Hi, its me Abelene.

In the end, it was impossible to photograph, the colors could not be grasped by the camera. Even after trying a hundred shots, in different areas of lighting, only these few worked out. But Jen told me how amazing this one was to be weaving freely with no measured blocks of color, just changing quill bobbins randomly, and she has a lot to say about the whole project in the weaving notes below, so I’ll just smile and wave. I personally think the Marigold Scarf (no.9) is so beautiful, in its deep and rich gold tones, and I wish you could see the colors as they really are, but this photo out of all the many, captures the colors best . . .

♣   Weaving Notes  ♣

Note from Jen: Yes, this project was difficult, and I must confess I am not all that encouraged about dyeing cotton but am gaining perspective in the concept of “slow cloth”. After the many steps of scouring, mordanting, dyeing, then finally washing and rinsing, the actual yarn, and that is before the loom is even warped. I must ask myself is it worth it? I ponder this because I really love weaving, but maybe the added overwhelm from dyeing the cotton yarns first did add a new level of complexity. I have tried indigo, madder, pomegranate and marigold, and in every yarn the results were dull and almost unappealing as the sheen of the undyed mercerized cotton was lost after all the processing through the steps, the luster was gone. I will not give up, I just need a small break, in order to be fresh for learning again. You can see all posts for this project here.

• Yarn: Yellow , dark gold , green gold overdyed 10/2 yarn (see this post. )
• Loom: Ashford 16″ rigid heddle loom.
• Additional tools: I used a temple and the board I rest against the cloth beam to stabilize and lengthen the weaving surface.
• Warp:  Direct warp set-up, 1 end in every heddle/hole, and 1 in every dent/slot –drawing out from apron rod to peg is approx 110 inches from apron rod to warping peg.
• Number of warp ends: 239.
• Reed: 15 dent rigid heddle 15.5″ in reed. (The loom says 16″ weaving width, but there is only the capacity in the reed for 15.5″ .
• Sett on loom: Warp = 15 epi,  weft = 15 ppi
• Sett after finishing: Warp 16 epi, and weft 16-18 ppi.
• Color Pattern: Warp =  random pattern.
• Finished: 3 inch twisted fringe, then washed and dried in machine, then pressed. Measures 78″ long (not including fringe) and 14″ wide, and weighs 135 g. 
• Yardage:  Total yardage used is approx 1250 y, figured from weight of finished piece and not including loom waste.
• Note to self, recipient was eventually Camille, although it was intended for Nina.