Spin City: Weaving A Wallhanging

I've been enjoying weaving recently; I love gathering all the ingredients together, choosing texture, colour, shine, fibre. I love how close you get to (your precious) yarns and the simple repetitive motions.

Making the fringe is almost the best part for me as the long strands really show off interesting yarns more than most other crafts.
For this weaving I choose four yarns for my fringe. First, a handspun single I made from merino, flax and hand dyed noil, spun in a soft thick 'n' thin. I made this the longest to hang low in the centre. It has a very natural, almost organic feel to it in neutral colours.
Then, I wound some gorgeous boucle yarn in a pure ecru white made from a merino cashmere blend. It is so soft and the boucle looks a little bit like tiny tiny pompoms spread along the lengths of the yarn. I made this part thick and full, mirroring on each edge.

In the centre, I have an alpaca yarn in dusty pink wound with a fun novelty thread in pink and gold with glitter. The two look fun together as the two contrasting textures compliment the other. I cut these yarns to form three tiers for more texture.
In the very middle is my favourite. A slinky smooth chainette yarn in pale gold lurex and viscose. This yarn really SWOOSHES. It is so drapey and lovely to touch. It shines just enough for a luxury touch against the more organic yarns. It really looks yummy!

With my fringe finished, I then focused my attentions on more texture. I wanted to create three other areas of interest on my piece. I went for some bubbled roving in my "Snow Cloud" colour way - a blend of whites and greys with a little bit of shine. A sumac plait in pink merino wool tops and some more fringing with the gold viscose.

Woven Wallhanging

In the background I wove thick singles yarns in an alpaca/merino blend and a berber wool blend in natural tones. Ecru, fawn, and biscuit. It has such a soft feel to it. In some areas, I mixed the white yarn with some space dyed viscose, plying it using my spindle which looked pretty.
I realised I needed one more textured element- so I quickly spun some wool and mohair locks in natural white into a thick n thin lockspun single, again on my trusty spindle, and wove it straight off the cop. It was a little twisty to pull through the warp but nothing I couldn't handle! I liked the way the lockspun yarn packed down in the weave to form a fuzzy raised texture. :-)

I finished my weaving by pulling all the loose ends through the back with my favourite sparkly yellow crochet hook and adding a natural wood branch to hang it from. I liked making a weaving in what I call a "vintage" colour palate, compared to my usual anything goes rainbows. Which is still way fun to make- but the dusty pinks, pale golds and natural tones all this weaving all worked so beautifully together. I think I would like to add bits of antique lace next time- either in the fringe or in the weaving itself. I took some photos of my weaving outside in nearby, over grown fields in Cambridge. I love this time of year, with the golden late evening sunlight.