I have to be transparent here. I’m not an exact-type person. I’m more of a “let’s wing it and hope for the best”- type of personality. Sometimes in weaving that works out okay and other times- not so much. I’ve been weaving baby blankets for quite some time and never really took the time (or the notes) to figure out how inches to weave to get a desired length. There are factors to consider- the tension on the warp as you weave, the yarn you are using, and the shrinkage of the yarn. I’ve just been giving it a good guess and sometimes they turn out okay, and other times, they’re a little too short or a little too long. Well, for as many blankets I’ve been weaving, I need to do a little better.
My daughter and her friend put on a very long warp on my Macomber using 8/4 cotton to weave baby blankets for friends. They wove a blanket or two and then the warp just sat on the loom for months. This was a perfect opportunity to experiment. Here’s where the math gets a little funky. Kassie and Taylor’s blanket on the iWeaveIt software looks like the following picture.
This wif shows 434 warp ends. It looks similar, but not exact to the woven blanket. Kassie said they improvised with the colors and design as they were putting on the warp, but can’t remember what they did. I counted 453 warp ends on the loom (I think- I quickly counted). The warp measured 35 1/2 inches in the reed, so that number doesn’t quite match up either. I can say for sure that the warp had anywhere between 434 and 453 ends. If you multiply 35.5 inches (measurement in the reed) by 12 epi you’d get 426 ends so probably it’s closer to the 434 number. These blankets were all about figuring out the ideal length, but evidently I’ll need to be a better with the math on the width as well. Yikes! Here I thought I was going to be so scientific.
So, here’s the math of my test blankets:
These numbers really surprised me. I never appreciated how much the amount of pull in accounted for in the width. In this case the pull in alone accounted for just under 2 1/2 inches. Then accounting for both pull in and shrinkage – we lost 6 and 1/4 inches in the width. It’s hard to believe that the blanket was 35 1/2 inches in the reed and then 29 1/4 inches when finished. Can that be right? In terms of the length, tension alone accounted for about 2 inches. When calculating the shrinkage, I used the inches off the loom number and the inches after washing number. Shrinkage ranged between 13.5 to 15 percent. This was expected as I typically use a 20% shrinkage calculation for cotton.
Best Sized Handwoven Baby Blanket
I’m kind of feeling like I’m in a weaving-type episode Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Which one of the three blankets is the right size? Here’s a side by side visual comparison of my three blankets.
I’m leaning toward blanket number 1 for the ideal size for a baby (3+ months). This blanket turned out to be 37 inches in length. Newborn blankets would actually be significantly shorter, but I like to weave blankets that can be used for awhile. For a toddler blanket, I may opt for blanket two with a finished length just short of 40 inches. Just to be sure I elicited the assistance of my 10 month old granddaughter, Ella.
Ella is pretty happy with the size of blanket number one. I think this will be my go-to size. If it’s just a tad longer that’d be okay as well. I’ll probably adjust down if the intent is to weave a blanket for a newborn and adjust up if the desired size is for a one- or two-year-old. In this case, blanket number 3 would work for length.
Putting the length issue aside for a bit, I have to say I think Kassie and Taylor nailed it for the colors. This warp was put on to weave blankets for friends who will be having baby boys. I absolutely love their color combinations and various twill patterns they incorporated.
Well, there we have it. The issue is settled. The ideal length for a general baby blanket is 37 inches.
