Rayon Scarves in Complex Twill

I’ve had fun designing new twill patterns, watching how thread patterns emerge when I change the threading or treadling I use. Although I have the basic version of Fiberworks software design program, it does a great job for me. No doubt it has features I’ve never used.

I’m in a rayon mode, and prepared a solid, dark purple warp, long enough for three scarves. For the first one I decided to use colors I loved in my jewelry design – amethyst & peridot – green & purple.

This photo doesn’t do it justice, but even so, I wasn’t as excited about how these colors worked together as I thought I’d be. Maybe I needed to use a lighter green.

So for the next scarf, I really wanted the weaving pattern to pop. What better than white? Naturally, I didn’t have a white rayon. (No matter how many cones of yarn I have, I always want something else.) But I did have a nice white bamboo that was just a tiny bit thicker, so used that.

That pattern does indeed show up well, and people at my fiber arts guild meeting really liked it. For me, the colors are a bit harsh, the white a little too white.

If you read me regularly, you know I love gemtones, so it’s no surprise that I chose a sapphire rayon yarn for the third scarf.

It is, of course, my favorite.

Still, the pattern’s a bit more subtle in real life than it was in my mind.

The whole interplay of colors and patterns can take a lifetime to explore. And I’m sure that if I had exactly the same colors and values in cottons or wools, they’d interact somewhat differently than in shiny rayon. That’s the fun of it all for me. I’m easily bored, so trying new things, learning new things – that’s what keeps me motivated.

Your turn: what motivates you?