Here’s a stash buster rayon chenille scarf hot off the loom that has me totally in awe.

I wanted to try the interleaved, echo threading technique that has everyone buzzing. I wanted to use that threading with a Turned Taquete tie-up and treadling sequence. Plus, I wanted to try all that without taking the time to work out my own design. Lazy? Maybe, but I wanted instant gratification.

This is the result, a dramatic, luxurious scarf that had me before the end of the first repeat.

I used odds and ends and bits and pieces of the last of my 2000 yards per pound rayon chenille. I wanted good contrast, so I overdyed half with black, and the other half was comprised of magenta, iris handpaints, blue, green, and whatever I could grab that would plausibly work in the mix. I sett the warp at 24 ends per inch for a warp-emphasis weave. I used the same weight rayon chenille for weft, in black.

(FYI: if you are planning on using fiber reactive black dyes for overdyeing other colors, don’t bother tub dyeing. Just paint the dye on and let it set for at least 24 hours. Otherwise it will never cover the old color sufficiently.)

Here is the original Turned Taquete design on which I based my scarf. It was purchased from WEBS in PDF form at least a year ago. You can find it here. The original is woven with 8/2 tencel warp and 20/2 cotton weft. I bought the pattern before doing much research on interleaved weaves, so when the light bulb finally came on, I was anxious to give it a try.

Glad I did!

I liked doing this so much I ended up buying a huge 4+ lb. cone of 2000 ypp rayon chenille to do more. Though I won’t use this particular design again, I plan to work on my own designs with an eye to weaving in this technique for my Etsy shop.

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