Last April I threw a project on the loom in order to demonstrate weaving to a friend. I wove a few cms using some odd colours of hand dyed Bowmont I had around with no particular aim other than to use up oddments and show what the process was all about.
I finished it off a couple of weeks ago (it’s been a busy year!) apart from the fringes which still need tidying so don’t look too closely!. I’m actually rather pleased with my demo piece. Just a simple twill with random stripes in warp and weft but it makes a really great knee blanket. Last night I used it to good effect here as the wind was whistling round under the doors despite our crackling log fire and our slate floor is cold as ice. A thin layer of soft Bowmont kept me toasty warm round the legs. The miracle to me is how something that can keep you so warm doesn’t cook you when the temperature rises. Sheep do not fry in their own lanolin when they are in half fleece growth here in the summer. 4-500mm of Bowmont on their skin seems to act as insulation against the sun rather than a heating unit. Wool’s insulation properties are amazing. It’s clever stuff!
Anyway, as an example of something simple but incredibly satisfying I thought you might like to see my efforts. My thanks to my Swiss friend Andrea who wove a few cms of this. Her very first attempt at weaving. She will go far!
