Working With Teens is Such a Pleasure

Way back in March, our thirteen year old granddaughter Emily came over for a weekend and decided she wanted to make a chenille scarf.  This is how it looked as she was getting started.

 After multiple weekends of weaving, she finally came to the end of her warp tonight!  She was very excited about finishing it, and wanted to get a photo of it built up on the cloth beam.

 
This certainly looks like a happy weaver!

It is a long scarf, but just what she wanted.  I think we started with three yards of 1300 yards per pound rayon chenille warp.  It was sett at 16 epi, and was woven with plain weave.

Of course, she knows she still needs to braid the ends into fringe, and she got a little start tonight before heading to bed.  I wish I didn't have to work tomorrow, so I could help her with the knot tying, and then the wet finishing. 

I'm so proud of how diligently she worked on it without anyone leaning over her shoulder every step of the way.  She learned to use the electric bobbin winder, and after helping her with the first one, she did all the others on her own.

Today, when she was almost done, she came to get me to show me how the weft was starting to curve up at one end.  Most people wouldn't even notice, but she has such a good eye for that type of thing.  I reminded her to pull the beater from the middle, and we jiggled the loom around a bit to get it squared up, since we had moved it.  I tightened a couple edge threads, and it seemed to fix the problem. 

Hopefully she will get it done by the weekend.  Fortunately, there is no rush.  With the heat we have been having, I don't think she will want to wear it this week!

Sample for chenille scarf

The loom stand is finished enough for testing.  I wound a warp for a rayon chenille scarf and wove about 8-10 inches with white, blue and black weft.

The sample on the right of the serger stitching is not washed and is quite stiff.

The sample on the left of the serger stitching has been washed and dried in the dryer.  It is nice and soft.  I'm having a hard time deciding whether to use the black weft or the medium blue(above the little tail of white yarn).



I'm leaning toward the medium blue because I like how the blue varigated stripe looks.