Category Archives: Scarf No. 11

Inescapable Spring (Scarf No.11)

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Hi, its me Abelene.

The Inescapable Spring is upon us, and breaking through the rain clouds are streaming in colors of the most vibrantly rich tones imaginable, the colors of apricots ripening on the tree, the gold sun kissed fruits soon to ripen to perfection before being plucked and bitten into. Señor Mirando and I think the Inescapable Spring weaving is definitely speaking of apricots. March has come in like a lion, and with cool breezy days full of beautiful weather still blowing through, Jen says she is going to warp another in the alpaca scarf series, because the mood is still on!

Abelene & The Crew

♣   Weaving Notes  ♣

Note from Jen: What I love most about this piece is that the colors melt into each other, with low contrast on the grey scale. I want to repeat this , the colors really surprised me in the end, I thought it was going to be too much color, but it all gets toned down in the intersection of the colors. This time I was careful to set the loom up correctly for direct warping, and it was easy, and it was the perfect length. The second alpaca lace-weight I have woven on the 16″ rigid heddle loom, and I just love the balanced plain weave, the sett, the drape, and the light buoyancy to the fabric, I still absolutely am loving weaving this series.

  • Yarn: Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud lace weight, in Zadie (deep gold), Bernice (warm pink to apricot), and Amos (moss green), 440 y = 50g
  • Loom: Ashford 16″ rigid heddle loom
  • Warping method:  Easy direct warp method for rigid heddle, 1 end in hole and 1 end in slot.
  • Number of warp ends: 240
  • Reed: 15 dent rigid heddle reed.
  • Width in reed: 15.5″
  • Selvedges: I did not add extra ends to the selvedges, but did use a temple.
  • Sett after finishing: Warp 16 epi, and weft 16 ppi.
  • Color Pattern Warp: [40 ends Zadie, 40 ends Bernice, 40 ends Amos] x 2
  • Pattern Weft: [2.5″ Zadie, 2.5″ Bernice, 2.5″ Amos] repeated length in sequence.
  • Finished: 3″ hand-twisted fringe, then washed and air-dried hanging, and lightly steam pressed. Measures 76″ long (not including 3″ fringe) and 15″ wide, and weighs 121g. 
  • Yardage:  Total yardage used for finished piece = 1065y, figured from weight of finished piece and not including loom waste.

vernal influences

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Number two in my alpaca scarf series, warped and started to weave the first few color changes, just enough that I could photograph the color sequence before March arrives, and obviously in a colorway that is very typical for springtime. The color choice was difficult for me; I was considering gold and green , gold and apricot (it looks pink, but it is more like apricot), or even green and apricot… but all three together? Possibly too frolicsome and feminine. I mean, where’s the calming and staid neutral in the mix? My reason is that I figured I would never improve as a weaver if I didn’t start getting outside my comfort zone and make bolder choices, and so I did. It is evident there is a vernal influence going on here, as I’ve noticed all the wild plum trees have exploded in blossoms, and the intense fragrance of it all is amazing. Weather is high drama this time of year; one day the bees come out and everything is all abuzz with temperature in the 70’s, and the next day it could snow and bring everything to a frigid halt. I absolutely love March, and the last stretch of winter.