Weaving anything I am learning takes a great deal of yarn. For example, this third project used (conservatively) 940 yards of worsted weight alpaca and 200 yards of mohair. The warp was 112 inches long and there were 162 warp threads. This means the warp required approximately 500 yards. The weft required 16 inches for each pick and there were roughly 8-9 picks per inch. This means the weft required approximately 440 yards.

For the warp, I decided to make a wide red stripe on one side of the scarf and then smaller grey stripes. There just was not enough red to make a second wide warp stripe and I also wanted the stripes to be a bit irregular because I was going to be spontaneous about where to add grey or red stripes in the weft. To figure out exactly how many strands of each color to use for the warp threads, I took a ruler and wound it with the various colors until I got a pleasing ratio. When it finally came time to warp the loom, I ended up doubling the number of red and grey warp threads.

The red and grey stripes in both the weft and the warp were doubled yarn: a sports weight yarn and a strand of mohair. This made these yarns roughly the same weight as the aqua alpaca.

To weave the weft, three shuttles were necessary so I had to improvise a third using a strip cut from one of my old campaign signs.

I used the full width of the loom — every slot and eye — and this actually is not a great idea because it makes winding the warp on the back beam tough because sometimes the side warp yarns fell off the paper which was supposed to separate each layer of the weft to keep the tension even.

I have learned that even tensioning across all the warp threads is critically important so when you move the heddle the threads move up or down to create a clean shed (a shed is a triangular space between the up and down weft threads through which you pass the shuttle carrying the weft yarn). If you don’t have a clean shed, you can get floats which are very annoying to correct if you catch them. So far, I have discovered 3 different floats which happened in the first 12 inches of weaving.

Lesson: don’t use the full width of the loom.

When weaving the stripes, I tried carrying the grey yarn along one side against the dark aqua, as was recommended by a couple of different experts. But for me, carrying the unused lighter color on the side created an unsightly edge. So after trying this for three stripes, I cut the carried grey yarn in the middle at the selvage and sewed the ends into the weaving so nothing would unravel. But carrying the aqua weft threads up and over the grey and red stripes looked fine because the aqua weft blended into the aqua warp selvage threads.

Making this decision meant that for the grey and the red weft stripes, I had to hide the ends in the weaving so that meant I started weaving odd number weft picks so the tails were tucked under alternate sides and not the same side. I feared if all the tails were on one side, the entire weaving would become lopsided.

The weaving took time but was calming. Once I established a rhythm, it almost became as soothing as knitting.

When the weaving was done, I cut the loops off the back beam and untied the knots on the front beam. Then came the finishing, which must be done carefully and precisely so the ends look good. This time I knew I wanted to have a twisted fringe. I grouped the weft threads in groups of 4 and tied knots very close to the weaving. The grey and red weft threads became their own knotted group. Then I tried twisting but the twists would not stay until I ran my fingers up and down the twist several times which made the fibers mat and keep the twist.

Two hours later, the shawl was ready for a bath in very hot water with a tiny bit of soap in the bathtub. This bath in HOT water relaxes the yarn and allows it to fluff up, meshing the yarns into something more like cloth.

Once the water had cooled, I squeezed out as much of the water by hand and then laid it out on towels spread on the guest bed to dry.

The next day, I tied the knots at the ends of each fringe twist and used a tape measure to ensure the knots were roughly at the same spot. The last step was cutting off the excess yarn and again a tape measure was involved.

My SH really loves the stripes of this and wants one of his own but in different colors and narrower. He wants to wear it with his father’s boiled wool German overcoat which makes him look like a dignified Herr Doktor Professor of the old world.