New book! Handwoven Home by Liz Gipson
Weave your own handwoven home…
Doing some spring cleaning? Why not take this time to replace old store-bought towels or rugs in your home with some new handwoven ones made just to your liking! Out with the old, in with the… er, handmade!
Say hello to Liz Gipson’s second rigid heddle book, Handwoven Home. It is a collection of handwoven projects to make for each room in your house. This book begins with an informative introduction to different types of fibers and yarns and why you would choose one over another. It is then broken into chapters, each dedicated to projects for either the Kitchen, Dining Room, Living Room, or Bathroom. The patterns are easy to follow and clearly photographed. I want my house to be as cozy and put together as the one in the book!
Hudson Bay Throw
Liz’s years of experience and love of weaving are evident throughout the book and you will find a whole range of wonderful projects including kitchen towels, rag rugs, curtains, blankets, pillows, and more! I was particularly intrigued by the Hudson Bay Inspired Throw (above), made out of Cascade Eco and Cascade Eco Plus Wool Yarn and the Tweed and Twill Pillow Cover (below) made out of [Sorry, item discontinued or temporarily out of stock] .
Tweed and Twill Pillow Cover
These caught my eye not only because the patterns are simple and classic, but because they use yarns that are more commonly used for knitting. Being a weaver myself, I’ve admired these yarns from a distance (they are so soft and squishy!), but worried that they may not be suitable for a weaving project. Liz proves that even “knitting yarns” can make beautiful woven projects. She quips that she is “not a huge fan of rules, but a huge fan of knowledge” and this book is created with projects to help you gain the knowledge to make your own creative choices. She equates weaving to “baking a cake” and explains that selecting the right yarns for your project is similar to selecting the right ingredients for your cake.
Liz Gipson has become a fixture in the yarn world, writing numerous articles and appearing on various PBS, DIY, and HGTV shows. Her passion for rigid heddle weaving lead to the creation of her website, Yarnworker, which is chock full of rigid heddle information, patterns, and resources. She proves that rigid heddle looms are extremely versatile and that rigid heddle weavers need not have “shaft envy” from looking at complex mulit-harness weaving patterns. But most of all, she proves that there doesn’t need to be a distinction between decorative and functional when it comes to handwoven textiles, they can be both!
Pick up your copy of Handwoven Home while it’s on sale through Tuesday May 30th, and start planning your own handwoven home!
Related items of interest: • Weaving Books • Our yarns • Bulky weight yarns • Wool yarns
I LOVE this book! The projects are tasteful, interesting, and useful. The only issue I have is that a couple of the projects I’ve worked on from the book have errors or omissions (for example, the Bordering on Perfect towels use two warps in the pattern, but the pattern directions don’t clearly indicate which warp yarn is used for each pick). So far I’ve been able to figure them out for myself, but it would save time and frustration if the instructions were clearer and fully verified.