While some patterns might look best in only one color, far more of them look better with two or more. But what to do with all those pesky ends? If you’re not a knot fan, you’ll want to leave yarn tails, but wouldn’t it be better to work in as many as possible while you’re weaving instead of saving them all till the end?

Yarn tails everywhere!

Yarn tails everywhere!

In this post I’ll briefly discuss selecting colors that look good together (according to principles of art and my opinion). Then I’ll demonstrate how to use two colors and prepare the loom so you can work in some of the ends as you weave.

Hopefully everyone knows what complementary colors are (“A secondary color that, when combined with the primary color whose wavelength it does not contain, produces white light” Dictionary.com). One color completes the other, making a complement. So, complementary colors are a safe bet when choosing colors, right? Yes, sort of. You also have to take into account color temperature and value (the lightness or darkness of the hue). Read More →

“Lattice Borders,” from the Weave-it Magic Squares booklet, is a simple and versatile pattern. It’s somewhere between an overall pattern and a picture pattern, and would make a great border design on a scarf or blanket. It looks great in single or several colors, but variegated yarn is not recommended as the details of the pattern will likely be lost.

"Lattice Borders"--single color; this sample featured a mistake in the pattern. It has since been corrected.

“Lattice Borders”–single color; this sample originally featured a mistake in the pattern. It has since been corrected.

When I wove the sample pictured above, I made a mistake I didn’t notice till I took the square off the loom. “Rats!” I thought, planning to start over. Instead I went on to make the already warped two-color sample of the same square. While I wove I recognized the “blessing in disguise:” I could demonstrate how to fix a mistake in a square after it’s off the loom. Watch for that mini-tutorial later in this post.

"Lattice Borders" in two colors--warped L 1&3 in mc, L2&4 in cc.

“Lattice Borders” in two colors–warped L1 & 3: mc/L2 & 4: cc.

Read More →