This is the great use of our March break that I hinted at in past posts – all finished, and one scarf is in happy use. It is based on a pre-wound pair of warp chains of Fantastic Knitting Zephyr (merino/silk, 5,040 YPP) 6 yards long.
Therein lies a story.
Warp sees light of day!
In the last weeks of T’s first school term, mid-June 2017, I was so stressed that I thought weaving scarves would be just the thing. There I had the most beautiful 2 balls of knitting lace yarn in a colour that a (former) friend thought would be great on me. She was correct but I just had not wanted to knit that much Suede in lace at all.
Well, I both did and ignored the math. This led to the correct length, and here is the true quote from my weaving book when winding:
OH CRAP.
This is how I learned that stress weaving is not yet my thing. I was short by half of the bouts I wanted for comfortable twill scarves. It needed re-working but my mind was not to be trusted with anything but knitting needles at that point. Clearly.
There is a literal inked-in note of the yardage requirement for my first idea: 1,728 yards of Zephyr. The rub? I had 1,260 yards, and ignored the shortfall at my peril. But wait. It ends well! No to twill!
So many breakthroughs in one picture – handspun camel/silk on zephyr
What captured my imagination was Erica de Ruiter’s 1 block M’s & O’s in her new “Weaving on 3 Shafts” book, p. 30. The chapter starts,
This weave, found more or less by accident, was the direct cause for my three-shaft passion.
Passion is understating Erica de Ruiter’s work in this area but I digress.
This effect proved wonderful for showing-off my handspun camel/silk that is 3,560 YPP and only 2 ounces from Schafenfreude Fibres. It was spun as long ago as July, 2013.
Shopped the stash – camel/silk handspun
Another breakthrough was weaving with my new Bluster Bay end-feed shuttle (Honex tension) in black cherry. Now that was a splurge worth making! I wound the pirn using my Leclerc electric winder.
New Bluster Bay EFS in action!
The weft now showing is Aura Lace (35% alpaca; 55% tencel; 10% nylon; 4 oz = 568 yards). It is sold by Sheepytime Knits, and the colourway is “Elven Cloak” from their now discontinued & glorious Hobbit Club. The second scarf is a gift for a friend.
Details are that I sleyed the zephyr 20 ends per inch for 9.3″ width in the 12-dent reed (1-2-2 sley). The handspun scarf’s finished width is 7.75″ x 73″ long; 4″ fringes. The Aura Lace scarf measures a cool 8.75″ x 6.25″ with the same fringe length. It has an extra plain weave repeat, and I think this held it more open.
Wet finishing my zephyr blend scarves
Weaving time for me was 7 days (nights, really!) from March 10 – 17, 2018. The for-me scarf is lovely, and with our late spring I have been able to wear it several times.
New scarf happy!
Side-by-side – weft made such a difference!
There are more detail pictures that I will move to my (irieknit) Weaving album on Flickr, and the Ravelry weaving project is already up.
Full scarf – first woven with handspun weft
Although my floor loom is empty again, I am weaving a Tattersall check in 5/2 cotton on my table loom now. We have guests visiting next month, and a lot going-on in the school time before then.
It’s not just a time crunch but things like windstorms and new after-school activities that we have on the go.
Elven Cloak weft on Zephyr for a gift scarf!
