Valley Yarns 40th Anniversary #12 Bouquet of Hearts PDF

From our very own weaving expert, Leslie Ann Bestor, Bouquet of Hearts marks the final installment of our Valley Yarns 40th Anniversary drafts. Worked in Longmeadow, our cotton/microfiber blend, this darling baby blanket is woven using a rigid heddle loom with a 20” weaving width (or more). This blanket consists of two panels woven on the same warp, then separated and seamed together once off the loom.

The decorative hearts are done in a technique called Brooks Bouquet which will be explained in the draft, but is also available in a tutorial here on the WEBS YouTube channel. In order to maximize the lacey effect of the Brooks Bouquet your ppi will be less than your epi. Resist the temptation to pack the weft in the plain weave sections and try to maintain a steady beat throughout the piece. The Longmeadow really blooms when washed and everything will even out beautifully.

Equipment: Rigid Heddle loom, 20" weaving width; 10-dent heddle; 2 - 20" stick shuttles
Warp & Weft Yarns: Valley Yarns Longmeadow (60% Cotton/40% Microfiber; 50g/117 yds), #27 Purple Haze - 5 balls; #21 Linen - 2 balls
Note: This yarn is discontinued, but we recommend Valley Yarns Conway (60% Pima Cotton/ 40% Acrylic; 50g/127yds) as a substitution.
Length: 180 ends 120" (3 1/3 yds) long
Setts: Warp: 10 epi.; Weft: 8 ppi
Dimensions: Width in reed: 18"
Finished size after washing, seaming and hemming: 1 blanket 32" x 32"
Structure: Plain weave with Brooks Bouquet motifs