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Huck Patterned Shawls

I know I’m really short on shawls for the coming show season. I also know that shawls take more than twice as long to wind the warp, twice as long to thread the heddles and reed, twice as long to do the hemming. Still, I felt like I needed to weave more shawls. So I went back to one of my standbys – 5/2 eggshell mercerized cotton and huck lace. As shawls go, they’re quick & easy.

Because I’ve made friends with my Macomber loom, I decided to do an 8 harness lace pattern instead of my usual 4 harness patterns. I spent a bit of time on the computer playing with different tie ups and came up with one that I really like.
8 harness huck draft

Look how much texture this pattern has while it’s under tension on the loom.

eggshell shawl on loom

And here’s how the finished cloth looks after wet finishing.
handwoven shawl lace pattern

For 5/2 lace I sett the threads at 12 EPI – experience has shown me that’s what I like for the finished piece. The cotton drapes nicely, and although the floats are a bit long, I think it’s not too fussy to be fully functional.

handwoven cotton shawl

I’d wound a warp for 3 shawls, knowing I have a lot of 5/2 eggshell cotton in my stash. As I was weaving the second shawl I was getting to the end of a cone of cotton so pulled out a new cone. Uh oh. Different manufacturer, very different look. Can’t mix those yarns in one piece, at least not if I want to achieve the effect – classy – that I’m looking for. As it was, I ran out of yarn 7 rows before I wanted to – my second end has only 11 rows of plain weave, where the beginning has 18 rows. Due to the length of a pattern repeat, in order to unweave enough pattern to get me 18 rows of plain weave, the shawl would have been almost 6 inches shorter than I wanted. So one shawl has a shorter end. Probably very few people would ever notice, but I know.

For the third shawl, instead of using that different eggshell yarn, I opted for an 8/2 barber-pole yarn in eggshell & light tan. It’s fine, too. To my eye looks a bit less formal.

handwoven shawl, eggshell & oatmeal

I decided to do some beading on that first shawl, the one with 18 rows of plain weave at both ends.

beaded shawl end

Instead of doing dangling beads all the way across – which struck me as a bit too much – I did little 3-bead groups near the hem across much of the shawl width. I think it gives a nicer overall look.
beaded shawl end close

Now I really need to be done with shawls for a while and produce more scarves. I have a show next weekend. I didn’t even get to weaving more other things that I’d contemplated for this year – like pillows, or wall hangings, or…..

6 comments to Huck Patterned Shawls

  • linda

    I forgot to say that I am new to this but am looking to learn how to weave a shawl, maybe not a very expensive type loom but something to start me out so I can make shawls thank you.

    • Peg Cherre

      Linda – There are SO many types of looms. You could weave a shawl on everything from a large rigid heddle loom with just 2 harnesses to an 8-harness or larger floor loom. I don’t know where you live, but I’d suggest taking a weaving class if there are any near you. Pretty much every area has a weaver’s guild…google to find the one in your area. The people in that guild can help steer you in the right direction, and if there are no classes in your area, a guild member may be able to offer individual assistance.

      Welcome to the world of weaving!

  • linda

    Can you please tell me what kind of loom is used to make shawls, rectangular type not triangular type shawls. I have seems some pretty ones but I would like to learn to weave a rectangular shawl. I hope you can lead me in the right direction. Thank you

  • Kaaren Krueg

    What if you raveled out 7 pics from the beginning of the second shawl before fringe twisting? You might have to re-hemstitch, but if you remove pics 6 and 7 first, it would leave you a space to do that.

    I like the beading on your first shawl.

    Kaaren in California

    • Peg Cherre

      A nice thought, Kaaren. Even if I hadn’t already twisted the fringe (which I have), I don’t think I would have done it this time around, but at least it’s something I can hang on to for next time. Thanks for the suggestion!

  • What if you raveled out 7 pics from the beginning of the second shawl before fringe twisting? You might have to re-hemstitch, but if you remove pics 6 and 7 first, it would leave you a space to do that.

    I like the beading on your first shawl.

    Kaaren in California

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