Me and Ewe Pillow Sleeve

Irish wool and knitting stitches served as inspiration for this project’s weaving design.

About this Project

A trip to Ireland, where the number of sheep (nearly 4 million) approaches the number of humans (5 million or so), inspired Anu Bhatia to weave with Brown Sheep Company’s Harborside Aran yarn, which is similar in weight and hand to the Irish wool she’d admired.

She wanted to use patterning inspired by traditional Irish knitting stitches, such as moss stitch, bobbles, and cables. She realized that a background in 2 × 2 basketweave looked quite similar to moss stitch with its knit and purl stitches alternating vertically and horizontally. To replicate knitted bobbles, she wrapped warp ends to create small areas of texture. Her attempts to create a cabled pattern using a technique similar to leno didn’t result in what she’d hoped for, so she left cables out of the design.

The final fabric has stripes on one panel and stripes with bobbles on the other panel. You can use it with either side facing up, depending on your mood.

Contents

• Project Instructions PDF
• Pillow Sleeve WIF

Details

Structure
Basketweave with hand-manipulated bobbles.

Equipment
4-shaft loom, 22" weaving width; 10-dent reed; 2 stick shuttles.

Yarns
Warp: Harborside Aran (100% wool; 162 yd/100 g; Brown Sheep Company), White Pearl, 348 yd; Nautical Navy, 80 yd.
Weft: Harborside Aran, White Pearl, 273 yd; Nautical Navy, 44 yd.

Dimensions
Width in the reed: 21⁴⁄₁₀".
Woven length: (measured under tension on the loom) 39".
Finished size: (after wet-finishing and sewing) 19" × 32" circumference.

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Photos by Matt Graves

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