Work in Progress: White Scarves

I know it is a supposed to be a day of rest, but I'm spending the afternoon in my studio anyway. (Aw darn. I have to play with my loom!) This coming week my husband, my daughter and I are going on a road trip. Michelle is headed into her senior year of high school, so we're taking a chance this summer to scout out possible colleges for her. (Anyone know of a good theater tech and design program within a 6 hour drive of Phoenix, AZ?)

Anyway, I'm going to miss out on much of my work time this week. I really want to get my current project on the floor loom done in a reasonable amount of time, so I can play with the triangle loom when it gets here. So I started the weaving process on the first of five white scarves. (The White Scarf, if you recall, is an award in the SCA for excellence in rapier fighting. The recipient is allowed to wear a small white scarf pinned to his or her shoulder.) I'm using a twill pattern that undulates a bit, giving more of a flowing feeling to the resulting pattern. Each of the five scarves will have a slightly different pattern.

Here is the first one, front and back:










I'm having a bit of a trouble with broken warp threads on the edges of the weaving. That means the threads are drawing in a bit in the weaving process, which is natural. It also means that they get abraded a bit as they go through the metal reed that spreads the threads out. Last time I made White Scarves, the 8/2 cotton I used was strong enough to stand up to this abuse. Not all weaving yarn is made the same though, even if it is the same color, fiber content, and size. I think, if a particular thread breaks more than once, I'm going to replace it with a similar but slightly sturdier yarn. It shouldn't be noticeable in the finished product, but it will save me headaches. Good thing I know how to repair broken warp threads!