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Sunday, March 20, 2016

Under The Burled Arch...Sort Of


Although 20 and I didn't technically complete our Iknitarod goal, we did create a Baaxter memento and finished before the Red Lantern.  And while a sweater would have been nice and a great challenge, a Baaxter Blanket will probably get more use, so I think it's a win :-).


Like Maisie last year, Baaxter seemed to know this was something special.  There is no way (I don't think) that he could smell that it was his wool because I washed it in Mrs. Meyer's lavender laundry soap and fabric softener, but look how carefully he checked it all out.


The small white stripe on each end is to match his frosted ear tips.  I had "a plan" for that and wove it in the front as plain weave where I would hem stitch the fringe.  It looked awful with two colors mixed into the stitched binding.  

I thought I had a different binding figured out that I would do after it came off the loom, so I wove on (with confidence ;-).  As I reached the end I wove the gray in to match the front...and I still didn't like it.   I stewed on it for a day or so while helping the shearers and came up with a "new plan".

I didn't like the look of the plain weave (over one, under one, over one...) and realized I should have woven it as twill like the rest of the blanket (diagonal lines, like the weave of your blue jeans).  It wasn't hard to un-weave the back and fix that stripe, but now the front and the back didn't match.  

Everything you do weaving is easier while the project is under tension.  There's not really a good way to go back to the beginning and put it back under tension (that I know of) but I anchored it as well as I could over the back of the loom and picked out the first eight rows.  I then re-wove the matching twill patterning and color with a needle.  


Checking out all the nooks and crannies.


Even the fringe.  Baaxter is definitely knit/weave worthy (meaning he appreciates what we did ;-).


Here it is just off the loom.  Notice how distinct (almost rough) each strand looks?  It's also pretty loose, like you could pretty easily poke your finger through it.  Weaving is not technically finished into "cloth" until it's fulled.  I full my weaving in the washing machine by putting it in fairly warm water with a little detergent and let it agitate for 30 seconds at a time until it looks and feels "right", in this case two minutes total.


Hopefully you can see that the material has firmed up and fuzzed up and is soft, squishy and warm.  The color is off in the "sunlight" photos.  The picture with 20 shows it the most accurately.  And speaking of colors, can you believe how gray Baaxter's gotten :-o.  


Baaxter and his buddies lost interest pretty quickly, but look who else came over to see it!


Liddy will definitely be knit-worthy :-).  She and Baaxter were the only two sheep to show any interest.  I think that's interesting.


23 comments:

MaryAnn said...

What a lovely blanket to have to show off. I love Liddy she is definitely a character sheep.

Lisa W said...

OMG, Baaxter is BALD! :-) I think it's beautiful. Great job.

The Dancing Donkey said...

Baaxter, you do beautiful work:). Congratulations on making it under the burled arch.

Jenny Glen said...

That is a great blanket! I love it!

thecrazysheeplady said...

I can't get over how gray he's gotten :-o.

sophy0075 said...

Liddy is wondering what you'll do with *her* fleece, now that she's officially A Big Girl (sniff!)

sophy0075 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
sophy0075 said...

My Nook is repeating me- it must be tired from all the Idita/knitaroding.

Lori Skoog said...

Kudos Sara! What a beautiful way to end the race. You are sumthin'!!!!

T.L. Merrybard said...

I'm not much of a sweater person living in West Oz as I do, but by golly I love a blankie and that one is gorgeous!

MarmePurl said...

I just knew you had something fabutastic in the works. love it!

I'm gonna tell Mom! said...

Gorgeous!

Terry and Linda said...

I find that interesting also!. Love the colors!

Linda

Cheryl West said...

Your blanket is really beautiful and I love the white stitching. You have such sweet sheep to appreciate your work.

Far Side of Fifty said...

It is beautiful! I love that Baaxter knows and Liddy too! :)

Fiona said...

What a perfect item to make from Baaxter's fleece!

Wol 'n Draad said...

That is gorgeous! You really did Baaxter proud!

Lisa Smith said...

What a lovely finish on your Baaxter Blanket! Your productivity amazes me; you must not need too much sleep!

I am very curious about Baaxter turning gray. Forgive my ignorance, but do sheep turn gray as they age? I know some dogs develop a gray muzzle; is it similar for sheep?

The photos of Baaxter checking out his namesake project are so sweet. Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful photography. It truly is a highlight of my day!

Warm Regards, Lisa in Oregon

LannieK said...

Beautiful weaving, Sara! Nice job! It came out gorgeous ~ And Baaxter is sure intrigued with it! My they look really naakkked! Hard to believe that beautiful brown came from that little gray, nakked sheep. And tiny Liddy!

thecrazysheeplady said...

I'm not an expert on genetics or whatever affects things like black sheep turning gray, but I can say that most of our "black" sheep don't stay black very long. I had a feeling Baaxter would be one to gray out because he had so many white hairs throughout his fleece as a baby. Likewise with Murphy and Spud. However, Woody, who has lots of white on his face, neck and chest is still black this year. So...I don't know ;-).

Tyche's Minder said...

Whoa, did not see that coming. That was one quick weaving job and a lovely blanket.

Susan said...

That brown is SO chocolaty :) He MUST know it is his! You did a great job on the blanket, like the white trim, good idea.

Shirley said...

That's beautiful- and I can see it getting lots of use.

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