Last summer I answered a call for submissions to the Little Looms publication of what is now Long Thread Media. I proposed an article on the Clasped Warp technique, which is ideally suited to rigid heddle looms. I had woven scarves using that technique already but thought that I could get more creative with it.

Here are some examples of discontinuous warp created by the Clasped Warp technique. These are the first scarves I did using this process. I had plenty of ideas for how to make scarves that were more interesting and plenty of beautiful naturally dyed locally grown wool to use for them.

The hardest thing was that I was supposed to make my project scarf fit the theme of Animal, Vegetable, or Mineral. I thought that the scarves I had already woven with my naturally dyed yarn were perfect for Vegetable, reminding me of the colors of a grassland or savannah, but it turns out that there were already enough project for that theme and they really wanted Animal.

So I thought about my own grassland and went out to take photos of horned sheep in the grassland.

I thought that should work for the Animal theme. I pictured the green and yellow grass and the brown horns. Then I realized the constraints of this technique. Each color starts from one end or the other. That meant the brown stripes (horns) would go all the way to one end and not just appear in the middle.

Oh well. I wound another warp.

And another.

And another. I ended up sending about a dozen scarves so they editors could choose which to use and photograph.

This is the project article.

Here is the front of the magazine. I have a second article in it about designing with the clasped warp technique and there are a lot of other very cool projects in this issue as well. I have the magazine listed on my website.