Note: this was originally posted back in April 2011, however, watching Ted Lasso has me reminiscing about soccer games and the time I wove a Timbers rally scarf. Top photo is from today (I ended up weaving a second one!), the rest are from 2011, and the blog is definitely 10 years old, more than a few things have changed since then, and RIP Lompoc, Bridgeport and MoCC!

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Soccer games in Portland are a blast, you have chanting, singing, flags, smoke bombs and…scarves!

Inspiration to weave my own Timbers rally scarf was sparked by my day job (Graphic Designer at Pacific Northwest College of Art) giving me the chance to work with the Museum of Contemporary Craft (MoCC) on the Laurie Herrick exhibition materials—so many lovely woven pieces!

I started the project in early March and I had some green and yellow 14 oz. cotton in my stash to start with (woohoo!); I chose a classic and tough point twill pattern, measured the warp and started to dress the loom.

By the end of March, I had finished threading, tied the warp ends and hooked the shafts to the treadles. In April I had two solid sessions of weaving, the first started with a relaxing early afternoon of $2.50 beers on Lompoc’s 5Q sunny patio (one of the few sunny days in April), I listened to a random mix of the following: Pearl Jam (boxed anniversary set), The Kills’ new album Blood Pressure and the new Radiohead King of Limbs. The second session was another rare sunny day and also happened to be a game day (the first home game I was able to get tickets to). I knew I had to finish weaving and get it in my hand and ready to rally, so, I grabbed a Hop Czar, listened to a mix of Viva Voce and put some pedal to the treadle (little weaving humor there).

I finished with an hour to spare and the 4/31 game was as awesome as I’d hoped: Jeld-Wen was packed, we scored awesome seats behind 107, the fans were rowdy, scarves were twirling, and we won!

Even the Max ride to Spirit of 77 after the game was full of fans chanting. #RCTID