First Hurdle

After Lou Ann had thrown down the gauntlet last Tuesday, I was determined to get going right away on my challenge scarves.   So, Wednesday morning after all the chores were done, I set to work.  I had already brought my rigid heddle loom downstairs the night before and I had gathered everything I needed to maximize my time.   I first sorted what I had brought home into likely color combinations, I chose the bluest set to work on first.  My plan was to warp the novelty yarn first and to use as much of it as possible.









Warping and weaving on this first scarf were pretty straight forward, I was able to use 3 skeins of yarn, and I used almost all of them.













I wove a fairly loose weave because I plan to full this scarf, and I like to leave enough  room for the wool to move a bit.

I had grandkids that afternoon, so it wasn't until Thursday morning that I finished weaving this first scarf and got the next scarf on.






Scarf #2 is Sari silk and a wool novelty yarn, I ended up using some of my own yarn as weft with this one, I couldn't get the right look with what I had brought from the annex.

I somehow managed to not get a picture of the unwoven warp on the loom with this one, but here is a picture of the fringe in progress.

And of course the scarf partially woven.  Again I used an open weave, I do not want these scarves to be heavy, but loose with some drape.


I finished this scarf on the very same day, fringe and all.  The first 2 scarves have been washed and fulled a little bit, I am thinking about whether I want to do a little more fulling, on the second one.













This morning, after chores, I started on the third scarf.  This time I chose a wool novelty yarn and I looked thru what was left over in my bag, and there was a cone of a silk blend that perfectly matches the binding thread that is in the novelty yarn!  My choice was made and I set to work.

The silk blend is much finer than the wool yarn, so I doubled it in the reed as I warped.  It took me a little while to figure out how I was going to weave this one, the yarns are so different from each other, and they take the weft very differently. I tried a firm beat and it packed the edges and bowed in the center where the wool is.  I tried stacking the silk edges with extra picks, but it was packed too tightly.  Finally, I am just weaving very loosely, and I think I like it, I am just not totally convinced.

I have kids again this afternoon,  so I have time to think about it.  I hope to have all three done by Tuesday for Lou Ann's Steeplechase Challenge.   Wish me luck!

Until next time, keep on Crafting, Tina