Valley Yarns #309 Midnight Garden Scarf

Valley Yarns #309 Midnight Garden Scarf

Project Overview

The Midnight Garden Scarf is a sophisticated doubleweave scarf designed by Jill Staubitz that transforms a traditional overshot pattern into doubleweave cloth. This weaving technique eliminates the long weft floats characteristic of conventional overshot weaving, creating a more refined and structurally sound fabric. The pattern is adapted from Peggy's Choice, a miniature overshot design sourced from Weaving Designs by Bertha Gray Hayes, a classic reference for weaving drafts.

What Is Being Made

This project creates a finished scarf measuring 9 inches wide by 64 inches long. The scarf features a complex patterned design that emerges from the interplay of two colors woven simultaneously in the doubleweave structure, resulting in a reversible fabric with visual depth and sophistication.

Weaving Technique and Structure

Doubleweave is the primary weaving technique used for this project. Doubleweave is an advanced weaving structure that creates two layers of fabric simultaneously on the loom, allowing for greater complexity and pattern possibilities than single-layer weaving. By adapting a traditional overshot pattern into doubleweave, this design achieves the visual complexity of overshot without the structural weakness of long floating threads.

The pattern is based on a traditional overshot draft, which historically created decorative effects through long weft floats. The doubleweave interpretation maintains the aesthetic appeal while improving durability and wearability of the finished textile.

Equipment Required

• 4-shaft loom with a minimum weaving width of 14 inches
• 2 shuttles for managing two separate weft colors
• 2 bobbins for winding weft yarn
• 10-dent reed for achieving proper sett

Yarns and Materials

Warp Yarns: Valley Yarns 8/2 Tencel, a 100% Lyocell fiber offering 3360 yards per pound. Two colors are used in the warp:

• Lemongrass: 600 yards
• Red Purple: 600 yards

Weft Yarns: Valley Yarns 8/2 Tencel in the same two colors:

• Lemongrass: 396 yards
• Red Purple: 396 yards

Both warp and weft utilize the same yarn weight and fiber content, ensuring consistent drape and finished appearance. The 8/2 Tencel is a smooth, lustrous yarn that creates a refined surface suitable for a decorative scarf.

Warp Specifications

The warp is wound to a length of 3 yards with a total of 400 ends. The winding technique requires holding one end of Lemongrass and one end of Red Purple together while winding, separating them with your index finger to create the alternating color sequence. This produces 200 winds total for the 400-end warp.

Sett (thread density): 20 ends per inch per layer, with 40 ends per inch total across both layers. This is achieved by threading 4 dents in a 10-dent reed, resulting in a 10-inch width in the reed before weaving.

Stitches and Threading

The project follows a specific threading draft based on the overshot pattern Peggy's Choice. Threading is done according to the provided draft, centered to achieve the intended 10-inch weaving width. The 4-shaft loom structure allows for the complex interlacing required by the doubleweave adaptation of the overshot pattern, with shafts controlling the sequence of thread raises and lowers that create the patterned effect.

Finishing Details

After dressing the loom and threading, the warp is tied onto the front apron rod. Several picks of scrap yarn are woven to spread the warp evenly. A minimum of 8 inches of warp length is reserved for fringe at each end, created from the tied bouts and scrap yarn area. Additional scrap yarn may be woven if necessary to ensure adequate fringe length.

Weaving proceeds with two bobbins, one wound with each color, with the weaver alternating colors according to the doubleweave pattern sequence to build the two-layer cloth and reveal the complex Peggy's Choice pattern across the finished sc