Crackle Weave Scarf

Sometime ago, I downloaded a crackle weave draft from www.handweaving.net and played around with it a little bit, by changing the colors, adding a thread or two to balance the draft, etc.  Periodically, I would pull it up in Fiberworks and look at it, think about what fiber to use to make a scarf out of this rather interesting draft.  Trying to be a bit frugal, I looked at all the cones I had available to me at home and decided upon two chenille cones I'd purchased quite a few years ago, that I thought might work for this pattern.

Draft with Yarns

Now, this draft looked gorgeous on paper, but I had never woven crackle before, nor tried it with chenille, which I hadn't woven with in years.  This was a 1300 ypp rayon chenille from Webs.

As I began to weave this drawdown, I was really disappointed, because it was quite difficult to actually see a pattern in the fuzzy chenille, but I decided to finish up the scarf and, then, maybe try this drawdown with a different fiber, like cotton or silk or a wool/silk blend.

Closeup of Scarf - Note Collapsed Structure in Center

I also forgot to weave an inch or two of plain weave that I could have picked out after wet-finishing, so I gently tied the fringe ends in several overhand knots for wet-finishing and put it in my front-loading washer on the handwash cycle and then into the dryer for about 15 minutes on the lowest setting.  To my surprise, the weave structure collapsed.

I liked the new texture, a little like seersucker, but I was surprised, since both the warp and weft are the same fiber, although different colors.

Then, I had an "aha" moment and realized the reason I'd created a collapsed weave structure was because of the different lengths of the floats, much like waffle weave.

Scarf on Patio Chair

At any rate, I decided to gently press the entire scarf on a low heat setting of my iron.  After finishing that process, I noticed there is still a slightly collapsed structure, but the pattern is much more readily discernible.  So I'm happy with it, after all.

Weaving is so fascinating, because there is always something you learn from every project.

Field trip to Kingman, AZ

Upon reading the last issue of Spin-Off Magazine, I noticed a listing for a spinning, weaving and knitting store in Kingman, AZ. I made the decision that the next time I got out to Lake Havasu, AZ, I would make a little field trip to The Spinster, in Kingman, about an hour from Havasu.

Today was my chance to get there. What a lovely little shop! Of course, I had to purchase a little more yarn and a couple of buttons, but I managed to not go home with more spinning fiber, although a beautiful curly maple drop spindle almost attached itself to me.

This is a very friendly yarn shop, and I had fun talking with the owner while I perused all of her many yarns, beautiful drop spindles, spinning fiber, etc.  She had a really beautiful one-off spinning wheel in the store window, which we discussed because it intrigued me.  And it even came with several extra bobbins and its own built-in lazy kate.  This is a very inviting shop.

Yarns I purchased at The Spinster

Even my husband enjoyed visiting in this shop with me.  As I said, it was a very friendly shop, and the drive up Highway 40 from Lake Havasu was lovely, especially the area just before you arrive into Kingman from the west - truly gorgeous rock formations.

If anybody is out near Kingman, they should drop by this very friendly little shop in the Old Town section on 4th Street

Beautiful buttons purchased at The Spinster