Or, weaving a Welsh blanket-inspired design. I decided I wanted to weave some cushions based on traditional Welsh Blanket designs. These are often based on four blocks of double plain weave, and need four shafts per block, 16 shafts in total. I started off with a profile draft, with a 2/2 twill tieup. As I experimented, I decided that I liked a plain border around each design, which needed another 4 shafts, so 20 in all.

After converting the profile draft to doubleweave in Fiberworks, it was obvious that I didn’t have enough heddles on each shaft to weave this design. Far easier than trying to change heddles around on my Megado (to be avoided AT ALL COSTS!) was to spread the draft over 32 shafts, which was easy enough to do, and the problem was solved.

I used 18/2 worsted wool from Weavers Bazaar for the cushions. I’ve used this yarn quite a lot in the past, and knew that the worsted-spun wool would be perfect for cushions. I aimed to get 40epi with this warp, 20 epi per layer, which seemed quite open with this yarn, but I hoped to be able to beat square at this sett. I chose 5 colours for each layer, and wound a separate warp for each. That way I could shade the colours without going crazy! I put one warp on the back stick, and another on a robust warp stick, and tied them together very firmly before I beamed the warp.

I used a set of lease sticks for each warp, and threaded alternately according to my threading plan. Weaving went ok – I used the same 5 colours in the weft, so four shuttles were needed in areas where colours were blending in both layers. I kept track of colour changes by putting them into Fiberworks, otherwise I think I would have lost the plot slightly. I still had to remove a couple of weft pics in each block to get them near square.

I got five cushion panels and a smaller piece from my 4.5m warp. Once cut off, the fabric was washed, and cut apart, overlocking the edges to stabilise them. I thought I wanted to use linen for the backs of the cushions, but ended up choosing a felted woollen/polyester fabric, which I think is more suitable.

I love the cushions, but want to weave double weave without being limited by blocks, so that I can achieve more organic shapes. More on that in a future post!