Waffles - comfort food, comfort weaving

Remember the waffle weave scarf I wove on my little Cricket loom back in January? After finishing it, I kind of wanted to have another go at the same pattern, but with a reversal of the warp and weft colors. Back on the first weekend when my schedule emptied out and we all started staying home (March 20), I warped the loom again. As a reminder, here are the two colors of Elsbeth Lavold Silky Wool I have in stash:

This pattern cleverly uses both warp and weft floats to create a windowpane pattern. Here it is on the loom:

I beat my weft picks more than I did with the first scarf. And by "beat," I really just mean "press" - I didn't intentionally leave more space between picks like I did with the first one.

The difference is clear to me, especially when I feel the two scarves. Can you see it?

The "panes" are narrower in the second scarf (which is the one on the left - I should have laid those out differently). The fabric is denser, though not without drape and softness. The real difference is in the measurements:

	Length off loom	Length after finishing	Width off loom	Width after finishing	Weight
Scarf 1	64”	58.5”	7.25”	6.75”	73 g
Scarf 2	65.5”	61.5”	7”	6.5”	97 g

My theory (from Scarf 1) was that I lost less warp to takeup than shrinkage than I planned for (I lost 18.75" and planned for 20%), but got less length than planned (the target was 60"), because I didn't beat very tightly. I believe the data show this is true. For Scarf 2, I only lost 14.6% of warp to takeup and shrinkage. I'm guessing this is because of the yarn content - it is a wool/silk/nylon blend and the silk and nylon probably keep the wool from shrinking as much. Scarf 2 is 3" longer than Scarf 1. Curiously, Scarf 1 is 1.5" shorter than the target length, while Scarf 2 is 1.5" longer than the target length. I just might have to weave a third one to see if I can achieve Goldilocks' "just right"!

This was an easy and comforting project that took a lot less time to make than the length of time it took me to blog about it would suggest. I've gotten quite proficient at warping up the little loom with only 79 ends. And since I didn't have to do any new math (repeat project FTW), it was even easier to get started.

I really enjoyed making these fraternal scarves and am now wondering if I should start cranking them out in Gettysburg College colors to give to colleagues!