September 2023: Herringbone Twill based on Vintage Wool Scarf
Woven by Carol Buchmiller
Among the textile mementoes inherited from my mother was a plaid wool scarf that my dad used to wear. As a new weaver, I began to look at items such as this scarf in a new way: how would I weave it?
This year I finally felt my skills were up to the challenge. It was fascinating to examine the scarf thread-by-thread and try to replicate it in Fiberworks. The weave structure is a skip herringbone with alternating groups of 12 and 10 ends. The four-color plaid is mirrored widthwise but not lengthwise. The selvedges are very interesting—at first, I thought they had been machine-stitched and trimmed to make a soft edge, but on looking closer it appears they’re secured by a few ends of plain weave with a gap between—something to try with the rest of this warp.
Warp and weft yarn: Borgs Vavgarner MORA 20/2 wool in brown dark gold, beige, red, and unbleached. This is a lovely yarn but thinner and scratchier than the original. At 24 EPI, it required a very gentle beat and it was difficult to be consistent, but it made a lovely fabric on its own merits—would be great for a lightweight jacket. A 2/18 merino would probably be a closer match for the scarf.
Sett: 24 epi and 28 ppi. Woven with 274 ends plus 2 floating selvedge threads, threaded on shafts 1 – 4, sleyed 2 per dent in a 12-dent reed. Width in reed 11.5”.
Loom: 8-shaft LeClerc Voyageur table loom.
Finishing: The sample was wet-finished by hand in lukewarm water using Eucalan wool wash, followed by a cool rinse, blotted with a towel until damp-dry, and pressed dry on wool setting. Shrinkage was 2% in width and 3% in length.
Here is the original scarf on the TOP and the woven sample on the BOTTOM.
Bio:
Carol Buchmiller is a longtime knitter who started weaving in 2016 in an attempt to use up her yarn stash. Now she has a weaving stash and a growing collection of looms.
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