Woven... a new table scarf

I finally sat down to finish this bit of weaving last week; it had been on the loom for at least a few months! When the weather finally warmed up earlier this summer and the grounds became dry enough for outside work, the scarf took a back seat to the garden and yard.

There was some struggle getting this piece warped... I decided to try back to front warping of the loom for the first time and had some problems. Unfamiliar territory and all that. The result being: Intermittent loose warp threads during the weave. A few weights placed on the loose threads quickly gave them the discipline they needed to become part of the cloth. But too much slack kept creeping in, especially towards the end of weaving, especially on the outside edge of the cloth, near the selvedges. I made it to the end, that's what matters.

It's a wonderful feeling when the weaving mojo hits; a productive, relaxing, and satisfying rhythm develops between the pressing of the treadles, throwing of the pattern shuttle, placement on the fell, passing of the tabby, and beating of the fell line. (The fell line is the leading edge of the cloth, where new threads are beat in place.) That feeling arose last week--the groove paid a visit. And it was nice.

This piece required very forceful beating of the tabby threads (in "overshot" patterns, the pattern threads are held in place by plain weave in a thinner thread; this plain weave is called the tabby). One of the challenges in overshot is getting the pattern to square up. Had I not beat as forcefully to pack the tabby tight, the pattern would have come out elongated. I'm not sure the choice of thread weights in this draft are optimal (I found this draft in "Hand Woven" magazine, Nov/Dec 2016 to be specific). On the other hand, the resulting fabric has a fabulous 'hand' and is quite opulent, so it was worth it.

I did not follow the instructions to a tee: For one thing I only wove 3 repeats of the main pattern to create a cloth 31" long which is just right for my table. Also, the directions called for weaving a section of plain weave to use as a backing. I didn't like the idea of covering up my work, so I did not back it. I simply pressed under the selvedges and ends and hand sewed them in place. The result is elegant, yet honest. My selvedges in this piece were not what I would call "pretty" by any means, but being pressed to the back, they become obscured--even when viewed from the back--because of the colors of the threads and the patterns. A win-win solution in my book!

I really like this scarf, now that it's done and it's inspired me to think about designing my own over shot piece. (Click on pics to make the bigger.)



I love how the interplace of warp and weft, blue and red, has created these beautiful purples:


The backside, as I decided to finish it: