Scarf 63 & Scarf 64 Get Married

Last weekend I went to Vermont to celebrate the wedding of one of my dearest friends.  It was an absolutely gorgeous weekend of tranquil scenery and lovely new friends.  Here we are with the happy couple, standing in front of Sunset Lake, where the wedding was held.  (And yes, I admit, this photo does make us look like we're auditioning for roles as hobbits and giants.  Let's just say there's a little height difference.)  

These dear friends live in Boston, so naturally I wanted to make them scarves as a wedding gift.  She had been weaving when we got married and made us the loveliest throw pillows, so it was fun to weave her a wedding gift in return.

Knowing they liked deep, warm, earth colors, I started by yarn shopping at Gauge Knits and picked up some rust and eggplant and red and brown yarns.  I started with Scarf 63 for the groom and decided on stripes.  I alternated orange and red stripes with a thin line of dark teal running between them, and used a deep, dark brown as the weft yarn (the one that goes side to side) to tone everything down a bit.  

Here's Scarf 63 on the loom.  Below you can see it all woven up.

For the bride's scarf, I went for a lightweight ruffle.  Using the same red wool as Scarf 63 and a mohair/silk blend in the same rusty orange color, I added in a stripe of dark, eggplanty-purple.  Hers was woven in a thinner stripe, with alternating purple and red, with just a few lines of the orange mohair on the end for a frothy look.  I spaced the stripe yarns farther apart than usual so the scarf would have a gauzy openness and stay very lightweight.  I used the mohair as the weft (side to side) yarn, so that the whole thing is barely held together with these very thin, fuzzy threads.  

After  weaving it, I carefully pulled the threads along one side to create the ruffle.  The openness of the weave kept it from being too bulky, but the ruffle still provides the dimensionality that I like.  I hope she does too!

I know I'm a sap, but I love the Beatles' song When I'm 64 and am so pleased that this love scarf happened to be my 64th!  

When I'm 64: My Weekend Project

This weekend I made scarves for a beloved couple about to get married.  I'll post the full deets when they've said their I Do's, but here's a little sneak peek.  

What Shall We Do with the Drunken Yarnball?

No, this is not a commentary on the ever-increasing constraints imposed on American childhood. It's just what happens when you have a ball of wet yarn and an extra highchair lying around.

Remember when I told you how I threw a few balls of yarn into the dyebath with Scarf 56? Well, here's the moral of that story: tightly wound balls of yarn do not dry out. I knew this, of course, but conveniently forgot it as I tossed the ball of pink yarn into the pot.

A day later I realized I was going to have to do something about this soggy-on-the-inside ball of yarn, and just as I was thinking about it my eye conveniently roamed over the highchair. It made the perfect frame to loosely hang the yarn around, giving it space to dry. It looked so cool, I had to share.

And just so you know the challenges I face trying to photograph anything in this house:

Scarf 57 & Scarf 58: Nice People are Nice

When I was in sixth grade my English teacher banned the word "nice" from his class. "Good" met the same fate. While I genuinely appreciated his attempts to expand my vocabulary, sometimes "nice" really is the best word for the job. Let me introduce you to two nice scarves that are on their way to meet their nice new owners. Scarf 57 and Scarf 58 couldn't be more different, but they both have nice stories.

Scarf 57 is a custom design for a friend who wanted a gift for her mother-in-law from West Texas. Wouldn't it be nice, she asked me, if we could find a local Texas yarn to make her scarf from? After asking on Facebook and calling around, we ended up at Gauge, a friendly little local yarn shop, where we picked out two lovely skeins of Texas Two Step from White Bear Fibers. This yarn comes from alpacas on the Bluebonnet Hills Alpaca Ranch in Navasota, Texas. As a dyed-in-the-alpaca Texan myself, I loved the concept of this gift and enjoyed every minute of making it. The yarn was perfect to weave with too - very thin but strong - making a lightweight scarf with elegant drape.

And aren't those colors beautiful? White Bear Fibers calls the sagey green "Cedar" and the variegated blue and green "Peaceful Cedar," but by any name they are soothing and sophisticated and subtly striped. (Thank you, Mr. Perryman - it's true that "nice" doesn't quite cut it when describing this yarn.)

But back to the nice stories. Ah, Scarf 58 - my elusive friend. Scarf 58 was dreamed up at the yoga studio where I teach. One of my students, in love with Scarf 17, asked if I could make a similar confection in sparkly pinks and purples. The scarf-to-be was for her niece, who was going through a very difficult time, and she felt the scarf might be a comfort to her. My goodness! What could I possibly love more than to make something comforting for someone who needs comforting?

I had recently heard about dyeing with Kool-Aid, so I thought that would be a fun project. Scarf 56 was the result and though it turned out rather well, it wasn't as sparkly or pink as desired. I started again, this time with pink cotton, purple wool, and lavender sparkles, and everything came out just right. Like some of the other ruffle scarves, Scarf 58 has a wool stripe running down the center, which, when felted, creates the ruffles. Here it is, still flat on the loom:

And here it is at last, all ruffled up:

I think my friend is just the nicest daughter-in-law and my yoga student is the nicest aunt. Not that they're the only nice ones around - I've had gift orders for friends, daughters, moms, newlywed-husbands, and soon-to-be-sister-in-laws, all from very nice people who were nice to buy my scarves. Sorry, Mr. Perryman, it's official: nice people are nice.

Scarf 50 Finds A Home

Scarf 50 was purchased at the Lake Travis Holiday Bazaar and given as a birthday gift to this lovely person. I opened my email this morning to find this picture and the note that the recipient loved her scarf and is wearing it today! I'm glad to hear it because brrrr, is it cold here! We woke up to frost on the lawn for the first time and a measly 23 degrees outside - definitely scarf weather!

If you have a scarf photo to share, send it to onehundredscarves@gmail.com. We'd all love to see these scarves in their (new) natural habitats!

Say Sayonara to Scarf 25 . . .

. . . because it's on its way to Toyohashi, Aichi, Japan!!!! No joke!

It all started with a message on Etsy:

"I love your "Scarf for Men and Women, Handwoven Red & Black"(No25)I would like to get this item!
But I live in Japan.....
Could you send to Japan?"

That's actually a good question, because shipping internationally is complicated. In addition to shipping fees, which can be tricky to calculate before the item is purchased, there are also taxes and duties, which may not be calculated until it gets there. And then there are the forms.

But this intrepid weaver would not be daunted! After a few hours of messages back and forth and lots of digging around for hints and tips, it all came together. And in the end it was much easier than it could have been because PayPal, which creates all my shipping labels for me, prompted me through the necessary customs forms. I'm crossing my fingers that there are no surprises or extra duties due at Japanese Customs, but so far so good.

Have fun in Japan, Scarf 25! Don't forget to write!

The Mystical Energies of Scarf 34

Remember Scarf 34? It was a custom design for a yoga student of mine who wanted an extra-wide, extra-long scarf with jewel tones against a dark background. He is very tall and has had difficulty in the past finding scarves that fit his frame. I found this yarn and took it from there, even buying a new accessory for my loom (a 5 dent heddle, for those of you who know what that means) to accommodate the extra chunky yarn.

I was so pleased with how it came out and was excited to introduce it to its new owner, but then he got sick and wasn't able to come to yoga class for several weeks. We emailed back and forth - him sending notice that he wouldn't be in class, me sending back photos of the finished scarf - until he was finally able to return to class this week.

This scarf had had quite the build-up and many weeks of anticipation to live up to, so I was thrilled when I took it out of the bag and saw its new owner's eyes go wide in delight. Success! He jauntily wrapped it around his neck and immediately two women standing nearby lunged towards him to feel it, saying "Wow!" He responded, "It works! I'm never taking it off!" And we all laughed and laughed.

Amidst the laughter and spin-off jokes, he continued to admire it and tell me how much he loved it. My heart grew three sizes! Making something that makes someone so happy is just not a gift we get every day. He even called it an "heirloom" as he walked out the door.

This morning he sent me the following message, with the subject "My Scarf Now Probably Wants to Be Named":

My scarf seems to be able to be glow in the dark; I suspect the presence of mystical energies.

Thank you again for creating it. I look forward to wearing it across the next several decades.

Does it make sense to you if I tell you I feel like I should be thanking him rather than the other way around?

Funnily enough, another very tall former-yoga-student of mine recently purchased a scarf and inquired whether or not it had magic powers. Perhaps I should just tell him yes.