Summer-Winter scarf as Spring approaches

This scarf came from another commissions conversation, but has been something I’ve wanted to try ever since my success with the summer winter block pattern scarves.

Summer-winter drafts are weavings where either the warp yarn or the weft yarn becomes dominant, and so one color can take over. In the block drafts I’ve done before, this isn’t super obvious because the blocks alternate colors anyways. But I really wanted to see what a scarf would look like in a summer-winter pattern without blocks, where one side of the scarf would be a noticeably different color than the other.

This scarf was warped with burgundy tencel, and I used cobalt tencel for the weft. I absolutely love the color effect where one side is burgundy with hints of blue, and the other is blue with hints of burgundy.

The effect of the two colors turned out so well I’m going to have to try this again. And of course I included some of the reflective threads as well.

 

 

Silver Stars Scarf

A dear friend wanted a scarf this winter, and while it may have taken a couple of tries I finally found something that worked and that I thought she’d like. I had several failures along the way, which subsequently led to some beautiful scarves, but not ones that were meant for her. This one finally fit the person…

This scarf is actually quite similar to the very first scarf I wove on my own. It uses the same tie-up, and the same sort of “gradient” effect. But I worked in the reflective threads I find myself using more and more often, and changed up the color scheme and the thread density.

It uses an overshot tie-up pattern. This means that the direct pattern has areas of long floats, weft threads that hang over a lot of warp threads. Normally, that could cause problems with the stability of the weave, or be a potential for “caught” threads that snag and pull. However, with overshot patterns you alternate each pick of the pattern with tabby (the classic over-under basic weave.) This adds stability and density to the cloth, making more complex patterns possible with only four shafts.

The lavender fields scarf is also an overshot pattern.  I’m becoming quite fond of this style. I think because I like the almost “picturesque” complex patterns that can draw larger shapes and designs. This particular tencel yarn needed to be set at 30 epi (30 threads per an inch) which was one of the the tightest setts I’ve had to do yet. But it really made a beautifully smooth and drapey scarf.

This scarf uses overshot to silhouette dark stars on a silver background, interspersed with light reflective threads that sparkle and shine like stars in the sky.

Simple Stripes

These scarves were based off a commissions idea I got off a request on Etsy. It was a lot of fun just doing something very simple. Not to mention a reminder of how fast scarves can go if you don’t choose a complex draft or a lot of color changes.

I deviated from my love of Dragon Tales rayon with these scarves. Not that I’ve given up that yarn, but it was time to play with something different. These are done with a slightly finer tencel yarn. They’re set to 30 ends per an inch, which is the highest I’ve done yet. It takes a lot of time, but gives the scarf such a tight weave and smooth finish. The fabric flows over my hands.

One is a pale jade green and dark forest green. The other is a silvery grey with cobalt blue. Both of them have reflective strips every half inch. I used a narrower width of reflective strips for these scarves since the yarn was also finer and the scarf is thinner and smoother and less “plush” than the dragon tales scarves. It seemed to work out pretty well!

Lavender Fields

Another reflective scarf finished! This one’s complex pattern took me a lot longer than any of my recent creations. I also planned it out with a completely different color scheme, but once I got a few inches in changed my mind. Yarns might look amazing together when you line up the spools next to each other, but somehow everything changes once you actually start weaving them.

This overshot leaves pattern demands enough contrast that the complexity of the shapes actually stand out. Sometimes a change of plans can end up surprising you, and though it might not be what I was going for, this scarf is still beautiful.

I think I’m also finally getting the hang of capturing the reflective threads in photography too. Either that, or I just got incredibly lucky with this one. I’m okay with that, haha. There’s about 30 magical minutes when the sun isn’t quite down, but its dark enough that the flash doesn’t wash everything out, but its light enough that my camera can actually find a point to focus on, and the moon is in the right phase, and you turn around thrice widdershins, and and and…

You can also sometimes get lucky before that though, when the sun is at a low enough angle sometimes it hits just right and you get dramatic sunset lighting AND the reflective moment. I’m particularly pleased with myself for the above transition gif.

Emerald Scarf

So I’ve decided on the first real project I’m going to complete on my new loom. Its a little complicated, maybe, but I think it will turn out well.

Tencel yarn 8/2 going on the loom to make a scarf. I’m excited to try out a pretty overshot pattern I got from the book I found: The Handweaver’s Pattern Dictionary. There’s a digital tool called PixelLoom you can use to play with patterns and colors.

My favorite part about this picture is that it shows such an obvious and satisfying progression from tangled chaos to nice straight order. It really scratches the itch on that type A part of my brain that likes everything in its place, numbered lettered and color coded. That’s definitely part of what I enjoy about weaving so much, if I can’t corral all the chaos in life, at least I can take hundreds of mixed up threads, and turn them into whole cloth.

I like the pattern a lot. But, lest I fear that it is not ambitions enough for a first project on a new loom, I also decided to try out some “leno lace.” You hand pick out groups of threads and twist them around each other and run a weft thread through the middle of the twist to hold it in place. Because this scarf isn’t intense enough already.

This picture shows the completely different tone and feel you can get just by changing the weft color. The bottom is the same dark-green as the outer edges of the warp. The top half is the same shell/cream color as the center threads of the warp. Its always fun to try something different or unexpected as the weft, because you never know what will surprise you. Colors are so influenced by the what’s around them, it can change the character of a yarn completely.

Here is the finished tencel overshot scarf! As far as first projects go, I am ridiculously proud of this one. It was a birthday present for my sister, because I felt like the super rich green colors, and the star-like pattern just called out to be hers. The yarn was very easy to work with, and has a beautiful feel in the finished project, soft and smooth.

The ombre effect was gotten by using three different colors of warp thread (forest, cactus and a cream color), and alternating them in the transition areas. The effect is exactly! what I was going for.

A couple of inches from each edge I did a single row of “leno lace.” Its a method of twisting the warp threads over and under eachother, and anchoring them with a single weft pick. You can check out the project page for some close up pictures of it. Although its quite simple, I might try to do an easy tutorial on this method just so that I can get some practice at tutorial writing, and to get some cool variations I’ve thought of recorded. And so that I just have more pages over there under that page heading ;-).

I hand twisted the fringe. I know they sell little battery powered twisters, but I don’t feel like it’d speed up the process much when you’re doing a short fringe of lots of different threads. I’d just spend more time unhooking and hooking it up to the next fringe rope. Plus I kind of like twisting fringe, its soothing and easy to do in front of the tv.

I got the overshot pattern, and instructions for leno lace, from a book called The Handweaver’s Pattern Dictionary. Its a fantastic resource with good pictures, good explanations, and decent inspiration. I’d definitely recommend it for anyone who has access to a loom.