A Honeycomb Library Bag
continued
around in my bag to find my library card. I thought to myself, wouldn’t it be nice if I had a special pocket for my card?
Well friends, I decided to mash together my beekeeping, my dyeing and my library habit into what is now affectionately known as my library bag. I wove it on a 20" Flip using a honeycomb pattern, and it features a special pocket perfectly sized for a library card. There is no closure, just a flap to keep things from falling out. The strap is easily-made by twisting lengths of both the warp and weft.
Making the Honeycomb Bag
Equipment:
Rigid-heddle loom with a 17" weaving width, 2 stick shuttles, 2 pick-up sticks.
Warp:
270 yards of Bartlettyarns Sport Weight Wool in Peacock Blue
Sett: 10 ends per inch
Width in loom: 17"
Length of warp: 57"
Weft:
32 yards of Bartlettyarns Sport Weight Wool in Peacock Blue. Used to weave 3" at the beginning and end of the cloth.
90 yards of Bartlettyarns Sport Weight Wool in Peacock Blue. Woven doubled as heavy weft outline of honeycomb cells.
160 yards of JaggerSpun Maine Line 2/8 wool. Used to weave the interior of the honeycomb cells.
Weaving
Using a 10-dent reed, warp your loom, centering for a17" width. Start by weaving 3" of plain weave,
using a single strand of the Bartlettyarns Sport Weight Wool.
The next 34" of your weaving are woven in the honeycomb pattern. Each cell of the honeycomb pattern is outlined with a double strand of the Bartlettyarns wool.
This is how I wind a shuttle with a double strand of yarn from a cone: Unwind a length of the yarn measuring about fifteen arm spans. Catch the yarn with the stick shuttle at this point, and begin to wind the yarn you just unwound from the cone paired with a second strand directly from the cone.
To weave honeycomb: You will use two pick-up sticks. Pick-up stick A can be inserted at the beginning of the process and left in place. Pick up stick B will be inserted each time you need it. This can be a bit fiddly, but once you get a rhythm going it becomes part of your weaving process quite easily. You’ll want to be sure your weaving area is well lit. I like to use a piece of heavy paper cut to fit into the shed behind your rigid heddle in a color that contrasts with your warp as a visual assistant. This can be inserted when you are picking up threads so that they may be more easily seen.
When you are inserting your pick-up stick, your rigid heddle should be in the down position. This gives you access to the ends that are housed in the slots. These are the ends you want to pick up.
To weave honeycomb: You will use two pick-up sticks. Pick-up stick A can be inserted at the