Weaving Chenille

I've recently posted about how I'm using cotton for my warp and chenille for my weft in a series of scarves, ponchos and wraps (here), but I haven't mentioned using chenille for both warp and weft. There is good reason - I rarely do.


Rayon Chenille Scarf

This is an up-close photograph of a chenille scarf I wove a year or two ago. Notice the lovely sheen to it. Compare it to the cotton/chenille mixture below in a side-by-side shot:

Rayon Chenille and Cotton/Chenille Scarves

While the cotton/chenille scarf is beautiful, the full chenille scarf is both more luxuriant and softer to the touch. It also drapes better, almost like a silk, howbeit a fairly heavy silk. The other major difference between the two scarves is the weight - the full chenille is heavier.

Over Appleumpkin weekend, I had a lady place an order for a scarf: it had to be purple, and she preferred the full chenille scarf opposed to the mixture. I purchased my cones of yarn (a pound was needed), and began warping.

Everything went smoothly until I began to weave - the tension was off, and remained off. I ended up cutting off two portions of my warp to correct the tension. The problem with the chenille is that it doesn't wind up as smoothly as the cotton does. Out of the three yarns I use to warp my looms (cotton, wool and chenille), chenille is by far the one I have the most troubles with regarding tension.

It probably is simply a matter of using the yarn more often to learn its tricks. Truth is, I like the look and feel of the full chenille items, and don't want to lose it.

Have you ever had troubles with a project you didn't want to give up?

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