You can always take a look at my sweet Yarn Glossary at the end of the post in case my yarny words make no sense.
Goal: Create a Rainbow Explosion
When I decided to weave a scarf on my rigid heddle loom to showcase my new Marled Merino + Cotton Blend yarn, my goal was to create a rainbow explosion that would bring a smile to your face.
Now known as my Happy Little Scarf, it had its debut at the Edmonton Fibre Frolic this past weekend, and I was so pleased at the attention it received. And most importantly, I was soooo happy to hear that it was indeed mood-boosting (hello Dopamine Dressing!) and had thus served its' purpose! As requested, here's my process:
Double-stranding to maximize pop
What the heck do you do with slub yarn in knitting, crochet or weaving? This question comes up a lot. The answer, my friends, is simple - double-strand it. Seriously, sometimes it’s just that easy.
For my Happy Little Scarf, I double-stranded the Marled Merino and Slub Merino for the weft (across), but I did not use the Slub Merino for the warp (up-down) - I have before, with no breaks, but it is harrowing to see it fray as the project progresses.
To get this effect in knitting and crochet, I would double-strand the Marled Merino and Slub for the complete project. In fact, my next post will be about my current WIP - my Dotted Rays knit shawl - in which I alternate double-stranding my Fluffy Brushed Alpaca Blend Yarn and Slub Merino Yarn with my Natural Canvas Alpaca Blend Yarn. It sounds so complicated but it's not! I promise.
How to make this scarf
As requested, here’s my yarn recipe:
- Marled Merino + Cotton (in Strawberry, Plum, Sweet Pea, Key Lime and Brilliant Blue)
- Slub Merino (in Fairy Garden)
This scarf was made on a 16-inch Ashford Samplit rigid heddle loom, using a 7.5 dent reed (I like things airy).
For the warp, I used the Marled Merino + Cotton in patterns of 4 (where A is colour 1, B is next colour, etc. - AAAA BABA BBBB CBCB CCCC etc.), and for the weft, I double-stranded the Slub Merino with the Marled Merino + Cotton, and alternated the Marled Merino colourways every 40 picks.
So there you have it. As you can see, I have a lot of yarn still left to play with, so expect more scarves like this soon!
~Angela
Yarn Glossary
Slub Merino Yarn
One ply of sproingy superwash Merino wool is spiral-plied with one ply of nylon to create a gorgeous, fingering weight, textured yarn with fun little fuzzy bits. The fuzzy bits - or slubs - give the yarn a thick and thin effect that is very striking. Buy it here.
Marled Merino + Cotton Yarn
A super-soft fingering/sock weight Merino yarn (85% - 20.5 microns), double-stranded with Pima Cotton (15%). The cotton does not take the dye, so the yarn ends up with a beautiful twisty marled effect. Take a peek...