Scarf 59: Classic in Black

It's hard to tell from the photo, but those stripes are silver, offering a subtle shimmer to Scarf 59. The black is a smooth alpaca blend, making it classic, lightweight, soft, and chic. It's a secret special order for a dear friend of a dear friend. Let's hope she likes it!

Revisiting Ruffles: Scarf 40 & Scarf 45

Meet two new ruffle scarves with dashingly different personalities.

Scarf 40 is a confection in wool & acrylic - ruffles in gray, blue, and teal on either side of a charcoal gray stripe. Soft and snuggly, with the same versatile properties of earlier ruffle scarves and slightly thicker for extra warmth.

Scarf 45 is an entirely different animal - vertical felted stripes in burnt orange with soft ruffled stripes in speckled greens & reds. Scarf 45 is wide and thick but not too long, perfect for wrapping around the neck twice and tucking into a coat.

Scarf 20: Among the Stars

Way, way back in mid-September, I told you about a scarf I made and submitted for an exhibit of the Texas Fiber Arts Museum. In that post, I mentioned that it was a long shot that I'd get in and offered this quote from Isabella Stewart Gardner: "If you don't aim high, you can't get there."

Well, today I received word that I didn't get in and to my extreme delight, this was the message:

There is a saying, “Shoot for the moon, and even if you miss it, you land among the stars.” And so each artist who entered the TMFA competition is very much among the stars. The juror deliberated diligently and the following are in the exhibit. Those whose names are not on the list are to be congratulated for sharing their imagination and creativity. Not every artist is as brave as you. To me you are definitely a star.

So nice, right? Doesn't it feel like a direct response to me and my quote? Now I feel all warm and fuzzy for giving it my best. I am a brave star. :)

The best news of all is for those who have been trying to sneak off with good ole Scarf 20, because now that it's not all tied up with a possible exhibit, it's up for sale. Tomorrow it will have a spiffy new photo shoot and make its debut on Etsy.

Why are there so many scarves about rainbows?

The secret of Scarf 15? Rainbows. Pure rainbow happiness for cold little girls (or cheerful grownups). Scarf 15 makes me so happy. Henry says it is his favorite of all the ones I've made. I hope somebody nice gets to wear it someday. Someone who lets her friends wear it at lunchtime.

Here's the no-longer-a-secret rainbow ingredient: Rainbow Yarn!

See how nicely it plays with the soft and squishy turquoise yarn?

Here you can see the beautiful drape that the hand weaving makes possible:

And, oh that happy fringe! Here's a closer view of the fringe:

Happy happy, all around.

Scarf 15 is for sale in my Etsy shop.

Easy Being Green in Scarf Fourteen

In her profile for Ravelry (an online knitting community), my friend described her favorite colors as: "green, green, blue-purple, and did I mention green?" Scarf 14 was inspired by her unapologetic love for this most amiable color. Green is the color of new growth - so fitting for this project of mine involving so much personal growth. It is the first sign of spring poking through the muck of winter. Hello, green!

Lest this scarf take us into leprechaun territory, I mixed the bright Kelly Green (hey, my color!) with a variegated green & brown. It's still mostly green - the brown sneaks in through little dark stripes and subtler, lighter stretches - but it feels more appropriate for fall and winter. It will still perk you up on a dark day, but will actually go with your winter wardrobe.

Speaking of growth, don't you just love how the scarf grows from this tangle of yarns to the soft and suave accessory pictured above?

Scarf 14 was sold in my Etsy shop. It's going to be an early birthday present for someone who loves scarves and all things green. You can just imagine how happy that makes me.

This just in!

Look what arrived in the mail - my tax permit! That's right, folks - it's not all yarns and looms over here at One Hundred Things to Do - we've got some business going on!

But something else was delivered to my door that I'm equally excited about. Can you guess what it is?

It's a fringe twister! It's been taking me an hour or more to hand twist the fringes of my scarves, so I decided to invest in this little doodad. It cuts the fringe twisting time approximately in half, which means I can charge less for the scarf. Win win.

That there's the fringe on Scarf 13, looking all pretty in in brown and green. I don't think you've officially met, so here's a closer look.

Scarf 13 was a custom order - an ultra-skinny, ultra-long scarf in wool and cotton - and was sold on Etsy.

Will the real Scarf 12 please stand up?

+++ Earlier today I published a post all about Scarf 12. If you're getting this via Reader, you've probably already seen it. The trouble with that post is that all the pictures weren't of Scarf 12, they were of Henry's scarf, which I grabbed by accident to photograph this morning. Oops! Here we go again - same story, different pictures. +++

Last winter I made a scarf for Henry (my better half) and everywhere he wore it people told him he looked like George Clooney. Henry looks nothing like George Clooney. What's up with this scarf? Magic, I think. Only answer that makes sense.

Of course I couldn't go too long without recreating the magic of the George Clooney scarf, so that all men (not just my husband) can have the good fortune to go around being mistaken for movie stars.

The secret is a silvery gray wool crossed with a variegated gray and brownish-olivish wool/acrylic blend. The result is a surprisingly sophisticated scarf with colors that shift in the light. Very adaptable, kind of like George Clooney.

Newlin the Cat is getting as close to it as possible so that he might be mistaken for George Clooney too. I don't have the heart to tell him the magic only works for people.

Scarf 12 is for sale in my Etsy shop.

And Now For Something Completely Different: Scarf 11

If you've been here before you've probably figured out that I'm a sucker for smooth, subtle neutrals - scarves that wow with texture and form rather than in-your-face color. It's just how I roll. Until now.

Meet Scarf 11: Miss Pom Pom. I've never been able to resist this pom yarn - it's just too fun, isn't it?

Here's our friend Miss P on the loom:

The warp yarn is a cotton/acrylic blend that's soft and squishy - it's one of my go-to yarns for knitting baby things and a perfect match for the poms.

One of my favorite things about Miss P is the variety of textures. I pulled all the poms on top of the scarf as I was weaving, so one side is a field of soft squishiness. The other side shows off more of the weaving, resulting in little scattered patches of threads. They're both soft, of course, but the differences gives the scarf a little more interest, possibly even (dare I say it?) a little more sophistication.

Everyone who has met Scarf 11 has fallen in love. Some have squealed and run right over to savor her plushness (not just teenagers - think women in their 60's). I can't wait to see who takes her home.

Scarf 11 is available for sale in my Etsy shop.

Scarf 7: Rainbow, meet Rain Cloud

Wouldn't Scarf 7 look great with a denim jacket? My cousin Zak says it's perfect because the colors are happy but not too bright. My mom says it's perfect because it's not too wide, so you can loop it around and around your neck.

I had such fun weaving Scarf 7 because the stripes are all one yarn, making it fun to see what's coming next! And I love the way the colors interact with the silvery gray lengthwise yarn (warp yarn).

You can find Scarf 7 for sale here, in my Etsy shop.

Scarf 6: Brown and Blue and Soft All Over

I tried a new design for the borders on Scarf 6. It brings in a little extra of the blue/green/teal yarn and adds a little something special that's hard to put your finger on.

Subtlety is the name of the game with Scarf 6, who I can see comfortably flopping around an Ivy League campus, surprising those who come near with its tealy charm.

Scarf 6 is currently for sale here, in my Etsy shop.

Scarf 6 was also featured in a Treasury List!

Scarf 4: Luxury Defined

If a scarf could make me drool, I'd drool all over Scarf 4. It's just so indescribably soft, it makes me want to make clothes and bed sheets and everything I own out of it.

Don't get me wrong - I take a lot of care in choosing yarns and treating scarves with special washes to make them all soft. I'm very picky about what goes against my neck so I don't want to make anything remotely scratchy. But Scarf 4 takes the cake. I could wax nostalgic about the softness of Scarf 4 all day, but instead I'll tell you the story of how it came to be.

Once upon a time, in a small village in northern Scotland, there was a small white cotton yarn who dreamed of one day becoming the softest scarf in the world . . . . Okay, no, not really. Here's how this story really begins:

Yep, just the same as other scarves: with a lot of threads that go one way and a lot of threads that criss-cross them going the other way, back and forth, left to right and right to left, until it's done.

I love all the little flecks of black and gray. It's so subtle and sophisticated. And soft. Did I mention that?

I'm seeking a good home for this little pet of mine. It's currently for sale here, in my Etsy shop.

Scarf 5: Pink and White Makes Everything Right

Where am I getting these post titles from? I don't know. (Well, "In Which We Learn About" is a reference to Winnie-the-Pooh, but the rest? Who knows.)

I love me a good houndstooth. Houndstooth is a traditional weaving pattern using two alternating colors in the warp and weft to make a pinwheelishy-check pattern. You'll see me using houndstooth in scarves to come and it may be more obvious. It's a subtle pattern in Scarf 5 because of the slubby nature of the hand-spun cotton yarn.

If you know me, you know that I'm not a pink person. I don't believe I own a single piece of pink clothing and I'm not sure I ever have (except for that pink footy bunny suit when I was young, a la A Christmas Story). But even I, pink-avoider that I am, love this pink yarn. It's a bright pink twisted together with cream and just a pinch of orange. It's so warm and happy.

The resulting scarf is a little preppy, a little artsy, and very soft. I'm very happy with it.

To see Scarf 5 in its finished state, you can find it for sale here in my Etsy shop.

Scarf 3: A Comfort Cloud

It's hard to describe the magic of Scarf 3. It's like the softest spider web, but strong enough that you can wear it without fear of it falling apart. It's super soft and light. I tested it out in 107 degree heat and it was super comfortable. I like it because it adds a lot of texture and interest without any weight or bulk.

It all began with the softest, thinnest baby alpaca lace yarn.

Even on the loom it looks like spider web threads, doesn't it?

Or some kind of fairy magic?

Here it is woven and off the loom, waiting to be felted.

You can find Scarf 3 for sale here, in my Etsy shop.

Scarf 2: Would you care for some coffee with your cream?

Can you see the slubs? The hand-spun cotton of this scarf is a dream. In fact, this whole scarf is a dream. It all began on a Thursday (cue dream sequence fading) . . .

Late Wednesday night, I had the idea for the 100 Scarves Project. On Thursday morning I woke up and went straight to my loom. I warped up this scarf and got busy weaving. About two hours later my stomach started grumbling and I realized I was still in my pajamas and hadn't eaten breakfast! That's how much I love this scarf. It's better than breakfast. :)

I was going to a game night get together on Friday so I hurried to finish it. I took it to the party fresh from the loom (unwashed, unironed, untrimmed) to show it off and one of my friends immediately wrapped it around her neck (several times - it's very long) and exclaimed, "This is perfect! I want a scarf exactly like this!"

I was sad not to give it to her on the spot, but I had already given Scarf 1 away and I needed to hang on to a few scarves if I was going to get this business going. I spent the next two weeks photographing it all over my house and yard, in every light possible, trying to find the perfect spot.

If you're interested in purchasing this creamy, lovely, slubby, perfect scarf, you can find it here in my Etsy shop.

Let's Start at the Very Beginning

You've already met Scarves 9 and 10. Let me introduce Scarf 1, which was made and hugged and sent off to live with its new owner before I had found my current scheme of photographing scarves with numbers. Scarf 1 has a cotton warp (those lengthwise strands of yarn) and a fuzzy mohair weft (the side-to-side strands). After weaving it up, I hand felted the mohair until it got all matted and soft and secure, essentially holding the cotton threads in place. Here's a close-up:

I'd intended to use the teal mohair for both the warp and weft, but after I'd gotten it all set up (not a quick process, let me assure you) it became clear that it was too hairy and was sticking to itself too much to weave with. So I had to take the whole thing apart. It looked really beautiful while getting set up though, didn't it?

Lessons Learned:

1. Don't try to use sticky yarn for the warp.

2. Closely related but slightly different shades look pretty together.

3. When at first you don't succeed, make 99 more scarves anyway.

Scarf 10 - All Ruffled Up

I finished Scarf 10 today. It's appropriately named Scarf 10 because it took me well over 10 hours to complete, but boy-oh-boy is it worth it. I can't possibly describe how absolutely luscious this scarf is. See for yourself:

It has a row of wool running down the center, which I felted to create a soft band in the middle flanked by asymmetrical ruffles down the sides.

Only yesterday, when it came off the loom, it was flat:

It was so pretty and soft I almost couldn't bear to plunge it into the hot water, but plunge I did. It took about two hours to hand felt the wool stripe.

And now it's done!

You can find it for sale in my Etsy shop.