When I put a project on all my looms before having eye surgery, this was the most complicated one: two point twill scarves using the clasped weft technique to turn thrums into a side fringe. I did one repeat of the first draft before the first surgery, but didn’t go back to it until after the second surgery.

Oh boy, was it frustrating! My short term memory was completely messed up. By the time I’d done a couple of picks I’d forgotten where I was in the draft. I’d do the same two row three times because I kept forgetting I’d already done them, or skip a couple because I thought I had done them when I hadn’t. Sure, there was a lot to keep track of thanks to adding clasped weft, but it hadn’t been that difficult pre-surgery.

After unweaving and reweaving several times over a couple of sessions, I thought I had about four perfect repeats done. But when I looked closely the first and fourth were different to the second and third. At that point I gave up. I decided I was going to continue with the two up/two down basic twill structure and just shift to the left or right as I pleased.

Oh, the relief! And simultaneously, the project was suddenly so much more fun to weave. The fabric I was getting looked great, in a groovy sort of way. I did have to watch out for overly long floats, but the change of approach made it doable and enjoyable.

A few weeks later, when I came close to running out of thrums I decided to consult the draft again. Sure enough, I had no trouble following it. The affect of the anasthetic had worn off.

I finished it and started the second scarf, attempted the draft I had planned for it. The weaving went just fine. This time I didn’t have enough thrums to do a full length scarf, so after every three clasped weft repeats I did two with the non-thrum yarn going all the way across, leaving enough on the side to make a blue section of fringe. It made for a more ‘graphic’ design.

I’m really happy with how they turned both out. However, I went through my accessories recently and I definitely have more than enough for one person (or two, or three…). A few knitted pieces were culled, unravelled, washed and wound into balls to make into something else. I decided I would try selling all the scarves I wove this year in the Guild’s gallery.

I loved making them, and I’d be very happy if they found a happy home.