Archives for: February 2009, 13

Overshot Saga - The End

February 13th, 2009

I am pleased to present to you... Drumroll, please! My Scarf!

My Scarf

As of February 2nd, it was officially done! Fringe, washing, everything. It's SO much fun to wear my (in every sense of the word) scarf - my weaving, my design, and even my name used to make the design! And the funny thing is, I've hardly ever worn scarves before, but now I throw this on every time I leave the house. I don't know why I never gave scarves a try before... They really are quite nice to wear.
I was, of course, able to go show my new scarf off to my fellow weavers in my guild. I've also had a couple friends that know I weave ask if it was my work. Overall though, the scarf half tucked into one's jacket is not a top conversation piece, yet it's still a thrill to wear it and know that I made it, even if no one else happens to notice. It's like this fun little secret to wrap warmly about my neck (warm fuzzies really are great winter wear ;-) and smile to myself about. Though if anyone did inquire, I would instantly spill my "secret" - so that doesn't seem like a very appropriate term for it! LOL

If you're a fellow weaver and like technical details, here is a list of most of them (and if this is all Greek to you, or you just don't like fiddly little details like this, skip the list and go see the rest of the pictures below!)

Sett: 20 epi, ppi (not counting pattern picks, only tabby)
Width in Reed: 6.55”
Total # of warp ends: 131
Reed used: 15 dent
Sley pattern: 1,1,2,1,1,2, etc.
Woven in: Overshot
Warp: Unmercerized 8/2 cotton (3360 yds/lb.), natural.
Tabby Weft: 8/2 rayon, white.
Pattern Weft: A double strand of 8/2 rayon - one strand a grayish slate blue, the other strand a grayish sage green.
Finishing: Machine wash, partially machine dried, hung to finish drying.
Size on loom: 77.25” (196.25 cm) long, 5.75” (14.5 cm) wide.
Size before washing, but off loom and relaxed: 74” (188 cm) long, 85” (216 cm) including fringe, 5.75” (14.5 cm) wide.
Size after washing: 70.25” (178.5 cm) long, 79.5” (202 cm) including fringe, 4.75” (12 cm) wide
Fringe: Twisted, with supplemental pieces added.

All of the changes between this scarf and the first one were in the materials used, not the pattern. The treadling was done exactly the same (except the one mistake I made in each scarf was different from the other LOL). The first scarf was adequately drapey, but not as nice as I had hoped for, so that meant something needed to change for this one. Either re-sleying, or changing the materials. I didn't really fancy having the scarf any wider, or loosing pattern repeats by removing part of the warp, so I went with the changing materials option and my tabby weft was replaced with white 8/2 rayon, instead of the cotton that the warp was made of. Another added benefit of this change is that it gave the areas of the tabby that can be seen an extra shimmer from the contrast of the slick, shiny rayon crossing the unmercerized natural cotton.

The other change, as is obvious to even a casual observer of the two scarves, is the color. The pattern weft was still two strands of 8/2 rayon, but it was a strand of blue and a strand of green that were extremely similar color values... rather than the two strands of dark brown from the previous time. The play of the green and blue strands together was interesting to watch. At times, they would fall in such a way that would give the pattern almost a beveled look that was quite fun to see - though most of that showed better on the loom, rather than now that it's washed and tightened up.
I didn't realize quite how terribly bored I was with the other color until I started the first few inches of this one. Suddenly my interest in the project was renewed! All it was was a new color to look at, but it was amazing what a difference that made to working on it.

The picture isn't the best, but here is my attempt to try and show the mix of the two colors... See if you can pick it out... Onecolor is just slightly lighter than the other -

close up