Tuesday, November 04, 2025

Brother Blankets Sample #1


  • Yarns: Hobby Lobby Baby Bee Sweet Delight
  • Yarn size: sport weight
  • Sett: 10 e.p.i.
  • PPI: 10
  • Structure: Plain weave
  • Pattern: Variegated yarn with Fibonacci stripes in green at 13, 21, 34, repeat
  • Width 
    • on loom: 15.5 inches
    • off loom: 14 inches
    • after washing: 14 inches
  • Length
    • on loom: unknown
    • off loom: 34 inches
    • after washing: 32.5 inches
  • Wet finishing: 
    • warm soak and squeeze with Ecos dish detergent
    • two rinses in plain warm water
    • spin cycle in washing machine
    • laid flat to dry
    • cool press with iron
  • Weaving note: I didn't line up the yarn's color changes for either warp or weft in any planned way; the color changes were long enough to create the plaid look as it is. 

Since this was just going to be a sample, I didn't write down how long my warp was nor now long I wove for. With my Glimakra unavailable due to room remodeling, I'd pretty much given up on weaving actual blankets. But since I had the yarn, I decided to just have fun with it and see what the color variations would do. 

Looking at the finished sample, however, I'm wondering about weaving several strips and sewing them together to make a blanket. Three strips sewn together on their lengthwise edges would make a rectangle 32.5 inches by 42 inches. Adding a crochet border would enlarge it just a bit. That might do for a baby blanket. And I could probably get one made by Christmas as a baby gift. The three-year-old would likely prefer something else anyway!

© 2025 by Leigh at Leigh's Fiber Journal

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Wednesday, October 29, 2025

Trying To Remember Where I Left Off

It's been a busy summer in the garden and the kitchen. Every day was filled with picking and preservation. While I didn't get much else done, our pantry is the fuller for it. 

Finally, with the arrival of autumn, I have some free time to do other things I enjoy. Which brings me back to the project I started to plan before harvest season kicked into high gear - my big and little brother blankets. The problem is that I lost the momentum of my planning process. 


Fortunately, I made good notes on both this blog and in my fiber notebook. The warp had been on my warping board for months, and I finally got it on the table loom. Even so, the mental and emotional energy flow for this is gone. 

That said, I am very much enjoying getting back to weaving. The color changes for this yarn (Hobby Lobby Baby Bee Sweet Delight) are long and so give it a wonderfully plaid look, which I like. 

Given that my floor loom won't be available for a good many months due to room remodeling, I likely won't get to weaving baby blankets any time soon. When I'm done with this sample I'll put it aside along with the rest of the yarn and see what happens in the future. 

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Monday, August 18, 2025

What I'm Not Doing This Summer

 All of my blogs are topical, which means if I'm not doing anything related to that topic then I rarely post. That said, I did have quite a few fibery plans this summer, none of which materialized other than thinking about them. I wanted to do a lot more natural dyeing, I (still) have my big and little brother blankets to weave, I wanted to spin some lovely fleece that I have, and I hoped to do my Weaving My Family Tree project. 

Instead, it's been a busy summer picking garden produce and processing it, more so it seems than last summer. Then Dan decided to start the renovation project in my loom room, which meant everything had to be covered for dust protection. Plus my sewing room, where my table loom lives, is the hottest room in the house so it's not very conducive to spend time there. I have gotten a little mending done.

The genealogy weaving actually took an alternate path in that it became a cooking project. I somehow got off on researching the cultural cuisines of my ancestors and I've been tracking down and cooking recipes to make period meals. I'm still working on it and it's been both fun and interesting. I will still do the historical weaving one of these days and perhaps put it all together in a family history book for my kids some day. 

Of the blankets, Dan will hopefully not take long with his renovation project. I'd like to have the blankets done for Christmas! But that's out of my hands (as is so much of my life anyway.) 😀

© 2025 by Leigh at Leigh's Fiber Journal
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Sunday, July 06, 2025

Big & Little Brother Blankets: Design Ideas

While waiting to get more yarn, my mind began to explore design possibilities. My first idea was using the variegated yarn for stripes, matching the yarn colorways so that by starting with the same color on multiple skeins and pulling them out to wind onto my warping board together, I could have roughly matching stripes. The solid green would separate these. This would work for the warp, but the weft would have to be one skein at a time so that each weft thread would be a different color. Not good or bad, but I'm trying to figure out if I could keep the weft stripe colors together like in the warp to create a more block-like look. I might could do it if I used multiple shuttles, but eek. 

Another idea I'm entertaining is shadow weave, alternating the colorful variegated yarn with the solid green. Interesting patterns can be created, although the color changes would be unpredictable. 

Then I'm thinking about log cabin; similar to shadow weave but creating a specific pattern looking like woven ribbons. What I learned from previous experiments is that the overall effect of using variegated yarn for log cabin depends on the frequency of the color changes. 

I did find the store shelves restocked with the colors I needed, so no problem there. Now I just need to settle on what I'm going to do with them. I probably ought to do some samples! Since time is not on my side (so to speak) in the summer harvest and canning season, I may have to decide these will be Christmas presents, rather than for the late July family birthday bash. No sense rushing myself and then not being happy with the results.
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Monday, June 23, 2025

Big & Little Brother Blankets

 This is a project I've had in mind for my grandsons. The "big" brother is 3 years old and the little brother is 1 month old. I doubt either one will actually appreciate the gesture, but a handwoven gift from their grandmother is something I want to do! And with the Glimakra set up with a new treadle tie-up system, I'm anxious to see how that goes.  

I've done my yarn calculations a bit backwards. Rather than start with a finished size, I'm starting with an on-loom size. I have an idea of the draw-in and shrinkages, and the final size really isn't technical; in the ball park baby blanket size will do.

Warp
  • on-loom width: 40 inches
  • sett: 8 e.p.i.
  • on-loom length: 40 inches
  • crochet edges so no fringe: 3-4 inches between blankets
  • loom waste: 28 inches (I'm never sure about this with the Glimakra)
  • Total warp yardage: 2960 yards
Weft
  • length for each blanket will be same as width, 40 inches
  • on-loom width 40 inches x 8 p.p.i. = 320 inches for 1 inch of fabric
  • on-loom project length: 80 inches
  • 320 x 80 = 25,600 inches = 712 yards
Total yarn for project (warp + weft) = 3672 yards

Not included in the above yardage is the crochet edging. I will edge each blanket in a different color, so I'll wait on that.

I want to use Hobby Lobby Baby Bee Sweet Delight because it's cuddly soft and washable. And this week it's on sale for 30% off, so now's the time to buy. Hopefully, I can find enough skeins to pull it off.

© 2025 by Leigh at Leigh's Fiber Journal

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