I had played around with Ashford’s wavy shuttle before but hadn’t been impressed with the result. I had thought about having another go at it for some time.
The wavy shuttle is, as the name suggests, a shuttle stick for the rigid heddle loom with wavy edges. These edges can be used to push your weft down in waves to create an interesting pattern.
With some research, I knew that it was best to use yarn that wasn’t too slick so that the waves would stay in place. I chose Polwarth wool, one of my favourite materials. It is soft enough to make a nice scarf, easy to spin but not as slippery as silk or silk mixes.
To be on the safe side, I spun six 100g skeins, four for the warp, two for the weft.
In keeping with the wave theme, I dyed the warp yarn navy blue and the weft yarn in two different shades of blue. The yarn looked great and promised an interesting project.
I warped the usual 2+ meters for a scarf, with a sett of 4 threads per cm at a width of 35 cm. I chose that wider warp because I wasn’t sure how much shrinkage the waves would cause. I ended up using only two of the four prepared skeins, but much prefer that to running out halfway through a project.
Using the wavy shuttle proved tricky at first, but I soon got the hang of it. It soon transpired that the best way to get a consistent result without gaps between the threads was to push the weft down with the edge of the shuttle, change shed and push down again.
The initial process looked promising, and the colours worked gorgeously. But the first doubts crept in every time I advanced the warp. I got the impression that the waves were less pronounced in the rolled-up fabric.
Weaving with this method was a lot slower than using the original ridging heddle. I estimate something in the vicinity of six hours for the entire scarf.
Once off the loom, my initial doubts were confirmed. Once the tension of the warp was gone, the waves looked far less wavy. Washing didn’t change the fabric much.
The scarf turned out a little shorter than I would have liked. Had I known that I would have so much leftover warp yarn, I would have added a few more centimetres to it.
So, am I satisfied with the result? Yes and No. I really like the colours and feel of the finished scarf, and there is a subtle wave effect to the weaving which adds interest, but I had expected more. I am not quite sure what I can change to meet my expectations.
Snathanna 