What the Huck - Huck Lace in 8/4 cotton - from warping to wet finishing

For the last few months, I've been weaving on my 36" Nilus Leclerc loom with a 25" 5 dent reed. Wanting to weave finer cloth, I ordered a 36" 10 dent reed. While anxiously awaiting my new reed, I tried to decide what to weave.  I had purchased blue and grey yarns for a baby blanket but wanted to test them out all together so I chose to weave Huck Lace. 

I wound a warp of 8/4 cotton in 3 colors. The blue sections are 32 ends each and the 3 grey sections are 50 ends each for a total of 214 ends. I sleyed the 10 dent reed at 15 epi, threading 1-2-1-2 per dent across. 

Here is a copy of the draft....

Here is the fabric on the loom.....

Size on loom- 14 inches at reed, 12.75 inches on beam. 

I LOVE this fabric!!!! I am so happy with the results. 

In addition to the beautiful, textured simplicity of the lace weave, another amazing feature of Huck Lace, is that it can be invaluable as a color study tool. 

The weave structure of the Huck Lace combined with tabby has the ability to show you how different colors play off each other; as well as the different weaves, in interesting ways. Change the weft color as you go, and the possibilities are endless!!! I am now of the belief that every weaver needs a Huck Lace gamp in their favorite yarns. 

Here are the 3 fabrics I wove including a small sampler with all the different color variations for the 3 colors I chose...

This is before wet finishing. I decided to let the two larger pieces rest overnight before wet finishing. As you can see from the selvedges, there is some serious rippling. I need to twist all the fringe on the larger two pieces before they can be wet finished. 

The small sampler went right into the washer on a gentle cycle, low spin. Then it was onto the dryer for about 15 minutes, removed while still damp, then let it dry flat.

Here is the finished sampler or gamp. 

As you can see by the unfinished edges, the cotton doesn't only fray when washed, it fluffs. You can also see the tracking - the marks made in the cloth by the spin cycle. The measurements of the sampler before and after wet finishing are as follows:

Before - 15.5" x 12.75"

After - 14.25" x 11.75"

Based on how well the sampler turned out, I see some 8/4 cotton kitchen towels in my loom's future ;)

Happy Weaving!