Weaving Poinsettias

I can do many things, but unless we’re talking about either dandelions or daisies, I can’t weave with flowers, as the name of this post might imply.

However, Tammy’s beautiful Poinsettia colorway* is so lovely, I think you’ll forgive me when you see the handwoven scarves I made from her yarn. I couldn’t wait to weave with this! I’ve used her Poinsettia several times in rayon chenille, but this would be the first time I’d used it for a lightweight scarf. I bet it won’t be the last.

I actually started with the scarf that’s in the middle. It’s a simple point twill in both threading and treadling, using the Poinsettia yarn for both warp and weft. I wove two scarves like this, 1 to sell, 1 to give as a gift. They’re the top portion of the draft below.

On the right I used a burgundy rayon and modified the treadling slightly, extending the points (the bottom portion of the above draft). I thought the darker rayon would point up the reds and make them pop. I was less than excited about it.

I really like to weave different patterns, so I didn’t want to go back to the 1st point twill for the 4th scarf on the warp. I modified my tie up and stayed with an easy-to-treadle pattern that included some plain weave right along with the twill. This is the scarf on the far left in the picture. Can’t really see the pattern? That’s okay, neither can I. In person the pattern doesn’t show up much.

What is interesting, however, is the feel of the two all-Poinsettia scarves. The one on the left, with the plain weave included, feels less smooth, more grainy, than the center scarf that’s all twill. It does make sense, I just hadn’t thought about it.

*So what’s a colorway anyhow? It’s a combination and arrangement of colors. For the Poinsettia yarn, the individual colors in the yarn don’t jump out at you when you look at the finished weaving. The colors are more subtle than that, providing depth and richness.

If you look at the yarn itself, you can see that there are at least 2 reds and a purple. Plus, when yarn is hand painted, where the colors touch they blend and create more shades and tints.

If you look at the Magic Kingdom yarn, it’s a bit easier to see all the different colors.