Great Not-So-Big Green Blanket
I must have true finishing avoidance disorder. The [Great Big Green Blanket](http://blog.sweetgeorgiayarns.com/2006/05/the-great-big-green-blanket-project/) that I am making for Michelle, well, I [finished weaving it back in July](http://blog.sweetgeorgiayarns.com/2006/06/not_my_loom/). All I needed to do was finish the hemstiching at the starting edge of the blanket, trim the fringe and wet finish the blanket. It’s November now. So the unfinished blanket has been sitting there, patiently waiting, for four months now.
But last night, in a burst of energy (probably inspired by a yummy dinner at The Foundation) I sewed up my [Lucy in the Sky Cardi](http://blog.sweetgeorgiayarns.com/2006/09/random_thursday/) and blocked it AND finished the blanket!
At first I attempted to wet finish the blanket by hand with a plastic tub full of warm water and lavender-scented woolwash. It was too tiring, so I took the wet blanket and dumped it in the washing machine. We have a front-loader and I’m told that front-loader washing machines are terrible for felting wool. So, I started up a full cycle on the machine with two glugs of Eucalan. Every few minutes, I’d stop the machine and take a look at the blanket… to see if it was fulling or felting too quickly. After about 15 or 20 minutes, I stopped the washing and set the machine to rinse and spin out. After another 15 or 20 minutes, almost all the water had been spun from the blanket. The resulting fabric was more cohesive, nicely fulled… and much smaller!
The blanket is originally 450 ends with a sett of 10 epi — so that would be 45″ on the loom. Then the measurement off the loom was 40″ x 78″. Already, the fabric had pulled in to be narrower… _After_ fulling, the blanket is now 36″ x 62″. So the blanket _shrunk 25%_ of it’s original size! Now, it’s a nice and compact lap blanket perfect for staying cozy on the couch.
The colours are, well, more intense than I had originally planned… because I misplaced a decimal point in my dye calculations… So the colours are basically ten times darker than I had intended… oops. But I’m completely pleased with the result. I took a clean stiff-bristled hairbrush and brushed the whole surface of the blanket (I brushed so hard I gave myself a workout AND a blister!). The delicately-coloured brushed mohair weft creates a beautiful hazy nap that softens the more intensely coloured wool warp. I’m so in love with this blanket, I want to make ten more just like it… in all different colours of course.
Tags: blanket, fulling, great big green blanket, wet finish
Mmmmm… I wish textiles like this were edible. I want to eat that blanket!
Wow! Beautiful, the colors are gorgeous.
I love the colors.
When it comes to knitting, while there are things that I think are gorgeous, and know take gobs of work and concentration, there isn’t much of anything that leaves me wondering how it was possibly made by a mere mortal. Not being a weaver, I’m still left in awe when I see beautiful woven fabrics that look like something I’d covet in a shop. I guess it’s because I don’t weave, and hardly know anything about the process of making such things. (In other words, your weaving is beautiful, and I am impressed possibly to the point of embarrassment by how professional looking the final product is.)
Amazing! So beautiful. i love the colors. You make me want to weave!
That is *beautiful*.
I think the colors are amazing, and it looks so soft and comfortable.
That blanket is A-Mazing! Makes me want to get a loom just to make a gazillion of those!!!!
The colors are beautiful!!!!
I’m glad you misplaced that decimal point – the colours are great. And Foundation – I love that place. Good things all round.
Stunning blanket! For what it’s worth in regards to front loaders, I have no problem felting in mine at all. I made two Sophie bags this summer and they felted beautifully. I was worried at first because I’d heard the same thing, but with a pair of jeans in the mix there was certainly enough friction.
i am the luckiest girl in the whole world!
Beautiful. And thank you for making me feel better about my own UFOs.
That’s such a gorgeous blanket! I can see why you’d want to make ten more.
It really is stunning. I’m glad you miscalculated, actually!
That blanket looks so amazing. What a wonderful job. I just bought some of your sock yarn and love it!! (And wanting more too…)
the blanket looks beautiful
This blanket is breathtaking! So lovely!
Gorgeous. You did a beautiful job.
The blanket is really beautiful and I think the colours are perfect! Michelle is really really lucky.
wow…that blanket is so pretty!! love the colours so much!! too bad i’m not that lucky michelle who’ll be receiving it!!
you make me want to weave. this is so beautiful.
I don’t know anything about weaving, but I do know that I love this blanket. Lime green is one of my favorite colors.
I just brought my loom in the house for a cleaning and maybe I’ll start a project. I to weave learned in college and seeing your warp with your own dyed yarns opens up a whiole new territory for me!
I really love the colors, somehow my color mistakes actually look like mistakes
The blanket is beautiful, absolutely beautiful.
It is perfectly lovely. MMM. One of those projects that makes me think I should pick up a new habit–I mean hobby.
Wishing I was the Michelle recipient, too.
That is so lovely. I like the colors, in fact I just used that blue to paint my studio/office. I had originally planned to accent the blut in a blueish pink, but that green is stunning with it. That blanket looks so soft. Michelle is one lucky lady.
Amazing. I love the colors, no mistake at all in my book! Seeing all your projects is (unfortunately!!!!!) giving me a bit of a weaving bug–in fact I’ve just ordered a book to see if I should take the plunge!
Oh my goodness, that is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. Lucky, lucky Michelle.
The blanket is lovely, what a wonderful gift.
Oh, it is gorgeous, no matter it is small!!
I love the colours and the weave pattern… beautiful beautiful…
beautiful – I love the halo and the fringe. Looks very cozy. And, the spring like colors will be perfect on a cold, grey day!
the colors of your blanket turned out so beautiful! it looks very nice and soft – love the soft hazy look….
That is the most beautiful blanket! The colors are amazing. Could you post a few more pictures? I’d love to see it in all its glory.
Gorgeous blanket, but I can’t believe it shrunk so much! I’m glad it’s still a good size and the finish is lovely.
that’s just gorgeous, and i love your too-dark colors, esspecially with the brushed haze over them. i used to design textiles for a living, and lord, how this makes me miss being paid to do that every day! maybe when i get a real studio, i will start weaving again!!!
I think it’s peculiar how people think front-loaders don’t felt/full…I hear that a lot, especially since I bought one, but have never actually talked to someone who had trouble with it. The front loader uses minimal water, and I think that helps a lot with the felting.
The colors are lovely! I would love to see a picture of the whole blanket….I bet it is beautiful!
The blanket is really beautiful – I really love the colors. I’ve been wanting to buy a loom and learn to weave – now I want to even more!
Those colors are stunning. Nice work.
Felicia,
Check out a picture of my first sock using the Angel Yarn that I got from Connie at Pickup Sticks. I also need to take pictures of my Slayer socks as well.
Beautiful! Could you make a recommendation as to a loom for a beginner weaver? What price should one expect to pay? Table or floor loom? Since there are so many choices, what did you start with?
I love that blanket! Would you consider selling any of them? Email me!
Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous and the colors are simply beautiful. Well done on creating such a beautiful blanket.
What a wonderful gift! It’s so special. Can’t wait to see a picture of you in the Lucy Cardi. So how did a dinner serve as inspiration? I’m curious.
Absolutely gorgeous! I love to colors too, even if they weren’t the intended shade. One day, when I have a bigger place to accommodate a floor loom I will strive to weave such pretty things as you do.
That blanket looks gorgeous, and makes me want to learn to weave!
I’m so sorry about what you’ve been through in the past month, but I’m so pleased that you’re back.
What a gorgeous blanket! I’m so impressed!
That blanket is so lovely – I am really jealous of Michelle!
Only, if I were her, I would be afraid to use it because I’m always like that with really lovely things that I own.