January 2021 Newsletter

Happy New Year, Schacht friends! 2021 is filled to the brim with events, product releases, and fabulous projects. Stay tuned for a special product release that is just around the corner!

It’s time to take your crafting goals to the next level, and these two projects will do the trick! We’re talking about spinning thick-and-thin yarn, weaving with handspun, and learning an exciting technique called pulled warp. You can weave both projects on a 10″ Cricket Loom or other rigid heddle loom.

River Ripples Scarf

Designed by Stephanie Flynn Sokolov

This snuggly textured scarf combines several spinning and weaving techniques. Spin a thick-and-thin yarn and a smooth fingering-weight yarn. Set up your rigid heddle loom with a variable dent reed and warp it with the handspun. Slightly full the center of the finished scarf to create a wavy appearance. Voilá! You’ve created a one-of-a-kind gift for someone you love.

Don’t be afraid to weave with your handspun. For millennia, weavers used handspun for warp and weft. We made two short videos showing how to set up your wheel and prepare the braid, then how to draft, ply, and finish thick-and-thin yarn for this project—follow my tips, and you can confidently warp with your handspun.

Check out our how-to videos for spinning thick & thin yarn!

Changing Shape Shawl

Designed by Laney Engle

Susan Iverson’s pulled warp technique inspired this shawl. She applies it regularly in her work, especially in her “Observations” and “Horizons” series of weavings. Susan uses pulled warp in tapestry, a weft-faced fabric; I hadn’t seen this technique used in a balanced weave before. I wanted to see what it would do.

You can find a how-to video for this scarf on IGTV: https://www.instagram.com/tv/CKExevsJHcW/?hl=en

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