It’s one of those projects. They happen now and again. I want to use a particular weft yarn, and I play with combinations to use for a warp yarn until I find one I think will work.
So far, so good. And the yarn I picked, Mayhem and Chaos Rockstar in Inky Love, is just magical on the loom. It’s got 2% silver in it, and it sparkles like no yarn I’ve ever seen. Hard to capture on camera, but I tried – here it is on the Schacht Flip.
The weft I wanted to use was a gorgeous lace yarn, Debbie Bliss Angel in a warm grey. The two yarns complemented one another very well when they were in their respective skein and ball. But alas, disaster! When I threw a few picks of the Angel, it was immediately obvious that it just wasn’t going to work.
The lace weight was too fine against the light fingering warp, and the warp’s deep blue and sparkle overwhelmed the delicate Angel yarn. And, that wonderful shiny silk core that Angel has looked cold against the warm midnight blue warp. It just wasn’t going to work.
(This is where the truly organised weavers out there chorus that I should have sampled. Yes, I should have. But now I have an interesting design problem to solve, so it’s okay.)
This warp is stubborn! I’ve been through my entire stash and tried it with about 15 different warp yarns, and I’m still not 100% sure I’m on a winner yet.
It’s either going to be the Amalfi variegated cotton, or more of the warp yarn. After much experimenting, I just can’t bear to tone down that amazing warp yarn with a colour that’s lighter than it is. On the other hand, putting more sparkle on top of the sparkle is going to turn this piece into an evening wear only scarf … which means I’ll have to rethink my weave structure to make it a little more elegant.
Decisions. I like to sleep on problems like this one until I’m sure I’ve found the answer. I’ve learned there’s nothing less productive than starting to weave a project that I don’t love.
What do you do when you hit an unexpected design problem?