Snail Spirals

It's amazing how things get finished when you actually work on them. The bird's eye shawl is done; I did the last bit of weaving and knotted and twisted the fringe yesterday. I think finishing the fringe took almost as long as the weaving! Not really, but it was a solid 2 1/2 hours.



Such a nice fabric, this is. Incredibly soft and drapey, but stable and with good integrity. I was a bit worried that the warp sett would be too close, but it's just right. After washing, drying, and pressing, it feels wonderful.



The diamond pattern was so fun to weave. I liked watching the outlines build up pick by pick. I did have a bit of trouble in the beginning keeping track of the pattern, but after a couple repeats it seemed to click and the weaving just flew along.



The specs:

7.6 oz
20" x 75" with 6" fringe
Warp: 3 yards, Jaggerspun Zephyr, 50% merino/50% tussah silk, 5.5 oz (including loom waste)
Weft: handspun singles, 50% merino/50% tussah silk, handdyed by me before spinning, 2.7 oz.
Sett: 25 epi, ~25 ppi
"Triple Draught Bird's Eye" page 21, A Handweaver's Pattern Book, Marguerite Porter Davison
4-harness, 4-treadle



The handspun singles worked quite well as weft, and interacted nicely with the Zephyr. This is something I will be doing again.