I’m weaving a scarf for the first time in a very long time. I weave fake tartan scarves. My loom is a simple rigid heddle, and to do a proper twill weave, I’d have to have a harness loom. The rigid heddle restricts me to a tabby weave, and the finest I can get is 12 threads to the inch. So I have to halve the official setts, at least. Oh, and I’m weaving in cotton. Because I live on the Gulf Coast. Wearing wool is fairly rare here, except for the kilted, of course.

Even so, I like this. Weaving is at least 75% planning and preparation, and only 25% weaving. After picking the tartan from my “recipe book,” I had to decide how far to reduce the sett to make a nice presentation for a scarf. I have an ideal range for the width and length, and I figured out how far to repeat the pattern on each end for the width, and how many times to repeat it for the length. I did not have to worry about estimating the total yarn amount, because I know I have plenty. But I still have to estimate the warp length. Did that by the handy formula my sister gave me long ago, and tallied how many warp yarns of each color I would need. Then I wound the yarn onto the warping board (which my sister made for me – she’s the coolest) in the proper length, and tied it off in small bundles at regular intervals. Then I loaded the loom and got it all ready to go. I almost got it centered, sigh.

The tartan is Gunn. It’s blue, green and black with a teeny bit of red. And this is what my loom looks like after a long evening.