Valley Yarns #99 Golden Plum Tartan

Valley Yarns Golden Plum Tartan Weaving Scarf

What Is Being Made

The Golden Plum Tartan is a woven scarf designed by Paula Veleta, created using a rigid heddle loom. This project produces a finished scarf measuring 7.5 inches wide by 60 inches long, with an additional 6 inches of twisted fringe on each end, for a total length of 72 inches. The scarf showcases a beautiful tartan draft pattern featuring rich, heathery colors that create striking plaid stripes and single-line color accents throughout the design.

Techniques Used

This weaving project employs the stripe technique to create the distinctive tartan pattern characteristic of the design. The weaver uses the direct warping method to prepare the loom, which allows for efficient setup of the warp threads. The pattern relies on careful threading through slots and holes of the rigid heddle to achieve the precise color placement that defines the plaid design. A key technique involves managing multiple color changes during weaving—rather than cutting and tying yarn at each color transition, the weaver can let unused colors hang off the back of the loom and pick them up as needed in the sequence, which streamlines the weaving process. The scarf is finished with a twisted fringe created using a fringe twister on both ends.

Stitches and Weaving Structure

The Golden Plum Tartan uses a fundamental weaving structure based on the rigid heddle loom's capabilities. The pattern is created through the systematic threading of warp ends into the slots and holes of a 10-dent heddle, which determines the density and structure of the weave. The warp consists of 80 ends set at 10 ends per inch (epi), creating a balanced weave structure. The threading order is repeated in specific sequences to build the tartan pattern, with careful attention to color placement in both slots and holes to achieve the desired visual effect of plaid stripes and accent lines.

Materials

The scarf is woven entirely with Valley Yarns Sunderland, a luxuriously soft yarn composed of 100% Baby Alpacarigid heddle loom at least 15 inches wide, a 10-dent heddle, four shuttles for managing the different colors, and a fringe twister for finishing the ends.

Project Specifications

• Warp dimensions: 8 inches wide with 80 ends, 90 inches long
• Sett: 10 ends per inch
• Finished dimensions: 7.5 inches wide by 60 inches long, plus 6 inches of twisted fringe on each end
• Yarn: Valley Yarns Sunderland (100% Baby Alpaca)
• Equipment: Rigid heddle loom (minimum 15 inches wide), 10-dent heddle, 4 shuttles, fringe twister