Thursday, November 10, 2011

Spot On

I have always adored the polka dot scarves that Mum did a fair while back.  I love the fact that I can lay in straight lines of weft and magically produce pretty little circles; it is amazing what networking a draft will do!  I have finally woven two of my own scarves and I thank Alice Schlein for the pattern. The warp is navy 2/8 Tencel and I put enough warp on for two 70 inch long scarves.  The weft for the first scarf is red violet 2/8 Tencel and the second scarf is a stunning celadon green 2/8 Tencel.
 
As I was weaving I noticed that the navy warp was releasing a lot of fibre dust, it was making the proverbial dustbunny under my loom!  After washing the scarves I hung them up to dry and careful smoothed the wrinkles away then I noticed that my hand was covered with navy fibres.

When I was steam pressing the scarves I noticed that they had a halo of navy fibres that really blurred the pattern.  So I used a sticky lint remover sheet on each scarf to remove the excess fibres and the scarves look amazing, the pattern is now crisp and clear.
These polka dot scarves are just wonderful!  I loved weaving them and I love the look of them, fun and funky enough for a young woman, but classic enough too.  The light dots on one side and dark dots on the other give the scarf a sense of depth and make them a versatile wardrobe addition.                                                      
This green is much, much fresher in real life - seems that greens are very temperamental about having their photos taken.
Both looms have had to be moved into the dining room and here they sit, back to back while the studio is having a remodel.  The dining table is pushed against the picture window and the chairs have had to be put into our guest room!  What a kerfuffle! We've pulled out the pellet stove and are in the middle of installing a gas fireplace, so the dust will be flying for a few days more. 
Right now the plan is to put one loom in the den/office and the other in the family room. I keep telling myself that change is a good thing!

5 comments:

dorothylochmaben said...

Love the networked scarves. On my list of things to try !

Susan said...

The polka dots are so nicely shaped and be fun to wear!

I think making perfect circles on a loom is the holy grail of weavers!
You certainly have mastered that!

Susan

Peg Cherre said...

How many shafts is this pattern? I went back to the original post, but didn't see that info, or a draft.

Thanks!

Lynnette said...

Hi Peg,
The pattern uses 8 shafts and a variation of these scarves can be found in The Best Of Weaver's Twill Thrills....

Clare said...

I love this pattern, I was about to ask how many shafts but somebody else has asked already. I might have to get that Twill Thrills book. The previous versions were great too, and I like the slate grey.