When weaving a project, it is important to know how you want to finish the item before even getting started with the weaving. For one of my latest project, I decided to put a little extra effort in its finishing.

Recently, I made a shawl for my sister in advancing twill with echo using an advancing point twill sequence in warp and weft. This shawl really got me inspired. For my sister, I used only two colors throughout the shawl. I wondered what it would look like using more. I did not have to wait long before the ideal opportunity for this experiment presented itself.

One of my New Year’s resolutions for 2020 was to use less single-use products. I intend to extend this resolution into 2021. To reduce my use of paper handkerchiefs, I bought some good old-fashioned cotton ones. However, I was only able to find them in traditional checks pattern in muted colorways. This inspired me to design some handkerchiefs myself, using a checks pattern in a more modern and playful way. I took this project as an opportunity to experiment with colors and patterns in shadow weave.

As a hand weaver, I do not need much of an excuse to start a new shawl. There is a myriad of good reasons to weave a new shawl: trying out a new yarn, experimenting with a weaving technique, weaving the perfect shawl to accompany a new coat or weaving a shawl as a gift. In my latest project, all of these reasons applied: I used a novel yarn in a new weaving technique to make a shawl to go with my mothers new coat.

When I showed my five-year-old niece the shawls of the Stardust Collection, she said she liked them but they were far too big for her. So, I knew what I had to do: make a shawl for my niece of just the right size. Not too small, not too big but just right: like in the Goldilocks fairytale. Her mother and her two-year-old brother could use a new shawl as well, so I set ot to make three shawls in three different sizes.