Saturday 2 August 2014

Is there such a thing as a man's scarf?

The first run of herringbone unisex scarves turned out so well that I decided to do a second run on a different warp - navy blue and silver grey this time instead of the original red and charcoal grey.  I finished them this week and decided to test them on the models at work - usually known as 'the girls and the boy'.  He is particularly life like and has been known to frighten staff who see his reflection in the mirror and think that there's someone there.  The first scarf had a jade weft and looks great on both my models.  
The second had a navy weft with multi-coloured slubs, not pure wool but it still feels soft.

The third had a red weft, one strand of wool I'd dyed for a project long forgotten and one stand from the nearest cone of red wool.





The fourth had a denim blue weft from a bargain cone I found at a sale at a workshop, would work well with any colour of denim.


 The fifth and final one had the same silver grey in the weft as in the warp and by that time I was getting a little tired of all that herringbone so I reversed it every 16 picks to make blocks of herringbone.  They look like little crystals, perhaps ice crystals, and it's cold enough today for there to be ice crystals inside as well as out.  



And what was the verdict on the scarves - I think I've worked out that taking photos at work is easier than doing it at home.  There's a good place on the bench which faces South, there are plenty of drapes in the window dressing cupboard and there are models who don't complain. As far as men's, women's, and unisex scarves are concerned, I suspect it's hard to make a scarf that could only be worn by a man, these certainly seem to work well on my male and female models - and none of them complained.
  

However, I did make the herringbone scarves so that there would be something on our stall at the Hawthorn Craft Market for men, so I had a look at the unfinished treasures to see if there was anything else for women and found 2 almost finished wraps I’d made last year.
They’re a combination of wool and multicoloured handspun, one a rainbow and one is shades of green and rose, wide but light, just the thing to keep out the Winter chill, so I finished them and added them to our stock for tomorrow.
Helen