Color Blocking

I admit it. I’m a Project Runway junkie. Whether it it’s the original, Project Runway All Stars, or now Project Runway: Under the Gunn, I’m at my TV to watch it. It’s not uncommon to see some variation on color blocking in the designs.

Although that wasn’t what was in my mind when I started this scarf, once I got about 10″ into the weaving, that’s sure what it reminded me of.

This is a 10/2 cotton warp with an 8/2 rayon weft, woven in a straight draw. I’m clearly not done exploring the clasped weft technique yet. It’s also clear to me that unless I’m using rayon chenille, I prefer a 2/2 twill over the plain weave that’s needed with the chenille. I think it shows off the colors much better.

I wasn’t sure what I’d think of the finished product as I was weaving it, and in fact thought I wanted at least one more color in the scarf but didn’t have the ‘right’ one. I am fond of the finished scarf, though. I plan to do some more color blocking, both with chenille and other fibers.

Because I didn’t know if I’d like it, I didn’t want to weave the second scarf on the warp similarly. I tried something different – color bars.

I like this concept, but would definitely prefer it with a black warp. This scarf required me to cut and add a new color after every 8 picks – even more time consuming than other clasped weft designs I’ve done. I thought the bars should have been wider – more like 16 picks – but I didn’t figure that out till I was this far along. I didn’t want to spend all the time weaving something that would just be ok, and since it was just a cotton warp, I decided to cut my losses and cut off the warp. There’s enough length on there to weave a towel or two, and maybe I will, but maybe I’ll just let it go.