I remember when I was a kid in art class and the only thing that would come to mind when I looked at a lump of clay was “Ashtray!”   This is now my fourth shawl that I blog about and I’m beginning to feel that, maybe, when I am looking at yarn the only thing that comes to mind is “Shawl”.  You have to admit, though, that they are way more useful than ashtrays, especially if you don’t smoke.  Heck, we could all use something around our shoulders to keep us warm on those chillier days or in those drafty old buildings (like my house, in the winter).

That said, here is another shawl. I think that this one came out quite stunning.  A few weeks ago I blogged about the measuring of the warp and showed a picture of the measured warp.  I got it on the loom and wove the shawl.  I confess that I finished this back in February, but only now finally added the photos.

After I took it off the loom, I very slowly twisted the fringe and fixed two small errors.  I then washed and dried it – in the washing machine and the dryer; which I will never do again because the fringe got a fuzzy and twisted up.

There is something about bamboo yarn.  Most bamboo yarn is a form of rayon made with bamboo rather than some other plant material.  It is soft right off the cone and it is soft once woven up, but once it has been washed and it has dried, it is amazingly soft.  There is a luxurious feel to it that no amount of pictures can accurately convey.  So you will just have to take my word for it, but if you ever get a chance to feel something made of bamboo, please do so.  Tell them I sent you.

The pattern on this was very satisfying. It looks complicated but was really easy to do.  I threaded the loom by alternating the black and the silver yarns, starting and ending with black.  Then I wove it the same, alternating black and silver yarns, again starting and ending with black.  The trick was how I threaded it through the heddles – this design is shaddow weave, which in many ways is basically a plain weave, but it is designed so that the pattern appears to shaddow itself.

Here is a closeup of the pattern:

Close up showing the pattern

Here is a picture of the shawl draped over my loom:

Draped over the loom

And here is the shawl draped over figurine:

Shawl on figurine

Another view