It took longer than intended to get up this 2nd reveal, but better late than never.
I didn’t have anywhere near as much time as I would have liked to make Christmas presents, so made less than usual.
Amanda had admired the blue & silver mohair scarf, so I decided to weave her one that would go with two coats she wears most in winter – an off-white wool coat and a dark brown down vest. I didn’t want anything quite as “formal” as the blue & silver, so to me that meant a scarf that wasn’t symmetrical, one that had random stripes. Here’s what I ended up with.
The majority of the warp and all of the weft is a sandy color. Although I hadn’t noticed it before she pointed it out, Margaret‘s right when she says it has a pink cast to it. I used some silver, purple, blue, and a light tan in the warp as well. I’m happy with the look. Like the blue & silver, I wove this mohair scarf on my rigid heddle loom.
Again, I was a bit nervous about the fulling and brushing, although not as scared as I was the first time around. On the advice of one of my fellow members of the Southern Tier Fiber Arts Guild, I picked up a small bottle of Dawn dish detergent to put in the washer with the scarf. I still opened the washer frequently, and I still wasn’t sure what it should look like when it was sufficiently fulled. I waited a bit longer than the first time around, though, and was happier with the result. It could still take a bit more fulling — next time.
Then I decided to weave some kitchen towels for my two wonderful sisters. Same warp (dark teal), same two patterns for both threading and treadling, two different wefts — one light & one dark. I was surprised to see how much better the pattern showed up on the light weft. 
The pattern was more pronounced on the back of the dark weft, so why didn’t I hem them that way? Hindsight. Always better than foresight.
I wove the towels out of pearl cotton, so they probably won’t absorb much if used for a dish towel, but they have a fine hand and are attractive. I also like the twill pattern I designed – same threading with two different treadlings. I’m learning more and more about how to produce cotton linens with the results I’m looking for. That’s what life, at least weaving life, is all about.
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