Earlier in the summer, I purchased a loom because of a book that came with it (that’s for another post), but it also came with a stash of yarn, mostly wool. The yarn was of an unknown vintage, but the lady I purchased it from had not woven in some time (20+ years I think).
When I got home, I set about taking a closer look at just what I got. There were several tubes of a coarser wool, tightly spun, that would be perfect for rug weaving (the previous owner used it for tapestry weaving). One of the tubes still had its label and was shocked to find out that it was Canadian. It was manufactured by Lemieux Spinning in Quebec, and is still in business today. The yarn is labelled 2-ply Quebecoise, a yarn that is still produced, however not on the handy tubes it once was.
Excited with this discovery, I wanted to weave something, and decided a throw would be a good project. Since I don’t know how old this yarn is, or just how much is left on the tubes, I decided to order some new yarn (now available in 100g skeins). I hope to use the vintage Le-Mieux on a Krokbragd sampler sometime soon.
Searching the internet for some inspiration, I came across the Marshfield School of Weaving blog and a picture of someone weaving a throw called a Scottish wedding throw (scroll down to the second picture). With nothing else to go on, I set about designing what I wanted. I decided it should be 45″ wide on the loom with a warp length of 3 yards. The yarn was sett at 12 epi and chose a straight twill for my weave structure. Stripes were repeated on each side and on the top and bottom, giving it a decidedly vintage country Christmas look (according to my husband anyway).
After draw-in and fulling, the finished dimensions are 33″w x 75″l (not including the fringe). While I probably fulled this a little more than necessary, it is cozy, perfect for autumn evenings around a campfire or covering your lap while dashing through the snow on a one-horse open sleigh this Christmas.
Happy weaving,
Kelly
Fairs Creek Farm 