Thursday, February 26, 2009

Penultimate! [Scarf 19]



Another quickie post at the end of another quickie scarf but this time for a much better reason: I've got a date! Dinner anna movie with my Sweetie Pie. :D So, since I promised to be done with S/D by 8:00 pee em, I gotta be quick here!

I was going to use the burnt orange, as you may recall, but changed my mind at the last minute and went with somber, serious black. Maybe it was because I've had a kind of bummer day - nothing in particular happened really, it's just One Of Those Days.1 Plus I spent part of the afternoon and evening struggling with business decisions for the shop and trying to convince myself and my partners that we need to spend some $$ on advertising, so was feeling pretty somber and serious for that reason, too.

Not that the scarf itself is a bummer, mind you - I quite like the black. It's a little more understated than the red but still just as striking.


Scarf #19 started....


...and ended...


...with my standard hemstitching. I've been hemstitching all of these and not twisting the fringes 'cause I think the twisted fringes would be Pretty Bulky in this heavy weight of cotton, plus the untwisted ends look really nice once they've loosened up a bit in the wet finishing. I make sure they're always secured before I wash them so that they don't unply - keeps the scarves from tangling around themselves in the washer, too. Takes a bit more effort up front but saves tons of times sorting out tangled fringes afterwards so it's well worth it.

Here's today's finished scarfa:



This one's #19 - can you believe it?! Only one more and I will have accomplished my original short-term goal of a scarf a day for the entire month. That feels Pretty Good, letmetellyou.

See you tomorrow for The Last Scarf woven by the original ground rules! Maybe I'll use that burnt orange yet...


1. Hence the cheer-me-up date - yay for sweetie pies!

4 comments:

Jackie said...

How do you keep the unfringed ends from un-plying? Enquiring minds want to know!

Janet said...

I leave all the scarves connected so that the only loose ends are at the beginning and end of the warp. I make sure to leave extra length in the fringe at the ends when I tie on and cut off. Then, when it's time to wet finish, I take about an inch worth of ends at a time and tie them in an overhand knot near the end. They can still get tangled through each other a bit but it's much easier to sort them out in 1" bunches than it is individual threads, plus the knots keep the plies from untwisting. Then, once the scarves are dry, I cut the fringes to length, which cuts off those knots.

The ends do unply themselves a little over time but not nearly as much as if they'd gone through the washer loose. Ron's been wearing his new scarf almost every day since Christmas and the fringes on it are only just barely beginning to fluff up at the tips.

Life Looms Large said...

Good use of "Penultimate" - gotta love that word!!

Congrats on being so close to your goal!!

Sue

Janet said...

Why thank you! I was rather proud of it myself. ;) Not often that an appropriate use actually comes up in conversation, doncherknow.