One of the best "side effects" of traveling to Ohio this winter to tape for Knitting Daily TV with Vickie Howell was connecting with Stephanie Flynn Sokolov, co-author of Woven Scarves. Stephanie is an incredibly talented and inspiring weaver. She did a fabulous segment for KDTV, and the guests all had a great time "backstage" in the green room ooh-ing and aah-ing over her gorgeous scarves.
Stephanie in the green room at the tv studio.
It was really cold that day.
As an experienced knitter and an extremely novice weaver, I was overwhelmed by the clear and detailed instructions in Woven Scarves. Everything I needed to know was covered, from setting up, to choosing yarns, warping, weaving, finishing, and washing. The detailed to-scale photos of yarn wraps to show the various weights, colors, and textures of the yarns used are fabulous. And I loved being able to learn about how washing, fulling, and agitating the woven cloth can really influence the final design. I came home to my studio, and suddenly all of those random skeins of yarn had an entirely new meaning and purpose. Incredible.
For my first new scarf, I used the 5-dent reed and worsted weight yarn. For the warp I used yarn from the Susquehanna Knitting Company (dark blue) and a few lines of Wave from Filatura Di Crosa (yellow). I wove in a random pattern of mostly Fibre Company Savannah with a little Wave.
As I wove, it looked really open, messy, and uneven. I was skeptical. But I forged on. I removed the scarf from the loom and haphazardly tossed it in my washing machine on a gentle cycle, then threw it into the dryer for about 20 minutes. Lo and behold, my messy work had been transformed into something beautiful. I was smitten. It truly all comes out in the wash.
I'm now furiously reorganizing my entire stash into future scarves. Thank you, Stephanie!
Just gorgeous - and what fun! Looks like a great way to use some stash!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Anne! It has been so much fun!
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