Deep Sea Blues Scarf

This page is fully dedicated to the weaving of what I call the Deep Sea Blues Scarf. This project started off in April 2022 and was only finished in February 2023. Which means ten months in the making! This journey was marked by challenges, mostly in the warping process. If you wish to learn more about this adventure (or misadventure), I invite you to watch the following video.

On this page, I will mainly focus on the specifics of this project. I would provide all the information you need to weave a similar scarf at home.

Deep Sea Blues Scarf

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The Weaving Loom

This project was woven on my 22” Meco loom made by Leclerc and it has 4 shafts. This loom was originally a table loom and it had been transformed into a floor loom with the help of add-on treadles. Leclerc no longer produces this loom and it has been replaced by the Dorothy loom. The Dorothy is also a table loom and that can be transformed into a floor loom, but only in its 24” version.

Meco Loom with add-on treadles

Any 4-shaft loom that is at least 20” wide would allow you to weave this deep sea blues scarf. However, if your loom is narrower, it would still be possible to make something similar. You would only need to adjust the width of the project. This should not affect the pattern since that the warp is all black.

The Warp

The warp of this project is made out of 8/2 cotton from Maurice Brassard in the color “noir” which means “black”. I warped for a length of 2m70 (106”) and a width of 51cm (20”). In total, I use one cone of yarn and there was a little bit left on it at the end. This yarn is available at The Woolery. Here’s their website: https://woolery.com/maurice-brassard-cotton-yarn-8-2.html?aff=214

I also warped for 24 ends per inch using my 12 DPI reed. This means that this project had 480 ends in total.

Warp and weft

The Weft

For the weft, I used 8/2 Tencel from Maurice Brassard in the color “vieux bleu” which means “old blue”. The color is basically a light blue. I love weaving with Tencel yarns because they have such a beautiful shine in them!

The Woolery also have this yarn. Here’s the link: https://woolery.com/maurice-brassard-tencel-8-2-yarn-1.html?aff=214

The Threading

For the threading, I followed a draft pattern that can be found in the book The Handweaver’s Pattern Directory which was written by Anne Dixon. The exact draft is located on top of page 81. Here’s where you can get this wonderful book: https://woolery.com/handweavers-pattern-directory.html?aff=214

The Pattern and The Treadling

If you have seen the video about this project, you know that the weaving of this project started out with a lot of note taking about the first inches of the weft pattern. You would also know that it turned into a somewhat spontaneous weave for most of the scarf. This means that I won’t be able to tell you exactly what I did in each section of the weft. Still, I can give you the general idea and some insight on the treadling.

Deep Sea Blues Scarf
General Idea

Since that I wove this scarf using only one color in the weft, the biggest part of the pattern happens in the changing of the treadling and not in the changing of colors. The idea was to have a base pattern, which is like a chevron (or zig-zags). To weave this, I did a simple 1-2-3-4.

Those zig-zag would gradually transform into diamonds then transition back to zig-zags. I wanted those transitions to look coherent and smooth. Sometimes, the diamonds would be woven over a few inches, sometimes, there would only be one of them.

Sometimes, they would transform into a much intricate pattern that is like a double diamond. This makes the pattern interesting because whenever we look at the scarf, we never know exactly what pattern we are going to see.

Treadling

In order to make those diamonds pattern, I did the three different treadlings that can be found on page 81 of Anne Dixon’s book. I did them in a random order, and in random sizes, following the spur of the moment!

The only thing that I made sure to be equal is the beginning and the end of the scarf. At first, I wove 7” of chevron. I also made sure to finish with 7” of chevron. I like that both ends of my scarf look the same, no matter what happens in between.

The Finishing Touches

I hemstitched the scarf at the beginning and the end, while it was on the loom. I did bundles of 4 warp threads and two weft threads.

Also, I decided to braid the fringes. I made sure to leave 7” of fringes on each side of the scarf to allow for the braiding.

Dimensions

I ended up weaving for about 1m80 (71”). After wet finishing, the scarf measured 1m63 (64”) without the fringes. For the width, I had about 51cm (20”) on the loom. After the wet finishing process, the width was of 46.5cm (18”). This means that the whole scarf shrank of about 10%. I had quite a lot of waste yarn because of my warping issues. If this misadventure had not happened, I would have had a longer scarf. However, I’m still satisfied with it’s length as it is now.

Final Thoughts

Even though this project started off a bit on the rough side, I believe that it ended up beautifully. I feel that the dark warp and the bright shiny weft give this scarf a velvety look. This was not something that I expected while planning this project! When we move the scarf around, the light hits differently and this is when we really get this effect.

Pattern

More importantly, I believe that the scarf is giving me major deep sea blues vibes! The colors together give me the impression that I’m looking at the ocean water. Especially since that it shines and looks differently depending on how the light hits on it. Also, the changing of the treadling pattern does remind be of waves. Some are bigger, some are smaller, but they all flow together in a cohesive movement.

Deep Sea Blues Scarf

This deep sea blues scarf already has a new owner. As soon as it was off the loom, my cousin claimed it! I’m sure that she is will appreciate it to the level of effort I put in it!

2 thoughts on “Deep Sea Blues Scarf

  1. Nina Schumann

    Thank you!
    Hi Mylena, I’m a new weaver with a new 8shaft table loom. After the first gamps I found this site and decided to take your advice. I ordered exactly the same yarn. I found the blue rather dull on the cone. I had to search for patterns similar to yours in Strickler’s 8 Shaft pattern book.
    Now I already have about 10 inches cloth on my loom (480 ends on 20 inches) and it’s so beautiful! The blue Tencel shimmers like dramatic silk, it’s breathtaking.
    It looks as beautiful as yours in the video. I’m veeeery happy with it.
    So I wanted to thank you for your encouragement (even if you didn’t know that you did it, lol)
    Nina

    Reply
    1. curlynyarny Post author

      Hello Nina! Thank you so much for your comment. It means so much to me to know that you tried this project and that you like it. I also wish to take the time to welcome you into the wonderful weaving world! I’m sure you’ll be having lots of fun.

      Reply

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