Blog

I finished weaving a super quick scarf on my Flip rigid heddle.  The weather has turned a bit chilly and I decided to take a break from threading my floor loom to weave a scarf.

From start (threading) to finish (tying the fringe), this scarf took about 2 hours to weave. I used Classic Yarns Cashsoft Chunky for the warp in 3 colors of purple (three 50gram balls, one in each color).  The yarn was about 9 wraps per inch which made the sett at about 5.  I used my new 5 dent Flip heddle which I recenlty purchased from Patty Anne’s Place.

I wanted my scarf to be 70″ long so I could fold it in half and pull the ends through to make it super warm, and keep it from falling off!  I also wanted the scarf to be 6″ wide.

Here are my calculations:

9 wraps per inch divided by 2 = 4.5  (I rounded this up to 5 for a sett of 5 and used a 5 dent reed/heddle)

70″ length + 10% take up= 76

76 + loom waste of 24″ on a rigid heddle (add more if you are using a floor loom)

70+6=76  +10%= 83.6 +24 = 107.6

107.6 is the total length of each warp thread.  Notice I did not add any length in my calculations for sampling.  You can add to the length if you want to do some sampling.

Ok, next calculation:  How many warp ends?

The woven width + take up x sett= how many ends I will need.

6″ + .6 (the 10% take up) x 5 =33

I need 33 warp ends.

How much warp yarn do I need?

Total length x # of ends

70×33=2310  divide 2310 by 36 to get yardage

2310 divided by 36 =64.16  or approximately 65 yards

I did not calculate yardage for my weft.  I used various handspun yarns.

The photo above is what my warp looked like.  I used 3 colors of Cashsoft.

The scarf moved along quickly.  It seemed as if it was done in no time.  The handspun yarns I used for the weft were mostly worsted or chunky yarns.

When I reached the end of my weaving, I cut the warp threads, removed the scarf from the loom, and tied my fringe.  I tied over hand knots for the fringe.  A trick I have found useful for getting the knots tight is to use a tapestry needle in the knot.  I tie an overhand knot and insert a tapestry needle in the knot loop.  I hold the needle up above the fell of the woven cloth as I am pulling the knot tight.  After the knot is tight I remove the needle and tighten the knot a bit more.  I find this makes a neater knot!