This short ruana-style top offers a lot of creative colorwork opportunities. We will explore a lot of the elements touched upon in Weaving 201: Colorwork, including laying out asymmetrical stripes using the Fibonacci series, weaving stripes and checks in the same garment, using value contrast when choosing colors, and embracing our mistakes.
In addition to these design principles, doubleweave offers additional colorwork opportunities. You can arrange one color on the top layer and a different color on the bottom layer. It is a great structure to use to create a wide garment by connecting one of the layers at the fold. This has an added bonus of creating a continuous plaid back that doesn’t have to be lined up as two separate pieces. The layers are separated on the loom to form the front. The long fringe in the front takes advantage of every inch of loom waste.
I’ll offer a single heddle version for folks who would rather weave two separate pieces and sew them together. We will discuss the pros and cons of each approach. Both versions are included in this 19 page pattern.
You can sign up for the weave-along here. www.yarnworkerschool.com/courses/winter-2021-doubleweave-colorwork-ruana
Winter 2021 Weave-Along
Weave a short ruana-style garment measuring 39″ x 18” across the back and two 18” flaps, with 10″ fringe in the front and 1″ fringe in the back. I’ll also offer tips for weaving two plain weave panels using a single heddle including seaming options. The pattern is free for Patrons of the School and offered on a name-your-own-price basis for non-patrons. There is no charge for the weave-along itself. Pattern sales go to support the school and future weave-alongs.
Equipment
Rigid-heddle loom with at least a 22” weaving width and the ability to support (or creatively hack) 2-heddles, two 8-dent rigid heddles, 2-6 shuttles, 2 pick-up sticks at least 24″ long.
Single-heddle version only requires a single 8-dent rigid heddle and no pick-up stick.
Yarn and Yardage
Brown Sheep Prairie Spun DK, 256 yd/100g ball; 100% U.S. wool, DK weight; 1,170 yd/lb, in Seal Brown (PSDK115), Sandstone (PSDK110), Parchment (PSDK150), Red Barn (PSDK50), and Coral Rose (PSDK45). This yarn is widely available from local yarns shops and directly from the mill. Brown Sheep is a treasure in the yarn landscape and I weave with their yarns a lot. They put together a bundle for the weave-along and you can pick your weft stripe color.
Total Yardage Required for Doubleweave Pattern: 482 yd brown (Seal Brown), 239 yd tan (Sandstone), 179 yd cream (Parchment), 182 yd red (Red Barn), 97 yd orange (Coral Rose).
If you would like slightly cooler yarn, I suggest Brown Sheep’s Cotton Fleece. I wove the single heddle version in an alternate colorway using this yarn. (Sorry, no bundle is available.) The put-up is a little different so if you are weaving the doublewide version you will want to adjust accordingly. If weaving the single-heddle version you can buy one skein of each color and an additional skein of your chosen weft color.
Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece, 215 yd/3.5 oz (100g) ball; 80% Pima cotton/20% Merino wool, DK weight; 982 yd (899 m)/lb, in Bering Sea Blue (CW762), Silver Blueberry (CW505), Nymph (CW610), Vintage Linen (CW117), Weathered Barnwood (CW116)
Single Heddle Version Total Yardage 157 yd dark blue, 202 medium blue, 191 light blue, 197 brown, 182 yd tan + 192 yds weft color of choice,
PATTERN CORRECTIONS
If you purchased the pattern after 3-11-21, all corrections are incorporated in the pattern. If you purchased it before this date, you can download the corrections here.
