For our guild's entry at Midwest Weavers' Conference, we all wove baby blankets to donate to a local hospital. The hospital suggested that blankets in deep and bright colors were welcome, as many would be going to African American and Hispanic families. To me, that sounded like an invitation to step outside of my box and have some fun. So I went to my local weaving shop, bought three cones of cotton in some of the brightest colors I could find, and played with some design ideas on the computer. I was delighted when I realized that using two of the colors (Pacific Blue and Caribbean) in the warp and the other (Magenta) in the weft resulted in iridescence. I took a draft from the Strickler book, turned it, and took out a few ends to come up with a heart shaped twill because the theme of the conference was Weaving in the Heart-land. I called the blanket "Dragonfly Dreams" because of the iridescence and because I love alliterations. Here are a couple of views of the blanket on the loom and one of the finished blanket:
No, I didn't need another wheel. In fact, I've noted an alarming trend: In the three years I've been weaving, I've collected three looms, and in the two years I've been spinning, two wheels. Anyway, my other wheel is an Ashford Joy, which is fabulous for taking places. Recently, I took it on a business trip to relax in the hotel that evening. The Ladybug will be my stay-at-home wheel. She is so stable and smooth, a real pleasure to use. I love that the functionality is similar to that of a Matchless. The only drawback I can find to this wheel is that it's not pretty, like a Matchless. The red plastic isn't traditional, but with my background in materials engineering, I feel almost as if I need to defend the inexpensive but funcitonally similar materials, even if they aren't beautiful. 
