Rider Prider Scarf- With TUTORIAL!

Finally! at long last! It's done! I've been working on putting this together for far to long. I called this scarf the Rider Prider scarf because the Saskatchewan Roughriders Football team (CFL) wears these colors. Go Riders, Go!

Rider Prider scarf by SpinHeartSpin, on Flickr

Rider Prider scarf by SpinHeartSpin, on Flickr

Anyway onto the good part. The how to!

What you will need:

~1 Large piece of lumber (mine is a 2x8, about 7 feet long. Any size will do, so long as it will give you the size of scarf you want. You can find warped pieces at construction sites, just ask if you can have it. Or of course you can buy one)
~36 screws that only have the threads up part of it. (you can find ones like this at the hardware store)
~ a skein or ball of yarn, thicker chunkier yarns work better. (The yarn I used here was a bit to thin for this loom, but it gave a nice loose weave)
~ A shuttle (you can make one of these too)
~ Lots of time

Step one: Make your loom.
With a power screwdriver, put 18 (or how many ever will fit on your board) screws on each end, evenly spaced.

Close up of the screws by SpinHeartSpin, on Flickr

Step two: Warp your loom.
It's as easy as tying one end around your first screw, and walking the yarn to the other end of the loom, and wraping it around the first screw on that end, and repeat the process across all the screws. Tie the yarn off on the last screw. PULL EACH THREAD TIGHT This is important! If they aren't tight, the weaving will be a royal pain. I promise.

Plank loom warped by SpinHeartSpin, on Flickr

Step 3: Make a shuttle
You can make your shuttle out of anything that is fairly firm. Double piece of tissue box, the card board you get in a package of shirts, something like that. Or you could get a thin piece of wood (like veneer thickness) and use a jigsaw to cut it out. You would need to do some sanding if you do it this way though.

shuttle template by SpinHeartSpin, on Flickr

Step 4 : Wrap your shuttle!
Just wrap your weft yarn around the shuttle the long way.
Don't fill it this full.

The shuttle is to full. by SpinHeartSpin, on Flickr

Or this will happen. And you don't want this to happen.

This is what happens when the shuttle is to full by SpinHeartSpin, on Flickr

Step 5: Weave!
For this one I did a basic over under simple weave pattern. Of course you could choose to do a over two under two, or some over two under one type weave too.

Over under over under by SpinHeartSpin, on Flickr

Step 6: Tie off
I simply tied two side by side strands together, leaving a fringe.

Close up of fringe by SpinHeartSpin, on Flickr

Step 7: Weave in the ends if you have some places where you had to fill the bobbin again.
This can be done with a needle, it's the easiet way, I've found. Just weave it as you would beside the yarn you are working with, for a bout and ich or two. Cut off the excess close to the finished piece, being careful not to cut the fabric. (unfortunately I didn't get a picture of this step.. Undecided

Sorry! I hope my words make sense!)

Step 8: Wash!
Sometimes this step is overlooked, but a simple wash in a sink full of soapy water (some people like to use shampoo, Or you can buy special fibre wash too. Up to you.) and rinse will do. Lay flat to dry.

Step 9: Rock your new scarf!

Rider prider scarf by SpinHeartSpin, on Flickr

And there you have it! That's how it's done. Now, does anywone want to do a weave along using this tutorial? It would be really awesome!

UPDATE!!

I came up with a way to make the weaving go faster! Makeshift Heddles!
Basically you just take something hard and stick like (In my case, giant zip ties. It was what I had around.) Maybe a dowel, knitting needle, something that is slightly longer then your weaving. And alternating warp threads, tie a rather large loop around the warp, and one around the dowel/stick like thing. So when you lift one Heddle, one set of strings lifts, and when you lift the other heddle, the other set of strings lift! Here's a series of pictures capturing what I just wrote