Skip to main content

Festive Runners or Runners for Festivities?

     In the last post, I shared about how I’m working through the stash of yarn that I’ve accumulated over the years.  Ok, maybe it was the last few posts that I spoke of this.  I used to weave tons of table mats and had a bunch of 3/2 cotton on the yarn tree.  It’s super thick and soft so weaving with this to ‘get rid’ of it shouldn’t take too long.  I have a bunch of colors and had originally wanted to weave another run of towels but, by the time I was counting out the warp ends, it spoke differently to me.  Runners!


This is what’s left of the 3/2 and the color selection lay out.  

 

This is the first warp chain.  There were a couple of white and grey ends on both sides for a type of border.



The second chain is much more colorful!


From the front of the loom through the shafts.  I’m very careful to count how many heddles I need and then separating them from the rest.  What’s that saying?  Measure twice, cut once!  There’s nothing worse than taking all kinds of time to get a project underway to find an avoidable mistake!


For the first runner, I used a green weft in a hills and valleys type of pattern and threw diamonds in at either end.


The second runner was woven with a black weft with a section of color to use up what was left on the cones after the warp was wound.


Finally, and this one is my favorite, an M and W pattern using natural cotton.  It really makes the colors pop!


Just love it!


So after I ran out of 10/2 cotton for the weft, I looked at the back beam and had an ‘ut oh’ moment.  There was so much more to go!  At this point, I dove into the chenille stash and just started going cone by cone.  This picture is of the white weft.  I also had grey and lots of burgundy.  I cut these from the run and set them aside for later projects.  I’m thinking maybe cowls or something like that.  


This picture doesn’t really show how huge the rolled up yardage was!  When it was finally off of the loom, I was cracking up at how heavy it was!


Snip snip snip the header out!


I decided to go with a knotted fringe with two layers of knots to give a nice finish.


So, are these festive runners or runners for festivities?  I haven’t decided.  It might all be the same thing!  If you are interested in seeing them in the shop, click here.


Next up is a brave experiment in silk noil!!!!!



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Damask....Ah Ha Moment....Now Taquete?

Ok . So since the weather has been changing, I now have some more obvious time to 'play' with some designs that I have stored in my head:) Damask, in particular, has been a favorite of mine to look at and I really feel the urge to use my loom to create tapestry like scarves and shawls. I don't want anything too heavy as I really like the feel of tencel , bamboo, and I would eventually like to switch to silk for my finer works. I am still in the learning stage though and I hope to always remain in the learning stage. The damask pattern that I have been toying with, I like but, I lose a lot of detail the more I stretched it out. I was a little frustrated but, certain that there was something that I could do. The picture above is a little small but, the piece all the way to the right is a 4 point twill threading, the middle is a 5 point twill threading, and the one on the far left is a 6 point twill threading. To get a true satin/sateen I would have to use the one on the far

A New Loom!

       I’ve been weaving on a Glimakra 8 harness countermarche loom for almost 10 years now.  I love it!  It weaves like a dream, it’s super heavy, I get an excellent shed when all is going well, and I have a bit of an emotional attachment to it.  The only thing that I don’t love about this loom is that I have to climb on the floor to tie up the treadles.  Depending on the pattern, I could be under there for quite some time.  I’m pretty limber and in pretty good shape but climbing under the loom is back breaking work.  So much so that I’m sometimes out of commission for the remainder of the day after.  Look how pretty this loom is though!       I cleaned out the area that this loom has been designating as it’s home and prepped for the replacement.  I got an amazing deal on a Louet Spring and couldn’t pass it up!        I’ve been doing a lot of research on looms (well, really when am I not looking at looms!) and know that I love Louet.  My Megado has served me well for many years and th

Pine cones, Gingerbread Men, Maple Leaves, ?

I was asked if I can weave pine cones onto towels by a very influential woman of God in my life. Of course, I said "Yeah! Sure!". Knowing full well that with a little bit of research and effort, I would be able to weave just about any image out there with a 3/1 twill. Well, I think I have what I'm looking for. These are screen shots of the front and back of the image. So....I was wondering.......what do you think? Does it look like a pine cone ? I have the loom beamed, as of last night, in a point twill 1-32 and am planning on a natural cotton with a band on either side of the towel with a strip of pine cones . Since I put enough on the loom for four sets of two, I figured I would kill two birds with one stone and make my mother-in-law a set of gingerbread men towels for her kitchen. She's a little obsessed with gingerbread men....it's her kitchen theme that has spilled into the dinning room and living room :) Gotta love her!!! That leaves (ha ha ha sounds like a