Kelly Casanova Weaving Lessons

weaving

One project finished, onto the next!

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The rose path scarf is finished! 

It felt so good to cut my first project on my new loom off and finish it.

It’s the first time I’ve woven with Bambu 7 as well, it is truly beautiful – so soft and a gorgeous sheen.

The reverse side.

The front.

And now I’m working on some more luxury face cloths for my Etsy shop. They were so popular last time, I’ve been wanting to restock ever since. 
I must say, it was really nice to direct warp the rigid heddle loom after going through the debacle of warping the 8 shaft loom for the scarf. So many errors! But, as I’ve heard many people say, you tend to learn more from mistakes than successes. 

New loom progress

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Did I tell you about my new loom? I’ve been saving for this one for a while! It’s an 8 shaft Ashford table loom, and it’s a beauty. And a real learning curve. I’ve had it for a couple of weeks, but only yesterday did I start weaving on it.
The warping and threading process is very different to the simple old rigid heddle, so I’ve had to learn warping on a board, reading pattern drafts, threading texolv heddles and following lift plans.
Lots of reading, watching videos and asking questions on Facebook groups. But it’s all starting to come together and…

The results are stunning. This is a rose path pattern on only 4 shafts (soon I might be brave enough to use all 8 shafts, but oh! the threading time is so long!) I’m starting out with a scarf using Bambu 7, which is just gorgeously soft and shiny.


I’m sure I’ll have my next project planned before this is finished, but for now I will just enjoy having it warped, threaded and the weaving!

New woven garments

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One of my new favourite pieces, this wrap just wove up beautifully. I used Australian 3ply merino and dyed a gradient of blues and purples for the warp.

Then a lovely teal-ish green for the weft.


This is the first time I’ve woven with 3ply and won’t be the last! It worked up into this most beautiful, soft and light piece of cloth, I love it! 

And this one – a 1/3 warp float pattern using a pastel gradient and a commercial grey merino, both in 4 ply.
The reverse side.

The front. I’ve also been putting my new fringe twister to work and have a video in the editing process on using a fringe twister, so look out for that one if that interests you.

Both of these pieces are available now in my Etsy shop. By the way, I am very blessed to have 99 sales in the shop now – I think hitting 100 will be a cause for celebration, perhaps a special giveaway?


This morning I dropped off this scarf to be judged for the Melbourne Show in the spinning and weaving scarf category. It’s the first time I’ve entered my weaving into anything, so a bit nervous, but it’s a good way to challenge myself.

Hope you’re having a great week, if you’re enjoying sunny weather and blue skies where you are, please send some here, Melbourne hasn’t realised it’s Spring yet!

Linking up with Yarn Along!

Another video tutorial

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This video is all about achieving neat edges while weaving, I hope it helps someone out there.

It’s a long time since I bought new fabric and Spotlight was having a 30% off sale so I couldn’t resist! My eldest daughter has a birthday in a few weeks, so I have plans šŸ˜‰

This is my current weaving WIP – a merino scarf with a pastel gradient warp and solid grey weft. I started out weaving in plain weave with black yarn but hated the result, so I “unwove” and restarted with the grey and a warp float pattern – so much better! 




Hand woven hand towel sets

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These are what has been keeping my loom busy recently. Quite a lot of work, but worth the trouble!


Each set is woven with Australian cotton and included a hand towel and face washer.

I had the idea of doing gift sets for a while but wasn’t sure about the execution. I wanted them to be lofty and luxurious, so I doubled the warp threads for the towels and it worked a treat!
I wove mostly in waffle weave, adding the texture and aesthetic appeal I was hoping for. I have a tutorial for working waffle weave here.  This tutorial is now also on Rigid Heddle Weaving.com

These are a few extra face washers and teapot rests, I just love the colours and textures.


The towel sets are available in my Etsy shop now.

My first video tutorials!

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I’ve taken the plunge and made a couple of video tutorials. I get so many questions related to the rigid heddle loom, I thought it easier to show rather than tell. Yes, I cringe a little at my own voice and despite my best efforts, I do seem to sound rather “school teacherish” but hopefully the videos will be helpful to someone.

Scarf off the loom

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Another week, another item off the loom! This one took a little longer (a lot longer) than I had envisioned, but I’m overjoyed with the result and that is what is important.
I started with some 4ply merino that I had dyed in a rainbow gradient for the warp and teamed it with grey merino for the weft.

The pattern is 3/1 weft float, which was easy to work but was a significant time investment. This is the back side of the scarf (remember, when weaving patterns you get the additional surprise of seeing a different pattern on the underside!)

And this is the top side. See all those little grey floats?


I love the scarf and the colour arrangement has given me ideas of using a tencel or silk yarn for a real shimmer.
Available for sale in my Etsy shop now.

So, next project? You bet I have one planned already, in fact, I have a whole queue of them! Towels. Experimental towels. Stay tuned šŸ™‚

New ideas and new stuff for weaving

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Lots of new things happening for me with weaving! I’m still experimenting with pick up sticks. This pattern is a 3/1 weft float and uses just one pick up stick. I paired a grey weft with a gradient warp and I’m just loving the effect!

Some new 10ply cottons from Bendigo Woollen Mills arrived today, I have some interesting plans for them in the form of towel and face washer gift packs – we’ll see if they turn out first though! 

Also newly arrived from Petlins, I splashed out on a new heddle for the loom plus some 8/2 cotton. This is the finest heddle you can get for the rigid heddle loom at 12.5 dent and the cotton is also fine – I have tea towels in mind but I think weaving this fine will be time consuming. It’s disappointing that I can’t use Australian cotton for this as I normally would – as far as I can tell there are no Australian weaving cottons. 
So that’s my weaving taken care of for the foreseeable future, one project at a time šŸ™‚