Cricket Fever

Last May, I won a Cricket rigid heddle loom (donated by Schacht, thanks!) as a door prize at Colorado Weavers Day. I tried the scarf pattern with the yarn it came with and really struggled. Took a lot of getting used to since the heddle isn't attached to anything. I had a hard time getting an even beat, and a hard time keeping the fell line parallel to the cloth beam. Took a while to get a feel for what amount of tension gave a good shed and still allowed me to lift or lower the heddle. Finished the scarf and the loom sat empty for a couple of months while I glared at it.

A few weeks ago Jeanne Marie brought 2 scarves she wove on her rigid heddle to evening weavers group. They were lovely! She warped it with a solid color of wool, then alternated the wool and recycled sari silk in the weft. I thought maybe I should try again.

Wendy gave me some lovely yarn several years ago that I couldn't figure out what to knit out of it. I warped the cricket and started to weave, keeping in mind that it's not a shaft loom and just going with it. The next day it was finished and I was one happy camper!

Then I thought about this alpaca boucle yarn I've had for way too long and never did anything with. I also have a good-sized stash of sport weight alpaca in lots of natural colors. Random stripes of boucle in the warp this time, and a similarly colored sport weight to fill in the gaps. I chose a sport weight weft that was a little darker and browner and wove it all while my bathroom was being de-leaked. Even got it hemmed before the handyman left. ;)

This one shrank up quite a bit in the wash, but it feels just yummy. I put on another warp with sport weight alpaca for a color and weave scarf that I'll be starting today.

And that, my friends, is why I always try something new at least twice before I decide I don't like it.