By Stephanie Flynn Sokolov
The Bananagram scarf featured on the cover of the book Woven Scarves by Jane Patrick and myself is a great beginner project. One of the things I love about this scarf is that it is easier to do than it looks. A fine merino wool yarn, woven at 12 ends per inch, is felted with tie-in objects which leave a lasting impression after the finishing process.
For this "Reformed Bananagram" Scarf, I changed the object used for the resist from a Bananagram to a Lego (not a far leap in my house). These building blocks now come in all different shapes and sizes which create a variety of lively shapes. The yarn is JoJoLand Harmony (the same one used in the book), great for its softness and flexibility. The orange color made it super fun to weave.
To get started, pull out your 10" Cricket loom, put in a 12- dent reed, direct warp the full width and you are ready to weave. Even though this scarf has a 24 picks pr inch and a 104" warp length, it moves right along in plain weave.
Once the scarf is woven, round up your Legos and position them randomly along the scarf, securing them with small rubber bands.
Be sure to secure each block twice around with the rubber band (I learned this the hard way). Some of the blocks seemed big enough to warrant just once around, but don't be fooled—the bricks will fall out when finishing. I also had a learning moment when I saw that some of the long skinny blocks poked through the fabric and slid out completely during the washing process. This scarf can take on many different shapes, depending on the objects you use for the felt resist, so get creative, look around, and start weaving.
