Scarf for Son

I finished a scarf for my college-age son this week.  It was made with an 8/2 cotton warp in a light blue and an 8/2 cotton weft in a medium blue.  The pattern was an advancing twill.  I had not used the draft before so had to do quite a bit of reading and studying to understand the draft and process, but it was very interesting to do a block weave.  I even figured out what a profile draft is and how to use it.  (Sorry to use the technical language for those who are not weavers.)  Let me see if I can explain that in a way that would be understood for those who don't weave...  A twill is a way of switching the harnesses in such a way that the fabric appears to move in a diagonal way as it is woven.  The advancing twill moves not in just one way, but a few ways.  I used a design for pillows from the Nov/Dec 2011 issue of Handwoven Magazine and tweaked it to make it narrower for a scarf.  I also added in some back and forth patterns to have several 5 inch segments of a design of what looked like stripes interspersed in the scarf.

I was concerned that the scarf would be too stiff using the 8/2 cottons.  I had searched in a number of places and saw some in a lighter weight 10/2, but wanted to use the blues that I had on hand.  After cutting it off the loom and finishing the ends and washing it, I am pretty pleased.  It seems more masculine and although it is somewhat wide, I think it will drape well for him.  And the blues look fairly neutral so should be good to wear with quite a wide variety of colors.

It seems to drape pretty well; hope he will enjoy wearing it!

Here is a view of the pattern in the weaving.

One last note: I did hurry to get this finished so that he could take it with him when he leaves in a few days!