Woundrous Blanky Begins

I just spent the better part of the evening attempting to create a slide show on Flickr of my entire process fulfilling my grant proposal. Alas it has proved too much for me. I will have to enlist the aid of my trusty computer wizard, but probably not before I leave to teach a Color Horoscope Weaving Workshop in Sacramento. I leave next Monday the 23rd, and will be gone for a week.

But rather than drop the thread, I will give you little bits each day. It will give the illusion that I am working really really fast.

OBJECTIVE (The problem): to weave a blanket combining Color Horoscope Weaving and Easy Ikat (now called Turned Weft Ikat).

INITIAL DECISIONS: 1. Fiber (content and sett) 2. Size (approximate finished width and length) 3. Select horoscope to weave.

No problem with the objective, but I spent at least 3 months on the initial decisions. I ran tests on several fiber options and finally settled on Jaggerspun Super Fine Merino, tripled ends and sett at 12 epi. How I labored over the decision as to whose horoscope I would weave! I didn't want to weave my own (again!) I wanted somebody sort of famous, someone I truly admired, someone connected to weaving, MARY MEIGS ATWATER, my weaving hero . (By the way, her birthday is Febrary 28th.)

I decided to wind my warp 4 yards long and weave it in 5 panels. I wanted to end up with a blanket width of 80-90". The horoscope portion (pictured above) is 360 end @ 12 epi = 30" of warp width. I would need to make up approximately 50" of width with ikat panels. The horoscope divides into 12 sections, so if I put an ikat stripe between each section and ikat stripe borders I would need 50 " divided into 13 stripes = 3.8" per stripe (give or take)

Are you with me?



Four matching ikat chains.

I really didn't have a plan as to which chains would go where. I just knew if I had and even number of repeating chains, they would look good somewhere.


Four different matching chains.


And four more of another repeating set of chains. The 13th chain is non-repeating and is the center of the central panel. Each white tag marks the chain for ease in assembly, so tune in tomorrow to see Assembly and Weaving.

Please click here to read article in WeaveZine about Turned Weft Ikat. The process described in the article is exactly the process I followed for the blanky.