Another learning experience

After finishing my ruby red sweater, I wanted a matching scarf. Instead of knitting one, however, I decided to weave one, in a houndstooth pattern of red and white. I went through the motions, but the result was not quite what I wanted.

To warp for houndstooth, one alternates two threads of each color across the loom. I thought the scarf would look nice with solid red borders, so I warped just red on either end, not realizing the result could not be solid red unless I executed something like clasped weft technique, which I was not prepared to do. Oh, well.

Another mistake was using Cascade 220 Superwash. It is just too stretchy, especially as a warping yarn. That is why the houndstooth looks rectangular instead of square. It took me quite a while to adjust to wefting in two colors, too, so the selvages are wonky.

The selvages also looked unfinished to me, so after some experimentation, I added a single crochet border.

Another thing I don't like is how dominant the white is. Even though the yarns are the same, the white takes over, I presume because it is more reflective than red. The scarf has no drape, either, despite some rough treatment in both the washer and the dryer. Using worsted weight for both warp and weft is too much.

All along the way, I kept second guessing my decision not to sample the yarns and pattern. As a knitter, I am used to wasting very little yarn, whereas weaving produces a lot of waste. Creating a sample on my 24" Ashford would have wasted as much yarn as the finished sample would take. My solution to that dilemma is to purchase ANOTHER loom, fittingly called the Samplet. I pick it up on Thursday. Then I will have no excuses not to sample.