sample for scart--> table topper

I wanted to make a challenge to myself to use some of my stash of misc. yarns (some labeled, some not) in a creative way. I found some lovely felted chartreuse yarn to use as warp, and some pale gold overtwist singles that went well as weft. I was hoping to make a scarf with red accents, but (wisely) decided to sample first. I knew that I would end up with differential shrinkage, from tests I did on the yarn, and thought that would be interesting.

I warped up 10 inches at 8 sett, 160 inches long (for two scarves) and wove a 7 inch sample, including red accents in both warp and weft. I cut the sample and washed it. Since I wanted to get as much shrinkage and fulling as possible, I hand-washed vigorously in hot water and rinsed alternately in cold and hot water. Pressed out the excess water in a towel, then dried wth my hair dryer (I don't have a clothes dryer, which would have been overkill anyway).

The differential shrinkage created a wonderful texture that I like a lot. Unfortunately, the yarn did not soften as much as I'd like: it feels quite stiff and a bit rought, I think due to the kind of wool in the warp yarn. So I decided to make a table topper instead. I am unwinding the warp from the back, cutting at the warp beam, sley the back ends into the reed for a 20" weaving width. Then cut each warp in half and tie back onto the warp beam and carefully rewind and adjust tension in the front. I figured this would be the most straightforward way of resleying a wider warp.

I liked the effect of the single red line (dots), and will incorporate that into the topper. I may also include some short knots as embellishments in spots: the ends of the red felted up into cute little "buttons".

This was fun to do. I should have enough to do another sample at the end that could perhaps become a hot pad. The sample I will sew up (and secure the ravelly edges) for a glasses case.