In my last post I showed you some cashmere silk eggshell lace scarves on my counterbalance loom, and promised more info about them. Here it is, finally.

At one of my December shows a customer ordered two custom cashmere silk lace scarves. I’m always happy to comply with these requests, although I had to tell this woman that she couldn’t have exactly what she wanted. She wanted a scarf just like the one I was wearing. Should have been simple, shouldn’t it? But it wasn’t.

I was wearing one of the eggshell lace scarves I’d made on my Macomber when I was trying a new pattern. Those scarves were not stable enough, and can’t be sold. I often wear one at a show because they go with everything, and when I’m wearing the scarf the problems are not obvious. So I explained why I would have to modify the pattern in her scarf. She understood, but was clear that she wanted me to get as close as possible. I assured her I’d try.

I knew that I couldn’t really know what would work by using another fiber; I had to do my testing with cashmere silk yarn. I also knew I had a limited quantity of the eggshell, a popular color, and I didn’t really want to use any of it up in samples/tests that may or may not be successful. So I decided to use my least-requested color, a bright Christmas red.

I also decided that I would only use a lace pattern I could weave on my counterbalance loom. The cashmere silk scarves I’ve woven on the counterbalance loom have been almost completely successful; the ones I’ve woven on my Mac not so much. I think it’s a combination of the loom and the weave structures I’ve chosen, but I almost always make the tension too tight and distort the scarves.

So I spent some time with my Fiberworks software, and using block design strategies, created a Swedish lace draft. I measured out enough warp for two red scarves, and threaded up the loom. I set off weaving, and was pleased with the results. Although it’s clear that while a piece is still on the loom you can’t tell for certain what it will look like after wet finishing, with practice you can get a good idea.

As I was weaving the first scarf, I decided that I could get even closer to my customer’s wishes. So I cut off that scarf, wet finished it to be sure I was right, and re-threaded the loom. I was also happy with the second scarf. Here are both of them.

After wet finishing the second scarf, I decided I could make even more changes to get even closer to my customer’s wishes. I also figured that I ought to warp for four scarves instead of my usual three, since I have had lots of customer interest in eggshell scarves. So I was off and running.

Unfortunately, things didn’t go quite as smoothly with the eggshell scarves. It had nothing to do with the modifications to the draft. For reasons that I never could quite identify, I had all sorts of problems with the threads near the selvedges. They broke often, they fuzzed up, the refused to produce straight selvedges. I tried all the tricks I knew — weighting the selvedge threads, doubling those threads, using a temple — nothing made any difference. Ultimately, I did get four saleable scarves woven, but I’m embarrassed by the selvedges on all of them to one degree or another. I’m not showing you a closeup of them with good reason. But here are two of the scarves. (You can tell at a glance I haven’t pressed them yet.)

Actually, I did have one idea about the selvedge problem with the eggshell scarves. The reed I use on my counterbalance loom is the one that came with it when I bought the loom, after it had sat in a damp garage for more than a year. The reed was very rusty, and I was poor, so I cleaned it with naval jelly, a stiff brush, and lots of elbow grease. Although it didn’t hassle the red yarn, I guessed that the eggshell yarn was just a bit more delicate, and that there were possibly tiny burs on the red that frayed the yarn. So I bit the bullet and ordered a brand new stainless steel reed. I figured that my little loom got enough use that it (and I) deserved a new tool. The reed was out of stock, so I’ll have to wait a few weeks for it to arrive.

Of course, I’m weaving in the interim (tempus fugit, ya know), but I had to work on another order before I went back to the cashmere & silk. The eggshell was pretty frustrating, and the other special order is for black. The only other black cashmere silk scarves I made had a similar selvedge problem, and I didn’t think my brain could handle it. I’m hoping (probably without much chance of success) that the reed will come in quickly and I can use it for the black scarves.

I promise, I’ll try to post more frequently. I want to show you what I have on that little rigid heddle loom (and I want to get back to that!), the order that’s on my counterbalance now, and my plans for the towel exchange I joined this year.

Your turn: what have you been doing since the year changed its number?

She picked the colors and designs — all the yarns are organic cotton chenille. I like her first one a lot.

The dark color is called heather, an apt name for this lavenderish-brownish color. There’s plenty of contrast with the ice yarn to make a great houndstooth pattern. The white is more prominent in the design as it’s a bit thicker than the heather.

Her husband wanted sage & mocha, and also a log cabin design. I probably should have been clearer that the design wouldn’t show up well with these two colors of such similar value – it’s extremely subtle. The scarf is still nice and soft, so hopefully he won’t be disappointed.

I can’t make the other scarf she ordered until I finish weaving the bookmark warp I put on my Macomber loom. I warped it up so that people could try their hands (and feet) at weaving while they were here for the Allegany Artisans tour. I need to cut off their bookmarks and mail them out to them, then weave the rest of them up. I was hoping to do it today, but the flu hit, and I’ve spent virtually all day on the couch. Maybe I’ll feel better tomorrow.

Alpaca is very lightweight and yet quite warm. In fact, if you look very closely near the bottom center of the picture, you might even see a bit of the white background through the scarf. It’s woven with a moderate weave at 12 ends per inch for warp and 12 picks per inch for weft, making certain that the scarf retains a beautiful hand and drape. I believe it’s the hairiness that makes alpaca warm.

Like the red, black, & gray scarf, I wove this one on my rigid heddle loom. Why? Alpaca isn’t one of my big sellers, so I decided to buy just enough yarn for this special order. Once I’d made that decision, I wanted to make the weaving as efficient as possible for both use of yarn and motion. The rigid heddle wastes very little yarn and I’ve gotten better at warping it, so it seemed the logical decision.

My customer plans to order another skein of each color and have her mom knit her some mittens. I think they’ll look great, and hope she send me a photo of them.

Your turn: what are you wearing to stay warm when the cold winter winds blow?

Gavin's completed blanket

So what was my suggestion? Since Gavin’s already two, he has some reasoning capability, so I thought it might be helpful to tell him that this blanket was made special, just for him.

Caitlin’s promised to keep me posted on the progress, and when possible, to send me a photo of Gavin and the blanket for me to post.

The winnner of the July contest is Judy T from Buffalo, NY. Judy will get the set of four mug rugs in the mail.

Watch for my August contest, which I won’t announce till August rolls around.

Gavin's well-loved blanket

We’ve all had kids who were attached to a particular blanket, stuffed animal, nightlight, or other item. God forbid it should get lost, chewed to bits by Barky, or left in the hotel in Cleveland.

Caitlin can see the handwriting on this particular wall (perhaps even reading it through the blanket), and she’s not waiting for disaster to hit, she’s taking action.

Yarn arrived for the custom security blanket