Weaving: learning process continues

What's up with Dorothy?

My 3rd effort came off the loom this morning.

I don't have immediate access to some of the wonderful fibers that I would like to try weaving with and so this short sample was made from stash wool & nubby acrylic blends already on hand. I wanted to see what happens if you just weave what you own.

I experimented with threading the warp through every other space in the reed.
I experimented with the draft; threading through heddles in combinations of zig zags & pyramids: 1-2-3-4-3-2-1; 1-2-1; 3-4-3; 1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4. And so on...

(Winging it would be a good description, as you might already suspect?)

Making the design up as I went along didn't work out quite as well as I hoped. I couldn't use a 1/2 tie up without making a long weft row stretch unsecured by 7 or 8 warps in one spot.
In hand quilting terms it would be called a "toe catcher"- stitches way too long; long enough to stick your toe through if it was a quilt on the bed.
I'm thinking long stitches are not desirable traits in weaving, either?

I realized possible thread drafting problems as I was tying the ends onto the loom. I'd left open heddle wires scattered across the harness, thinking I could run a single strand of warp randomly - maybe something contrasting in color or glitzy - that might add just a touch of sparkle.
And close the toe catchers.

In the end I just started weaving to see what happens.

It's more open weave made it softer than my last effort. (The grey sample had wool so I thought it would be softer than it actually was. "Beating it" with all my might may have added to the not so soft texture, I guess.

I'm not sorry for trying this latest effort using just knitting yarn, as imperfect as it is. 3 strands of warp broke at different intervals near the end so I go to practice a warp fix as described in the Learning to Weave book. Not sure what to do with the hanging ends on back where each new spool was joined. Seems like they could be clipped since they were overlapped as they were woven in.

The learning process will continue before more dust settles on Dorothy, so I guess that's half of the battle! The gray sample may be cut down and sewed into a clutch style purse or small totebag. This project may become a kitty pillow for Steph's cat, still living back in New York with Her Boy.