Twill and silk are a natural pairing for scarves. The floats in twill give silk opportunities to shine and reflect light, but they aren’t so long that they get caught on clothing or jewelry. The Silk Wall of Troy Scarf in the Loom Theory Four-Shaft Scarf Collection combines the two to create a scarf as elegant as it is practical and comfortable.
Laura Fry’s Silk Wall of Troy Scarf woven by Katrina King.
Designer Laura Fry’s Statement
THERE IS NOTHING QUITE LIKE SILK, especially worn next to the skin. Halcyon's 2/12 Gemstone 100% silk yarn is lustrous, produces great drape, and comes in a variety of beautiful colors.
For this scarf, I wanted to make something elegant with a little bit of interest in the texture and pattern. The twill variation that Marguerite Porter Davison calls Wall of Troy makes a nice overall pattern. Twill has good drape, so between the silk and the twill structure, the resulting scarf feels soft and molds itself around the neck.
I like to use one color for the warp and another close in value for the weft, and the Gemstone yarn comes in several different hues that work for that combination.
When I am designing a variety of scarves, I frequently put one color on the loom as warp and then change the weft for each scarf. In the case of a luxury yarn such as silk, quite often white or natural is less expensive than the dyed yarns, so it makes good sense to use the undyed yarn for warp.
The Wall of Troy pattern is an asymmetrical point twill with one “leg” of the twill point extended. It’s a fairly small repeat over just 10 ends and picks that creates an interesting shape but is still easy to remember for threading and treadling.
For this scarf, I threaded and treadled the same 10-end/10-pick repeat, but you could use another treadling sequence. Try putting on a longer warp and then use other twill treadling sequences to produce different-looking scarves with either the same or another color of weft.
Halcyon Yarn’s Gemstone silks come in a nice array of colors to pick from. Follow Laura’s approach and put on a long warp to weave several scarves at a time, changing weft colors, treadling sequences, or both for each scarf.
Weave well, Susan
Project at a Glance
PROJECT TYPE: 4-shaft.
STRUCTURE:Twill.
EQUIPMENT: 4-shaft loom, 11" weaving width; 10-dent reed; 1 shuttle.
YARNS: Gemstone 2/12 silk (100% silk; 2,800 yd/lb; Halcyon).
OTHER SUPPLIES: Synthrapol textile detergent.