congratulations to both of them.
Hi Peri, the Weaver's Craft, issue 27 is Baby Blankets and Jean talks about sizes, designing your own, weave structures, yarns, etc. It also includes 5 baby blanket patterns.
My blanket was small, 24" x 35". It actually ended up a little larger than that, which was fine with me. My weave structure was straight twill and looked lovely with the three closely related blues I used. Hope this helps,
Hi Mary Ellen,
I have never woven a blanket before and am planning to weave a baby blanket for my niece. I am using 8/2 unmercerized cotton for the warp and a heavy cotton chenille that I dyed for the weft. Can you suggest an easy weave structure for a 4 harness loom? Also what sett would you recommend since the weft is a bulky cotton chenille and I want the blanket to be soft and not too dense.
Thanks, Cat
Hi Cat,
What a lovely gift for your niece.
Is the chenille a single color , or did you use multiple colors? Also, will your warp yarn color contrast or blend with the chenille? The first thing that comes to mind is a weave structure that would show off the hand dyed chenille. A twill could be a great structure. If you have, or have access to, Marguerite Davison's A Handweaver's Pattern Book, there are a couple of twills that are a bit different from the usual twill structures. One is the Vertical Pointed Twill on page 4, the other is John Murphy's Stockinett on page 5. The chenille has so much texture to it that the pattern of the warp yarns may be very subtle. You may want to consider doing a plain weave and add a decorative stripe pattern using your warp yarn at the top and bottom of the quilt. (Weave an 1.5 - 2 inches of chenille, then alternate stripes of the 8/2 yarn with the chenille two or three times, for example). I have a small piece I did this way using 10/2 cotton for a warp and cotton chenille for the weft. It has a nice hand and could be a good weight for a baby blanket.
As far as sett goes, if you decide on a plain weave, 16 epi should give you a soft blanket with a nice drape; if you do a twill, 24 epi should work for the hand you want. (The piece I have with the 10/2 warp was sett at 24 epi for plain weave.)
If you don't have Davison's book and are interested in either of the twill drafts, let me know. I can give you the tie-up and treadling information. They are both woven on a straight draw threading (4 - 3 - 2 - 1).
I haven't done anything with cotton chenille for a while. You've inspired me to start trying some things with it again.
Hi Mary Ellen,Thank you for your reply. I have 3 colors for the cotton chenille - purple, blue and teal - and have 3 colors that are similar but a bit lighter of the 8/2 cotton. I have thought to alternate both the warp and weft stripes. Someone had suggested doing a twill but I have been a bit concerned that it might be bulky and stiff. The cotton chenille is bulky and round - much heavier than the rayon chenille I have - it may be about 500 ypp. I have a little more than 6 ounces of each of the 3 colors so hope that is sufficient. Not quite sure how large to make the blanket.I can look at that book in our class library and see the two patterns that you mention.One thought that I had was to do a type of window pane design in plain weave and maybe use a few cotton chenille threads in the warp at the places where I do the color changes. If I do that I don't know if I should use the 8/2 cotton in the weft where I do the color changes, or possibly use some space dyed cotton chenille that is blue and purple and will go with the other chenille but be a bit different to create the window pane effect. Maybe at the weft changes, I can do as you suggest and alternate the thick and thin threads for 2 or 3 times.With the additional information I have shared, do you think the plain weave or the twill would be better?As I weave the blanket, I will sing and put prayers and blessings into the blanket for the baby. My sister was killed in a car accident in 2009 and it is still hard for my niece (who is only 19) and sad that her baby will not know her grandmother. Thanks again, Cat
Thanks for the additional information on the chenille. It definitely is heavier than the chenille I have. It sounds like it may be similar to the Casco Bay Bulky Chenille that Halcyon sells. Their website has a good description of the yarn if you want to compare. Their website also has a pattern section that lists a pattern for a bath sheet made with 5/2 cotton warp and the chenille weft; it's not what you're interested in doing, but it may give you an idea of the size piece you can make with a pound of the chenille.
With the heavier chenille, I think your idea of doing a plain weave using the colors to make a window pane design sounds like the best idea. I think the twill pattern might be lost with the heavy weft. I still like to get out graph paper and colored pencils when I'm trying out color ideas. It's easy to mix the pencil colors to get something close to the actual yarn color instead of using the machine colors in a drafting program. You may want to try some sketches of your ideas and see what you like best.
I'm sorry to hear about your sister. Your niece is fortunate to have you to put so much love and care into this project for her and her baby.
I checked out Halcyon's site and yes, my chenille looks like their Casco Bay Bulky Cotton Chenille. I got 7 wraps per inch. It looks like I will have enough yarn for the baby blanket per the bath sheet amounts. Halcyon gives a sett of 5 epi for plain weave and 6 epi for twill. Maybe that is when it is warp and weft. For plain weave do you think I should use less than the 16 epi for the 8/2 cotton warp as you previously suggested given the heaviness of the chenille I am using? I noticed that for the bath sheet project that they use 5/2 cotton for the warp and a 15 dent reed - so guess they have a sett of 15 epi but a bath sheet is probably denser than a baby blanket. (and their warp cotton is a little heavier than mine of 8/2)
Thanks again for all of your help, Cat
This is definitely a "do what I say, not what I do" type of suggestion.
Do you have enough yarn of the size you want to use to do a small sample? Something 10 inches by 10 inches would be good because that would make it easy to calculate what your finished size would be.
If you are concerned about the 15 epi being too dense, you can try 12 epi. Just wash it a couple of times the way you would finish the blanket and see how it feels.
I so seldom do samples that I'm embarrassed to make this suggestion, but i know how important this blanket is.
Lily has cotton yarn called "Suger n' Cream". Michaels, Hobby Lobby ,and Joann Fabrics carries this yarn. Very soft. Check this retailers out.............Steve
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