I took a beginning weaving class at the Weavers Guild of Minnesota the first weekend in May 2019. I have had my loom for more than 10 years, and have taken a beginning weaving class years ago. This was a great refresher, and I was eager to weave the baby blankets from Tom Knisely’s “Handwoven Baby Blankets”.

In retrospect, this was not the best choice for my first project at home.

My loom is wide enough, so good to go, right?

First, I didn’t remove the extra heddles. This squeezed the entire project in a bit too much, causing abrasion on the outer threads. I ended up adding a selvedge thread back in once I got to the third blanket. The selvedge didn’t break, but it had a ball of fiber on it that wouldn’t move - the abraded threads made a big lump.

Second, I skipped a slot in the reed. Wove two inches and noticed the line that was developing in the fabric. Unwove and resleyed.

Third, this is too wide of a project for my first independent weave. Throwing the shuttle for a width of 34 inches was taking on too much, too soon. Luckily, my selvedges got better as I wove.

I struggled with reading the draft correctly when winding the warp, but I finally got it right. There was a fair amount of yarn waste during winding. This too became easier as I worked.

Back to front warping.

First blanket with just green weft. Fresh off the loom, 37x30. Washed, 33x27.5. Rolled hem, 30x27.5.

Second blanket with multiple colors, ‘tromp as writ’. I’ve misplaced my measurements for this one. Rolled hem, 33x28.

Third blanket (a bonus!) is smaller, just wove off the ends with purple weft. Off the loom, 35x29.5. Rolled hem 27.5x28. (I mucked up a bit while hemming)

Second and third blankets are a bit wider due to my improvised clip temples.

Carpet warp is surprisingly soft. And these blankets will be good with machine wash and dry.

4 yard warp, hoping to get two blankets.