Collossal Woven Pink Scarf

I planned ahead for this scarf. The last scarf was great, but a little shorter than I wanted. So, I placed my loom on the far end of the island and put the the warping peg across from the island and onto the adjacent counter. That gave me an extra 30 or so inches for the additional scarf length and all the extra yarn in the world for fringe.

Somehow I managed to forget along the way that I left myself 30 extra inches for scarf length & fringe. I think I have a "slight" crafter OCD illness that brought this "slight" oversight into play and "forced" me to end on purple, because I started on purple, and that gave me probably 10'' more than I really needed for a long scarf.

Remember me mentioning that these scarves are generally warped and finished within a day? Well, on day 2.5 I was starting to think something sneaky was going on that made this scarf take so long. Maybe yarn elves sprinkling on more length during the dead of night? Me just taking my time for once?

However, I'd rather have a scarf that is mammoth-sized than too short. Look at today's weather, for instance: -40 degrees (real-feel). There's no shame in having a scarf that you can wrap twice around your neck.

 

Scarf Length: a whopping 92'' long
Woven on my 15'' Schacht Cricket Loom 

  Woven Scarf #4 
Have you seen the other three? Scarf #1 (Blue) Scarf #2 (Greens w/ Stripes) Scarf #3 (Hawkeye)

Yarn: Caron Simply Soft Solids in "Pink" and a slightly darker shade of  "pink"(I know, real helpful. I dumped those labels year ago", and a beautiful almost heathered "Plum." For the middle accent warp and wefts, I used "Candy Stripes" from Bernat Baby Coordinates.

Warps: 35

5-dark pink-5 lighter pink-5 dark purple-5 Candy Stripes-5 darker pink-5 purple- 5 lighter pink

Wefts: 5'' of each color (Plum, Lighter Pink, Darker Pink), segregated by 8 wefting rows of the Bernat "Candy Stripes"

I'm not a huge pink fanatic, but I do like to wear it from time to time to get in touch with my girlie side. I realize how crazy that just sounded. As a mother and, well, the person that I am, I don't devote a lot of time looking or feeling incredibly girlie. Too much sneaker-wearing (orthodics), not a lot of time for hair-doing, or hair-cuts or manicures, massages, etc.

I decided to do something different for the fringe, since it was going to be short anyways (*shakes fists*). I tied the yarn together in pairs and then grouped 5 threads at a time together into a knot in the middle of the fringe.

This pattern will look great in any color, whether you want to go stir-crazy making it feminine or masculine.

I think it's beautiful. Maybe one of my best yet? You really can use the cheapest of yarns (as long as it's soft) and produce something magnificent. This whole weaving thing is a great stash-buster! Hmm, towels and placemats next?

Stay warm, stay safe & stay crafting with yarnie goodness!

FO: Woven Hawkeye Scarf

I just had to. I was going to work on a certain hibernated project that I was referring to a couple of posts ago, but I had The Itch. The itch to stitch something woven in Hawkeye colors.
So I conceived and bore this yesterday evening:

I couldn't believe how amazing the effect is with just two colors. I did 6 warpings of gold & black and did 14.5mm of each color while weaving. 

SCARF LENGTH: 56.5 inches     SCARF WIDTH: 21mm (8.25'')

YARN: 1 skein of Caron Simply Soft in Black & Gold

SET-UP: approx 70 inches worth of warping length (I used my entire kitchen island-length)

WARPS: 36

6 yellow-6 black-6 yellow-6 black-6 yellow-6 black

STRIPING: color changes every 14.5mm

Although my husband, myself and my parents-in-law are all U of I graduates, I am gifting this scarf to my MIL who is a much bigger Hawkeye fan than I. I'm still trying to work on figuring out the warping length to make the scarf the perfect length. It's not overly short though. Just a little shorter than I'd like to have as a scarf. It wraps around and leaves some dangling length.

I'll get it right next time.

I just love it. Colorway ideas are already buzzing in my head for new 2-color striping, just like this one. Maybe some color changes will be longer than others. 

It's been snowing for days, and since we are in the Chicagoland area we are experiencing extra from the "Lake Effect." I convinced my husband to work at home this morning because it will take 2 hours to get to work during Rush Hour. Now that it's about lunchtime, it's finally starting to stop. I think. The roads are treacherous because they either can't keep up with the snow, or are understaffed during the holiday. My poor brother lost his car on New Years Day due to dangerous conditions. He works as a delivery person, so he'll have to start the year with no car and no job now.  :( 

Stay warm and safe.

FO: Woven Scarf 2

I finished my other 3 year old's woven scarf on Christmas Eve, in time for bracing the cold weather while we visited both of their grandparents.

These scarves are addicting. A toddler scarf will only take a day. For an adult size, it would only take a weekend. I see many, many scarf gifts in my family's future.

Read here to learn more about the blue woven scarf.

YARN:

1/2 or less skeins of Mackintosh Yarns' Skye Sock Yarn in "Spring Greens"

Trivial amounts of Mackintosh Yarns' Skye Sock Yarn in "Gun Powder" (blue)

Trivial amounts of Bernat Satin Solids in "white."

WARPS: 28 warps

5 white-1 blue-5 white-1 blue- 4 white-1 blue- 5 white- 1 blue- 5 white

LENGTH: 44'' long

I think that the striping effect with the warps of blue and white yarn made it look stunning. The blue got toned down and looked almost green in the process. I really like the stripes with the white and variegated greens when you look closely.

Jake was wearing the green one, so I was getting mighty nervous when he was wearing it for 3 days...tugging and pulling on it before the official photo-shoot! The weaving is on the loose side, so it did get a little pulled out of order during the time which the child in question was wearing it.

While weaving this scarf, I paid close attention to how I wrapped the ends so that they did not get all puckered weirdly while weaving. It is a great improvement from my first woven scarf.

I hope everyone enjoyed a wonderful Christmas. And to the ones who don't celebrated it, I hope you had a relaxing holiday.

FO: 1st Cricket Loom Scarf

Wham bam thank you 'mam! This project took under 24 hours! I assembled the loom yesterday and then worked most of it until late last evening, and finished the last inches this morning before the inevitable toddler chaos truly started.
Read pt.1 here.

I don't know what's better than instant gratification. Maybe instant gratification from an object that is as thin as fingering weight?

 The blue colorway has an ocean wave effect from being woven around white yarn. You could almost get lost at sea!

YARN:

1/2 a skein or less of Mackintosh Yarns' Skye sock yarn in fingering weight (colorway: Gun Powder)

Some scrap white yarn from Bernat Satin Solids in white

WARPS (the vertical threads that run the length of the scarf):

28 warps

Don't mind the PJ shots! It's Christmas Eve morning! We stay comfy around here.

 The scarf is 44 inches long. Perfect for a toddler that's 3 or 4. Heck, maybe up to 5 years old.

I'm not quite sure who is going to like the blue one more, but there will be a green sibling that is even more artful than it's brother.

That's right. Another one is already halfway done on the loom! Want a teaser?

WIP: 1st Cricket Loom Scarf

Do you know this doorbell chime: the one where you haven't the slightest the clue who it could possibly be at a certain time of day, but answer it and find out it's the package you've anxiously been awaiting? I certainly had that feeling today!

I treated myself to a 15'' Cricket Rigid Heddle Loom from Schacht last week, mostly paying for it with all the birthday money I received and two (yes!) discounts. The online Lion Brand store had a sale on it for 12% off, which knocked off 20 dollars, and I also found a 15% off coupon online (it's always good to check!) that knocked off $22.50 just for liking them on Facebook.

15'' Cricket originally $169.95
-12% discount= $150.95
-15% like-me discount= $127.46
+Shipping= $12.95
TOTAL= $140.41

If you feel like you have to run online and buy this loom (which I don't blame you, I felt the same way), I highly recommend you spending the extra 20 bucks on the 15'' rather than the 10'' because you can weave much larger objects (like a table runner that's wider, or a bag, etc.) to your creative heart's content. I should get free yarn from them for doing all of their advertizing, shouldn't I?

Great video tutorials for beginners:
Quick & Concise from Blick Arts
The Crochet Crowd's Loom Weaving Lessons

Before you can beat your first row on your project, you have to come to terms with the fact that you need to assemble your loom. I know, I know, anti-climatic when you open your box and you want to just start right away! As a lady who always passes her "assembly required" projects onto her husband, I was indeed proud of myself when I got my hands dirty and assembled it myself. With nothing but the instructions, a screw-driver, and sub-par intellect at using the instructions.

It took several inches to get the hang of proper tension. I'm not too concerned because this scarf is for one of my boys. The important thing is to not "beat" it too hard. I do several light pats and then move on.

 Because my yarn is fingering weight, it takes about 16 rows for 1''. It's slow-moving, but I'm taking my time so I get the hang of things and enjoy the process. Sometimes I just stop and admire the woven goodness.

This is a great way to use up all your delicious sock-yarn and scrap yarn at the same time!

The scarf is approx. 35 inches long so far. I only have 15 inches or less to go. I'd say that's a great beginning to many, many spectacular scarves. My husband has already put in his request.

I ended writing this post at midnight! Things are getting kind of blurry here!  Merry Christmas Eve, folks! You still have time to participate in my CD giveaway at "Anna Maliszewski Music" on Facebook!