The last few weeks my loom has seen a flurry of use. SAFF (Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair) happened at the end of October and I brought back yarn for a commission project. After I posted Keeping with a Theme last January, I was approached about doing something similar, but in a blue jeans color pallet. This however was easier said than done, since finding a specific colorway can prove quite challenging. In the process I tried quite a few new things. First, I tried dying some rayon using an indigo dye. I tried to create a color gradient, but failed to take into account how strongly indigo would bind to the rayon, so really, the yarn ended up as an uneven but not gradient blue. I laid this into an overshot pattern.
- White rayon warp 8/2, 20EPI?
- White rayon weft 8/2
- Overshot weft indigo dyed rayon 8/2f for the above scarf Hobbii Universe in Luna colorway for the scarf below.
On the same warp, I tried a technique I’ve been wanting to try that weaves the overshot in on only part of each shot. This creates something similar to a clasped weft. The yarn used for the overshot is a pretty acrylic with metallic bits, picked up from Hobbii yarns: Universe: Luna. I’m a little obsessed with the Hobbii yarns. Their designers have a fantastic grasp of color. I miscalculated a bit and this ended up a little short, and the metallic fibers make it a little rougher than I like for a scarf. I’m not sure what I’m going to end up doing with it.
Neither of these were exactly what we were looking for. The next yarn I tried came from either Michael’s or JoAnn, I think it was Caron Simply Soft Ombres Yarn in the Jeans colorway, but I’m not sure. This one was woven in a tabby weave with a cotton sewing thread as the weft. Another miscalculation, and a very long color repeat, meant that this one ended up being very narrow and long. It’s more of a sash than a scarf.
Finally SAFF rolled around again and I was able to go back the vendor that sold the yarn that had inspired the commission in the first place. The vendor is Interlacements, and they do their own dyeing. I searched through their many beautiful yarns and finally found the one skein that was in a colorway close to what I was looking for. It was quite a large skein so I warped enough for two scarves, which turned out very similar.
- Warp: Rayon Rick Rack @ 20EPI
- Weft: Cotton Thread
I think these will be the last blue scarves I do for a little while. I found some other beautiful yarns shopping at Hobbii and I’m dying to get them on the loom as well. I’ll just leave this here as a preview.
