An Experiment in Cashmere
Finished
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An Experiment in Cashmere

Project info
Weaving
Tools and equipment
Harrisville 22" 4 shaft/6 treadle
Yarn
8/65nm cashmere silk
Gold
ColourMart Cashmere 2/28NM Lace Weight
Misc from set
ColourMart Merino/Silk 2/30NM Lace wt "Emblem"
Notes

Warp is 2/28nm cashmere set from Colourmart. Approx. 6800 ypp.
Sett: 24 epi (2 per dent in 12 dent reed)
3 yard warp:
228 ends blue heather
112 pale blue
100 creme

Threaded blue heather in straight draw 1,2,3,4…
Threaded creme in Finnish Bird’s Eye p. 19 Davison 1971
At color change right side between heather and creme, threaded heather 1,2,3 then creme 4,3,2,1,4,3,4,1,2,3,4…
This made a nice zig zag border at right.
At left side color change between creme and pale blue, threaded creme 1,2,3 then pale blue 4,3,2,1…etc with straight draw in opposite direction from heather. This created a straight line color change, no zig zag.
This is opposite on other side of fabric. Top while weaving showed blue outline diamonds. Bottom showed white diamonds.
Davison gives treadling options. I have used most of them, and I like them all for different reasons. This scarf used a simple point twill treadling throughout (1,2,3,4,1,2,3,43,2,1,4,3,2,1,2,3,4….)
Threaded 4 selvedge threads double in the heddle. This made a nice edge. Floating selvedge was one strand 2/20 silk hung off the back of the loom with Bob-EEZ rubber bobbins. This worked well while weaving, and the silk selvedge has held up over time. Eta: after wearing, the silk edging is very nice and looks good too. Helps reinforce the edge.

Weft: emblem doubled. After 18 diamonds, started Fibonacci sequence stripes with cash/silk (wound x 4 by Colourmart).
A note about warping the HD: make a cross on both ends, one raddle and one lease. Attach raddle to front of loom and attach tensioner device on back, with lease cross at the end of front part of the chain hanging off breast beam end. Thread warp through raddle and tensioner, and beam on (a helper is nice for this part). Then put in lease sticks at front end of warp, remove tensioner and raddle, and thread heddles then sley reed. Tie on front apron rod.
After finishing: I couldn’t be happier with this piece. The fabric is soft and flexible, but with enough loft to keep a person warm. The 2/28 was delicate, but with care and not too tight tension I only had a couple of broken threads and those were mainly due to sudden movements on my part. I was careful to keep the warp straight coming off the back beam so that tangles didn’t form against the heddles.
Measurements:
On loom 18.3” x 3 yard warp
After wet finishing 73” x 17”
6” fringe (which I will probably shorten)
9.3% shrinkage

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Finished
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About this yarn
by ColourMart
Lace
100% Cashmere goat
2264 yards / 150 grams

2788 projects

stashed 3614 times

trailspinner's star rating
trailspinner's adjectives for this yarn
  1. gorgeous
  2. soft
  3. luxurious
About this yarn
by ColourMart
Lace
50% Merino, 50% Silk
2406 yards / 150 grams

153 projects

stashed 253 times

trailspinner's star rating
  • Project created: October 18, 2015
  • Finished: November 8, 2015
  • Updated: July 18, 2023