It is a chenille scarf woven in plain weave but with a twist. Chenille is a funny beast; it doesn’t work well with long floats because it will move and make nasty lumps so plain weave is the best weave structure for it. 
The twist is that every third pick is a clasped weft. Clasped weft is when one weft is used to catch a second weft. The black chenille is used to grab the variegated chenille and it is then pulled to any desired length in the web. The clasped weft pick will be a doubled pick, the chenille hides the join which makes the scarf really neat as it is hard to see how it was done. The little squares of colour that are framed by the black are just magical. It really made the variegated chenille pop.
I did do a sample before starting the scarf. The bottom half of the sample is clasped weft every time, with the variegated chenille it was a little busy and the colours are a little muddy. But with two solid colours it could be very pretty. The top half is 2 picks of black chenille and 1 of the clasped black and variegated chenille. The colours really show up with this style, which is why it was chosen! This photo is before washing and the slight smile came right out. 
I left no fringe as the strands will lose fibres and make snarls, trust me on this! I left a 1” fringe on a small sample and now we have tiny black specks all over the place after the drier striped it from the core thread.
The edges are neat looking. I like how the variegated chenille is like a ribbon moving up the edge. I wove 1” with black waste thread and this will be turned under and sewn in place. I may add a Tencel fringe or some kind of edge treatment at a later date. 
After washing and drying the scarf in the drier it has really changed, it is very soft, drapey and dramatic.
After washing and drying the scarf in the drier it has really changed, it is very soft, drapey and dramatic.
13 comments:
I really love how that looks!
lovely scarf!
I use clasped weft with chenille all the time and love the effect. I was working on an article to submit to Handwoven using that and 2 other techniques on the one warp but scarves got sold before submittal made......might do it at a later date.
It's amazing to me how quickly you have grown as a weaver. Last year at this time you were learning loom basics and now you're game for any type of weaving.
So very proud. Mum
Oh my gosh!!! This is breathtaking!!!! :) I love it!!!
I have a cone of navy chenille waiting for the weaver to get brave enough to use it-thanks for the inspiration with this post; I am going to use it finally!
Wow! What a difference throwing in that every-third black weft makes. It looks like stained glass. Very lovely!!!
That's beautiful! I have some black chenille begging for a job, and have been very curious about clasped weft. I probably won't copy you, but you've given me inspiration!
Stunning! Great job Ngaire..
Like many others who have left a comment here, I have a stack of chenille in the stash and often wondered what to do with it that was 'exciting'. I have seen shadow weave done that was cleverly done, but nothing as lovely as this clasped weft. Given the 'cuddly factor' of chenille along with the window pane colours, better make more because these will sell!
Susan
Thank you for this post! I love the scarf and also the idea of using clasped weft for chenille. The times I used chenille I didn't like the result very much, but now I may have another go at it.
And especially thank you for showing the sampler: adding the solid weft makes a great difference!
This scarf is fantastic, and I agree with Susan that this will sell very well! Thank you so much for this post, I'm feel very touched. I will try this clasped weft technique with chenille, it looks just perfect! Thank you so much again, this is a perfect project.
Wow that's so clever! I love the effect - it's so contemporary! I'm going to have to try it :)
what a great idea to use 2 picks of black between the clasped weft picks. Makes me think why I didn't think of it ;)
Nice.
this scarf is so striking, really beautiful work :)
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