Hot green washcloth - Part 2 of 2

In this picture I am twisting the warp to make the leno lace feature. I am using a little hook made from a paper clip to manipulate the warp. A crochet hook would work better but I couldn't remember where they are. My little temple is in place to help me maintain the width.


As the piece gets closer to completion it becomes difficult to open the shed with my wide shed sticks. Right after doing the leno lace feature, I can barely open the shed halfway to slide the shuttle stick across. I need to go to the wood store to buy a hardwood strip to make a narrower shed stick. My shuttle stick and shed stick are from my 20 inch Erica rigid heddle loom. At first I thought it was way too long for the 11 inch washcloth. But I can put enough yarn on the shuttle for half a washcloth without it becoming too bulky to slide through the shed.


Now it is just too tight for the shed stick, so now I've removed the shed stick and started weaving with a chopstick. This chopstick has been sanded smooth and has a flat chisel point sanded onto it. The yarn is thread through a hole I drilled in the other end. The temple is in place to help maintain proper width.


Now it has become too tight for the chopstick, so I am finishing the weaving with a plastic craft needle. The metal toothed comb is used as a beater to push the weft into position. The hard part is leaving enough slack in the weft so it wraps around the warp and doesn't pull the sides in. After the last row of weft goes in, I trim that last weft string and will weave it with the first warp string on the right. Then weave the weft string tied to the frame with the first warp string on the left.


Here I have put on the edge cords on the sides. I've simulated a twined edge cord by sewing every other weft row with one color, then doing the next every other row with the other color. I used white for contrast and visual interest. The finishing weft cords that ended in the middle were woven along the edge warp strings and are now hidden beneath the edge cords.


Here is the washcloth off the loom. The edges are not that good yet, but they look better than previous attempts. The edge cord treatment is improving. I like the leno lace feature. I only missed one pick this time.

I did this in about 4 hours today since I did not have to go work today. I need to get faster at this. If you have any suggestions you are welcome to leave comments.

Have a good day!