This piece was one of my very early pieces – I wove it on my first loom, an 8-shaft Baby Wolf. It was my first attempt at designing my own patterns, and I’m still very proud of it. I took the “Heart Throb Scarf” pattern from Twill Thrills: The Best of Weaver’s and modified it ruthlessly until I had a pattern I liked. I cut off the top part of the heart, reflected the bottom half of the heart to produced a “slit pupil” effect, then tinkered with the pattern beneath the heart until I had a rounded cat’s eye. I then hand-dyed the silk warp in two subtly different shades of orange (to add visual interest), and the cashmere weft in solid black.
The beads are by Gayle Herring, lampworked glass.
The tiger eye pattern, as simulated by weaving software.
The sample I wove before tackling the full shawl. It shows off the two different shades of orange quite nicely.
A closeup of the tiger eye pattern, showing off the beads.
The complete tiger eye shawl.
