These two scarves are pretty much straight out of JST Season 3, Episode 6, Collapsing plain weave.  The only changes I made were to add some colour and weave effects to the silk stripes and squares.  There are 30 ends in each silk stripe.  I divided one stripe in half, 15 threads of orange, followed by 15 ends purple.  The next silk stripe I placed five alternating stripes of six threads in orange and purple, and for the third, alternating two ends by two ends.  In some of the weft squares, I mirrored the warp colour sequencing.  I thought this added some interesting colour stories.

The weaving was easy and fast, except for the stopping to change colours.  Fifteen ends per inch, fifteen picks per inch.  I played with the colours and materials, soft and matte vs slick and shiny. Off the loom they came is in quick succession.  Two scarves and a sample, each slightly different.  One in squares, and one in stripes.  I twisted the fringes and admired the colour combinations.

And then I froze.  All of a sudden, I had a fear of washing.

Not totally surprizing considering my last adventure of accidental over-felting that left me in tears.  Not yet to be talked about in polite society.

Three weeks passed.  The scarves mocked me each time I walked past them draped over the chair in my studio.  They called to me like a siren’s song, “wash me, wash me.”

I held my breath.  I washed the sample.  It turned out OK.  But the scarves were bigger, with more chance of messing up.

Two more weeks, and still the scarves taunted me.  “Chicken” they called.

Finally, the stress of leaving something unfinished became greater than the fear of failure.  I washed, agitated and checked carefully until I got just the right amount of fulling.  Washed and air-dried, the scarves are bouncy and light and, most importantly, done.

In case you haven’t guessed, my weaving mantra is “It’s not finished until it’s finished.  Things undone are things not fun!”