Monday, May 20, 2013

Reversible Twill Scarf ~ How Can This Be Wrong!

I have woven an absolutely stunning scarf and its allllllll wrong ~ three big errors!
I miscounted when I pulled the warp for this pair of Swedish Twill scarves and I was three threads short. Thinking I was a being a very efficient smarty pants, I pulled the three warp threads and wrapped them around a sewing bobbin together and hung them from the loom in a weighted canister.

Well let me tell you that was the wrong thing to do!
Can you see the selvedges? The three warp threads in peach are coming forward when they should be tucked onto the other side. This isn’t a huge mistake, but it really shows.
The second problem with this scarf is that because the hand dyed silk I chose to use as weft has long thick and thin areas, the motifs are different sizes, again not a huge problem, but since I weave to sell, not acceptable. Sometimes I really wish I thought things through just a little more!

The third problem is that the 2/18 mercerized cotton that I used as warp, shrunk an impossible amount! I wove 70 inches of pattern and finished up with a 53 inch scarf….no kidding 17 inches of shrinkage! I’m really glad that I love this scarf, because it’s mine, mine, mine and will look very jaunty with my peach jacket.
Before I started the second scarf I fixed the selvedge problem and hung each one of the missing warp threads from the back of the loom in its own weighted canister. Now they can take up independently.
I changed the weft to 2/8 magenta tencel, so the thick and thin problem is fixed too, above is the magenta side.
This is the peach side and I can’t believe the amazing iridescence the magenta tencel creates with the peach warp….this scarf is a real beauty. But, because I wasn’t aware of the impending doom caused by shrinkage, this too is a rather short scarf, coming in at 57 inches, plus fringe.
Not to be daunted by weaving failure here is my next set of scarves. This pattern is one I tweaked with and it is woven on twelve shafts in a modified crackle weave. The teal and ivory are amazing together.
I’m a sucker for shine and lustre and this scarf is going to deliver that in bags!

3 comments:

Susan said...

What a disappointment for you!
But at a shorter length, it be renamed as a fashionable "coat scarf" as not everyone wants a long dangly scarf. My mother used to tuck hers into her coat and neat and tidy and it was a shorter length.

Love the colours of both scarves!

Susan

Lynn Majidimehr said...

I think all your scarves are beautiful. We learn something with each project, don't we:-)

Lynnette said...

Thanks so much for your kind words! I love to take chances with my projects and I just have to accept that there will be some weaving mishaps. Happily I can consume my 'failures' and look quite jaunty doing it!