My head seems to be exploding with ideas to try new things since I have been weaving on my Ashford Rigid Heddle Loom again. I put a Textured Mohair Art Yarn on the loom for warp yarn to weave the Phoebe Poppy Pocket Scarf in my previous post.

It was my first time weaving with art yarn for both warp and weft in the same piece. Weaving with texture for weft is relatively easy. Textured weaving with art yarn as the warp is an entirely different weave. First… it required the nerve to try it in the first place. Second… I had to use my 2.5 dpi reed on the rigid heddle loom to even get the yarn to move smoothly through the slots and eyes. Third… I purposely put a longer warp on than I needed.

Warping has never been something I enjoy, so as a practice I put on extra long warps to weave several pieces on one warp. I anticipated that I might make a hat or a bag out of whatever was left over after the scarf for the second piece. But since I didn’t know the warplength, I thought I would just wing it.

Of course I did not measure the warp so I had no idea what the actual length was. I was just guessing. I did not measure the scarf before deciding it was done. So I had no idea what the length of the second piece would be. I just wove until I ran out of warp.

It turned out that second piece was too large for a hat and too pretty for a bag. I had to make something cozy and pretty. I decided to try making a neck warmer. Essentially a mini scarf without the tails hanging down. Just warmth right at the neck where it is generally needed the most. Never done that before so this was a “happy accident”.

I added two flat coconut buttons that could be used to secure the neck warmer. With two buttons, it allowed numerous styles for wearing. I style it using one button or two, depending on how I wanted to wear it.

It turned out better than I had hoped. In fact, I liked it so much that I decided to keep it for myself. I so seldom keep my pieces and wanted something just for me.

Part way through, I realised I would have to break open a new skin of Poppy or Phoebe yarn to finish. I decided at that point to change it from all white and used some of Primrose’s red mohair Textured art yarn. That created a nice natural color change which I found very pretty.

I enjoyed weaving this piece and wearing it so much that I plan on making a few more. Some of those may even end up in the shop since sometimes you just need to keep your neck cozy and warm without all the scarf in the way. Maybe you will want one for your neck to be warmer!