Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Rayon Chenille Re-visited

Back around the turn of this century (my, do I feel old saying that!) I wove a bazillion rayon chenille scarves until, frankly, I was pretty sick of them.  

They were a good thing to do at that time.  Each warp was five meters resulting in two scarves.  In order to weave them quickly I concentrated on plain weave and coloured stripes of various combinations.  When I got tired of doing them I had learned an enormous amount about Colour interactions in plain weave and gotten really good at weaving plain weave.  I don't regret doing them, although I was reluctant to return to doing them again.  

But I have all this rayon chenille...probably 50 pounds, maybe more.  And I was out of inventory of scarves. 

Since I really did not want to produce exactly the same thing, knowing I really needed to use up the yarn, I bit the bullet and designed a stripe sequence and started weaving scarves.  

A warp winding elf offered to wind some warps for me and having her in the studio, all new and enthusiastic gave me a much needed energy boost and I have a small but growing stack of scarves.  And already variations are beginning to percolate.  Part of that is necessity.  I'm getting very low on variegated rayon chenille and some colours and I really do not want to buy more.  

I am also running out of time before the sale season begins.  My explorations into this interesting, and at times demanding, yarn is going to continue for a while.  


9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Curious...usually you write about putting on warps for 4 scarves. Why two with Chenille?
Interesting, as I happen to be weaving chenille scarves. Began in August. Thinking about fall/winter I guess.
Stephanie S

Laura Fry said...

Because all the design emphasis is in the warp, I don't want more than two 'identical' scarves. I'd rather dress the loom more often and get a larger variety of colours than if I made four at a time. :)

cheers,
Laura

Rhonda from Baddeck said...

Necessity being the mother of invention - didn't you once say (paraphrased) that when you're faced with limited resources, it challenges your creativity and you sometimes get unexpected, but pleasant results? Looks like that's happening here.

Laura Fry said...

Yes, indeed. And it has re-ignited my interest in making them. :)

Cheers
Laura

Wendy H said...

The scarves are beautiful. I'm curious as to the weft color, since it doesn't appear visible, at least in the photo. Can they really be so thoroughly warp-faced?
Wendy H from Fort Myers, FL

Laura Fry said...

The weft is 2/16 cotton so is buried in the nap of the chenille. ;)
Cheers
Laura

Wendy H said...

Thanks, Laura. I'm going to give that a try.

Suzanne A said...

The scarves are so beautiful! I'm curious what sett you use for these. I really like the way the scarves weave with the 2/16 cotton weft!

Laura Fry said...

I'm using 16 epi, beating the weft in very firmly. Not sure of the exact count. I'm not at home until next Monday.

Cheers
Laura