Friday, December 12, 2008
Scarves Galore!
I have made some (very little) progress on the chenille scarf, but I thought I would post some photos anyways. I really love the blue on the black. I am doing a basic twill pattern to avoid worming of the chenille. I am happy with the pattern, but not thrilled about the edges. It would have been nice to have the selvedge threads, but since I don't, I'm working with what I have. This is a learning process...
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2 comments:
Have you considered unweaving what you have done and doing it in a plain weave? Are you using rayon Chenille? If so, it shouldn't worm once you wash it. Most Chenille scarves are done in plain weave. If you really want to do the twill, unweave back to the beginning and adding floating slevages threads on each side. That will give you a smooth edge.
Do you belong to the Yahoo Group "Weavving"? It's a great resource. Su Butler, www.subudesigns.com, is the expert on Chenille and a member of the group. Earlier this year she posted a similar answer to your question about wet finishing Chenille...
From Su Bulter as posted on the Weaving Group:
"If you weave at the correct sett for the yarn, wet finishing will enhance the yarn and bring
out its best qualities. I usually wash in warm, not hot, water in the machine, agitating for 2-3 minutes only. Rayon yarn has a very low tensile strength, and agitation can be damaging if done for too long, since rayon is weaker when wet. After rinsing, the piece is removed by scooping
UNDER it (rayon will elongate at a faster pace than usual when wet, and can break very easily when weakened by water) and placing it in a dryer, with NO fabric softener, and drying until completely dry by tumbling on LOW heat. This will create a lot of lint the first time, but it allows the pile to be raised to either surface and allows the core yarn to retract to its original length, stabalizing the weave. This is the only method I have ever found that gives me that sumptuous, velvety finished piece. If you wet finish rayon chenille in this way, there is absolutely no need for fabric softener."
I haven't wet finished any of my Chenille projects yet, so I defer to her advice (and she really knows the stuff!). Check out her website; she has an FAQ on it.
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