Silk Waves Scarf on Eight

I found this pattern somewhere on the internet and I loved the general shape of the motif, so different from the very angular shapes I’ve done lately.   I put the original Crackle Weave draft up on the computer and made a few alterations both in the warp and the treadling to make it uniquely mine and I’m really happy with the results. This is the original draft.

I have a lovely stash of silk in my cupboard and as I was riffling through I found this lovely deep dark inky blue that totally captivated me for the warp.  I paired it with 2/8 tencel in Greyed Teal for the weft.  A match made in heaven I think.

To get three full motifs, I ended up pulling a warp of 200 ends for a slightly wider scarf at 8.3 inches in the reed. I sett the warp at 24 ends per inch.

When the light hits this web, it shimmers beautifully.  On a side note, we have had the cloudiest spring I can remember here this year, so getting photos that really show off the shimmer and shine in my weaving has been difficult.

Here is the beauty shot of the scarf after being washed and quickly pressed, but to make my admittedly self imposed Monday deadline, the fringe has not yet been twisted.

And another photo of the scarf outside in the gloom against a grey house.....maybe not the best light, but needs must, and all that.

I have my fringe twizzling to look forward to today!

I have nurtured a cutting from my Brugmansia all winter and today I noticed it has decided to reward me with a blossom.  I can’t wait to see it open, hopefully our temperatures will warm up enough that I can start putting her outside soon.

Second Pink Silk Scarf

There was yet another batch of Debbie Bliss silk singles in the stash cupboard.  This time the yarn was a darker pink and there is less of it than I had to work with for the last silk scarf. 

I tried out a couple of different styles of stripes on the computer and I think that the best bet is to keep the dark pink silk as a large splash of colour.  So I ended up with two pink stripes with three smaller stripes of cream and chocolate brown silk.

For weft I went into the pink/rust range of Tencel.  I tried Adobe, Pompeii, Sea Coral and Spice.  I was surprised that I liked the darker colours best because they showed the pattern the best.

My final choice was the Pompeii, I like how it blended with the chocolate silk stripes and added a depth of colour and richness to the dark pink stripes.

The pattern is my new favourite, Stricklers #385.  I promise that this is the last time that I’ll use it for a while!  I have memorized the treadling, and because I like it so much the scarf wove up quite quickly.

I haven’t finished the scarf yet, it still needs the fringe twisted and a hard pressing but even on a cloudy day the scarf is lovely.

The monthly botany walk with the local nature club was last Monday, one of the highlights was the spawning herring seen from the parking lot of the park.  In the photo you can see a light blue ribbon of the roe, harder to see is the flocks of gulls, seals and sea lions feasting on the herring.  Those mountains in the background are the Coastal Mountains on the mainland of BC. 

The other highlight of the walk was the 500++ year old Douglas Fir; a massive tree that had lots of holes along the truck that later in the spring will have nesting birds.

Silk and Tencel Scarf on Ten Shafts

I have had some hand dyed 2/12 silk in Denim Blue in my stash for a while now.  I keep looking at the hanks and wondering how to showcase the lovely randomness of the colour. The silk has been dyed so that the colours are pretty even throughout the skein with small lines of darker blue here and there, but as always with hand dyed there could be some unexpected surprise spots.

I chose a graphic ten shaft, ten treadle twill and I have treadled ‘as drawn in’. Hopefully I have allowed the colour variations to shine through. The warp has 200 threads and it is sett at 24 epi.  

The scarf it a little wider than usual, but that is the only way I could centre the motif.

I love to show the threading from the back of the loom.  It really gives a forecast of the overall shape of the pattern that is to come. This one has definite diamonds.

My weft is 2/8 white Tencel and I aimed for a 50/50 weave to keep the pattern square.  Beat is really important when you have such a strong square over pattern.  White was a quiet choice for this scarf, but I really liked the idea of having a low contrast with high lustre to allow the pattern to gleam through.  

This is the scarf off the loom but prior to washing.  You can see there is some difference between the front and the back, the blue and the white trade places throughout the motif. 

Sorry about the lighting, but we’ve been overcast for weeks it seems; my counter top is bright white and grey, not this weird yellow tinge!  

Another shot showing both sides of the scarf.  There are really two patterns at work here, the big square boxes and the diamond stars in the centre.

And one more beauty shot.

Baked a couple of loaves this morning and Oh My! The house smells wonderful.

8 Shaft Twill in Silk Part Two

The pink silk scarf quickly wove up, so fast that I don’t really have any photos.  The scarf is pink and is framed by silk in chocolate, silver and cream and the weft is dark purple Tencel called eggplant.  The pattern is is Stricklers #385.  It is 8 shaft with 12 treadles but the pattern repeat is only 20 which is amazing for such an intricate looking pattern.  

I again wove up to the last possible inch for the scarf, it is impressive how well a Louet Spring loom works.  The fact that you can get a usable shed with the warp rods so close to the heddles is astonishing and it makes the loom waste is so minimal.

The scarf is washed, the fringe twisted and pressed but it is waiting for some sun so I can take some photos.  Here is a sneak peek, the chocolate brown stripes almost take on a purple colour making for a really harmonious scarf.

For the next scarf I had some more Debbie Bliss silk singles in a darker pink.

It has been a cold start to spring but we still have to start spring tasks, there may be snow on the ground but we put the lemon tree outside for the day to start hardening up.  The temperature in the greenhouse was 18.9C which is pretty awesome for an unheated green house, especially since the outside temperature was only 8C. 

The daffodils in the viola pots are starting to pop up and there was an unexpected flower, a snow drop!  What a wonderful surprize.