Lacy Beachcomber Shawl
Designed by Stephanie Flynn Sokolov
Dive into the perfect summer project with our Colorado River Ombré yarn! Weave the lacy Beachcomber Shawl in Brooks Bouquet on your rigid heddle or shaft loom.
Project Specs
Finished size: 14" wide x 72" long including fringe.
Weave structure: Brooks Bouquet and plainweave. Each pick of Brooks Bouquet is separated by 5 picks of plainweave.
Warp: 168 ends, 90" long, allowing 3" for take-up and at least 20" for loom waste/fringe.
Width in heddle/reed: 14".
EPI: 12.
PPI: 5.
Draft: straight draw plainweave.
Not sure how to choose yarns? See Stephanie's post on sampling for colors (and weave structures).
What You'll Need
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Warp yarn: Colorado River Ombré yarn, dyed by Mountain Colors exclusively for Schacht Spindle Company; sport weight, 420 yd/385 m per 4 oz/115 g skein, 80% eco-friendly wool, 20% recycled nylon, 1 skein.
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Weft yarn: Bust your stash! We used Hue Loco Merino Sock 80/20, fingering weight, 400 yd/366 m per 3.5 oz/100 g skein, 80% superwash merino, 20% nylon in a limited-edition Isabell Kraemer colorway.
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rigid heddle or shaft loom with 14” weaving width
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12 dent rigid heddle or reed
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shuttle
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tapestry needle
Materials
Equipment
Directions
Warping and Weaving
Set up your rigid heddle loom for direct warping a length of 90" or use a warping board or warping pegs to wind a 90" warp with 168 warp ends.
For a shaft loom, warp with a straight draw.
Spread the warp with a header and insert a 7" spacer of cardboard or heavy paper for the fringe.
Wind a shuttle with weft yarn. Leaving a tail 4 times the width of the warp (about 56"), weave 4 picks starting from and ending at the right selvedge. Hemstitch in bundles of 2 warps and 2 wefts using the weft tail.
Weave 4 picks of plainweave, ending on the right selvedge.
Hemstitch in 2 x 2 bundles as at the beginning.
Finishing
Remove the shawl from the loom, leaving 7" of unwoven warp at each end for fringe.
Wash by hand in hot water with mild soap. Allow to air-dry. Steam-press lightly with a warm iron.
Trim fringe ends to 6-1/4" long.
Brooks Bouquet Pattern
For rigid heddle looms, place the heddle in the up position. For harness looms, hold the shed open.
Start at the right selvedge. Insert the shuttle under the first 4 up threads from right to left and lift the shuttle over these threads, making a loop with the weft. Tighten the loop.
Insert the shuttle under 8 up threads—the first 4 that you just looped and the 4 next to them. Again, work from right to left and lift the shuttle to make a loop around a bundle of 4 threads. Tighten the loop. Repeat across the width of the warp until you reach the last 4 up threads: this time, insert the shuttle under these threads only and make a loop around them. Now the weft yarn is at the left selvedge.
Gently use the beater to position this row of loops, leaving some space between it and the previous pick of plainweave.
Change sheds. Weave 1 pick of plainweave. Gently use the beater to position the weft so that the Brooks Bouquet loops are vertically centered between the plainweave picks.
