Tale of Two Scarves

Photos of the two scarves needed!!!

I've done a couple of posts about plans for the Graceful yarn, in particular, wanting to get the sett right in weaving with it. I did samples at 30 and 35 EPI; the 30 was popular with my study group, although I thought it bordered on sleazy, and the 35 was stiffer... I decided on the 35 and then left for vacation in Japan.

I bring this up because my DH brought along 3 of my hand crafting scarves on the

trip, and his favorite was the black and white crackle scarf I showed in progress here. I ended up disappointed in the scarf due to bad selvedges and an uneven beat and tossed it in the closet for a few years; I offered it to him as it was going in the goodwill bag and he loves that scarf.  Sadly, it kept getting caught on his zipper and snagging.... he felt bad but I don't think it was his fault.  The crackles scarf is loosely woven to the point of being sleazy; I can see the threads moving as I twist the scarf back and forth. Had I sett it closer, it would have been a little more cohesive and I think less likely to snag.  I used this to justify my decision to make the Graceful scarf a little denser.

So it's a 11.5 inch wide scarf, 80 inches long, in plain weave. There are a number of  doubled threads to give it a little texture; I also broke 5 threads and decided not to repair them so they're effectively doubled too. I will note I de-tensioned the warp when I stopped weaving most of the time to minimize stretching; I think the broken threads came when I forgot to do this. (ETA, it could also be that I wasn't advancing the warp enough.)

It took me a bit to get the hand of working with the yarn; it's very thin and very light; I had to learn to catch the loop as I threw the shuttle to make sure the selvedge fit in smoothly.  

I also very carefully double-wound the weft yarn (wound if off onto a storage bobbin, then from the storage bobbin onto a pirn) to preserve the color run. This worked fabulously, of course, until the point in the yarn where the manufacturer had tied on a new thread and the color change abruptly. This only happened once.

The color gradation is from purple to green, going through browns and golds... since I'm using the same yarn in warp and weft the color is a little muddy where colors opposite on the color wheel cross (i.e. purple and green, or  blue and orange), but it's a nice comfortable mud.  I think for the next project using this yarn I'll consider using a solid 20/2 cotton or that singles slubby silk (dyed?) for weft.

The scarf has a great hand, good drape, and feels like fabric; it will soften with use. I'm pleased.

Other projects: 

1. I'm starting to thread baby blankets; it's beamed and ready to go.
2. The shiny sweater is getting longer; I think I'm 12" down from the armholes with 4" more to go!
3. I started cutting tile for the mosaic succulent stepping stones... First, I put the design next to the paver, and it's too big for the stones by about 1/2" inch; not a big deal as I can shrink the background accordingly. The bigger issue is my artistic swoopy leaf designs which just isn't got to be practical with high fire tile.  I've moved the design back to the studio for rework.
4.  I tied an warp I've had for awhile and dyed it in 20 year old (ish) Lapis procion dye. The color was gorgeous! Until I went to wash it out. Needless to say the purple (instead of Lapis) was a disappointment and the blue that was there migrated under the ties... I was significantly upset about it until it dried; now it reminds me of a Aurora Borealis. I have to redesign the towels but I'm pretty excited about it.

   

5. I checked out and read two books from the library on linocuts; I will try to find one of them to add to my library. I'm thinking of carving up a lino of a friend... I think I could do a 3 colors reduction print if I simplified it some.