Author: Jen

Hiker, Knitter, Mandolin Player jenjoycedesign.com

Nine Days (Shawl No.1)

Published on by Jen2 Comments

Hi, its me Abelene,

Nine days ago the newest member of the crew arrived, the Ashford 32″ Rigid Heddle Loom, and Jen waxed the pieces and put them together.  She then spent seven days weaving an impressively voluminous alpaca shawl. Today, the fringes were hand-twisted, shawl washed and quickly dried in the cold winter breeze, loose ends trimmed and lightly steamed. Finally, the excitement began when Jen brought me out of the closet to model this beautiful piece of weaving . . . the shawl makes me feel sophisticated, moody, and quite elegant with the color rich weaving wrapped around me, like I could live forever in this moment! Jen has got much more alpaca, so there’s hope this winter will find more shawls coming into view.

Ta ta, Abelene & The Crew

♣   Weaving Notes  ♣

Note from Jen:  Woven in the same lovely alpaca that I have been for many months now, but the weaving width is double of that in the scarf series, and therefore a full sized shawl, at 29 x 84 inches.  I have a lot of ideas for this loom, and I mustn’t be in a rush, but let the hours and days, weeks and months pass by at their own pace; with the awe of a child and the patience of an old woman. Adding to my collection of rigid heddle looms, was inevitable, it was time for this loom, and I know I’ll weave on it a lot! Now, for the tech stuff . . .

  • Yarn: Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud lace weight, 440 y = 50g, in Amos (green), Lydia (rust red), and Zadie (gold).
  • Loom: Ashford 32″ rigid heddle loom
  • Warping method:  Easy direct warp method for rigid heddle, 1 end in hole and 1 end in slot.
  • Number of warp ends: 472
  • Reed: 15 dent rigid heddle reed.
  • Width in reed: 30.5″
  • Selvedges: I added 4 extra ends to each of the selvedges, as they tend to get pulled in, and I used a temple.
  • Sett after finishing: Warp 16 epi, and weft 16 ppi.
  • Color Pattern Warp: [52 ends Zadie, 52 Amos, 52 Lydia] x 3
  • Color Pattern Weft: Same sequence as warp, weaving each color in blocks.
  • Finished: 3″ hand-twisted fringe, then washed and air-dried hanging, and lightly steam pressed. Measures 84″ long (not including fringe) and 29″ wide, and weighs 241g — approx 80g of each color.
  • Yardage:  Total yardage used for finished piece = 2120y, figured from weight of finished piece and not including loom waste.

Auld Lang Syne (Scarf No.15)

Published on by Jen3 Comments

A lot of the time I don’t realize the coincidences at play as I bring something to finish. For instance, the Scottish phrase “Auld Lang Syne” evoking the sentiment of “for old times’ sake” and “days gone by” . . . and my attempt at weaving to mimic an “auld Scottish tartan” design that my dear old friend and I planned the minute I got my first loom a couple of years ago (the very loom on which it is photographed) . Posted yesterday drying on the line, today here it is, fulfilling all those sentiments as it will be draped artfully over the shoulder of an old wingback chair which sits facing an old woodstove, in a very, very old cabin. For old times’ sake indeed, not to mention it is New Year’s Eve — happy 2026 everyone!

♣   Weaving Notes  ♣

This weight of alpaca is truly perfect for the rigid heddle looms, using a 15 dent reed, because the drape is spectacular and there is enough room for the alpaca to bloom in the simple plain weave. Oh, and about the missing information in the notes; I wrote everything down on a piece of paper as I was calculating the design, then later lost the piece of paper, so it was accidentally thrown away.

  • Yarn: Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud lace weight, in Carson (dark grey), Alfred (medium grey), Arabella (dark green), Elizabeth (red), and Zadie (gold). 440 y = 50g
  • Loom: Ashford 20″ Knitters Loom
  • Warping method:  Easy direct warp method for rigid heddle, 1 end in hole and 1 end in slot.
  • Number of warp ends: Not available
  • Reed: 15 dent rigid heddle reed.
  • Width in reed: 18.5″
  • Selvedges: I added 4 extra ends to each of the selvedges, as they tend to get pulled in, and I used a temple.
  • Sett after finishing: Warp 16 epi, and weft 16 ppi.
  • Color Pattern Warp & Weft: Not available
  • Finished: 3″ hand-twisted fringe, then washed and air-dried hanging, and lightly steam pressed. Measures 89″ long (not including fringe) and 18″ wide, and weighs 175g. 
  • Yardage:  Total yardage used for finished piece = 1540y, figured from weight of finished piece and not including loom waste.

Scarf No. 14

Published on by Jen6 Comments

Levi came to visit, and as I was showing him my alpaca scarf series, I could tell that he admired them, and that perhaps he even wanted one, but none of the colors I had woven were appropriate for his blue & grey gentlemen’s style. So, the day before he was to leave I suggested he design one with the alpaca colors I had on hand and that I would weave it for him, and so he did, and by the time he was leaving back to Canada, I had already woven one repeat to show him. Then this last week was a determined effort to getting it done, and now it is finished and ready to send in the post. As usual, my technical weaving notes are listed below.

♣   Weaving Notes  ♣

  • Yarn: Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud lace weight, in Carson (dark grey), Alfred (medium grey), Eleanor (light grey), and Bernard (blue). 440 y = 50g
  • Loom: Ashford 16″ rigid heddle loom
  • Warping method:  Easy direct warp method for rigid heddle, 1 end in hole and 1 end in slot.
  • Number of warp ends: 228
  • Reed: 15 dent rigid heddle reed.
  • Width in reed: 14″
  • Selvedges: I added 4 extra ends to each of the selvedges, as they tend to get pulled in, and I used a temple.
  • Sett after finishing: Warp 16 epi, and weft 16 ppi.
  • Color Pattern Warp: 20 ends each of *Carson, Eleanor, Bernard, Eleanor, Carson, Alfred, Carson, Eleanor, Bernard, Eleanor*, Carson.
  • Color Pattern Weft: Same sequence as for warp *thru*, and ending in Carson.
  • Finished: 2″ hand-twisted fringe, then washed and air-dried hanging, and lightly steam pressed. Measures 76″ long (not including fringe) and 13.5″ wide, and weighs 118g. 
  • Yardage:  Total yardage used for finished piece = 1040y, figured from weight of finished piece and not including loom waste.