Nevada County in Spring Scarf

In spite of the December deadline for the scarf challenge, weavers are already working on their projects. 

 

Diana wove her scarf for the challenge from yarn she got from Dee.  The warp yarns were 8/2 green rayon, 4 ply variegated rayon, 5/2 light green cotton and ribbon also in greens.  The warp was sett as follows:  8/2 rayon – 18 epi; 4 ply rayon – 12 epi; 5/2 cotton & ribbon – 12 epi.  The warp was threaded in a straight draw on 4 shafts.

 

The weft yarns were the 8/2 green rayon alternating with a 10/2 pale green cotton for the majority of the scarf, woven in plain weave.  Diana used orange, white, fuchsia, blue and purple similar weight yarns for the accent areas of the weft. The accent weft patterns were mostly twills found in Anne Dixon’s book:  The Handweaver's Pattern Directory.

 

Diana used a weighted “false temple” for the first time when weaving this scarf.  This involves using clamps at either side of the woven fabric, near the fell line.  String or twine is attached to each clamp and these are weighted.  The idea is to help keep the project from pulling in too much while not having to use a traditional temple, which tends to stab the weaver.

Diana plans to enter this lovely scarf in the Nevada County Inspired category at the Nevada County Fair this summer. 

 

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For Dee, with all our love.

 When our group learned that our cherished friend and fellow weaver Dee was seriously ill, we pondered just how we could let her know, within a short time frame, how much we loved and cared about her.  At our Tuesday meeting, we came up with a plan to make a lap robe with squares of handwoven cloth from as many of our members as possible.  The handwoven pieces were all delivered to Marjorie (our quilter) by Friday noon.  On Sunday, this lap robe was complete and today (Monday) was delivered to Dee.  Marjorie tells us that Dee was delighted and was in fine spirits with many an anecdote to tell her visitors.   Later in the day, she plans to knit socks on No. 2 needles!

Weavers names top row starting at the left side.  Marcy, Sue H., Beryl, Betsy.  Middle row Wendy-Marie, Igor, Mardi, Jackie Bottom row Ingrid, Diana, Marjorie, Eileen.

Many of the pieces came from tea towel warps.  Here are a few comments about the squares  and quilting process from the various weavers.

 

Ingrid The sample is the end of the warp of the set of towels that were woven as the last of the original calendar inspired towels. The picture was of yellow lady slippers against a bright green leafy background.     It was woven with 10/2 perle cotton sett at 24 epi.  The threading was an 8 point twill and woven with a 3-2-1-1-1 8-shaft twill pattern.

 

Wendy-Marie  a twill made of cotton (5/2, I think), when I was studying at Ruthie’s in Portland, OR. At the time, I was just experimenting with stripes. For Dee, I picked the zippiest part of the cloth, the part that was most lively and interesting — like Dee.

Beryl  This was the end piece from a towel warp where I do my experimenting.  I have always liked the colors in this piece  but there was not enough to make anything  until now, when it  has found its perfect home.

Igor  I wove this some time ago when I was experimenting with ikat dyeing in the warp and weft.  The cloth is rayon/silk and the ikat dye was local Black Walnut.

Marjorie    inside each square is same design - hearts and squiggly circles (better seen from back). the inside sashing is a combination of leaves, squiggly circles, and hearts; the outer border is leaves. there is a label on the back that simply says: Dee, April 2015, Not 2 Square Weavers.  

now, if you find that you want to do another in the future . . . i cut the squares 10" x 10". the sashing and the outer border were both 3". the finished lap throw is 36.5" x 48.5". washed and dried it is not as pliable as i expected so i am really glad i used flannel on the back to give it the softness we wanted. at the same time, i like "weight" when i grab a quilt or a blanket (often use several to get desired effect) so i think we are good all the way around.



Detail of the quilting on the back of the lap robe

Detail of the quilting on the borders