Last-minute Xmas Gifts

Finally finishing up my sample mug rugs from my class this summer, and started another set.  Giving them for Christmas gifts.  ;-]

These are the blue jeans selvege ones.

And these are the fabric strip ones.  They weave more like rag rugs because they squoosh down.

Working on the last one.

This one is still on the back.  Can't be cut off until both are finished.  The system works great.

Blue Jeans Mug Rugs

I have a bag of blue jeans selvage from Pendleton Mill that works great as weft for mug rugs.  It adds an interesting texture and weaves up quickly.

I warped up a board with natural cotton rug warp. I used blue jeans selvage in a basket weave pattern as weft with tabby shots of cotton rug warp between. Here the tabby is bubbled before beating with the tapestry needle.

tabby weft with bubbling

Here the blue jeans selvage weft is pulled straight while holding onto a loop at the other end. This keeps the mug rug from pulling in.

blue jeans weft pulled straight

And here's the finished mug rug.  Note the hem stitch.  I won't take it off the board as yet because I can weave a second mug run on the reverse side.

mug rug with hem stitch

I won't take it off the board as yet because I can weave a second mug run on the reverse side.

warp on the reverse

 Here's a rag weave variation:

sample rag woven mug rug

The weft is cut from strips of fabric.

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Supplies:

canvas art boards
self-sticking label squares
cotton warp
bamboo skewers
tapestry needles
blue jeans weft
scissors
6" ruler
ziploc baggies
pencil & paper

Waiting on the Canvas Boards -- Mug Rug Class

Time to get ready for my Mug Rug class at Fiber Retreat, May 14-16.  Waiting on the canvas boards for the looms.  6"sq.  I'll warp them up double-sided and each student will get 2 looms for a set of 4 mug rugs.

I'll bring tapestry needles, yarn, cotton rug warp, but I suggested students bring their own yarn as well.  They can be free-for-all or twill, or any fancier pattern than someone might want to weave.  I'll have books for basic weave patterns, or just make handouts.

They can be worked on after the class and taken home to finish if necessary.  Pretty basic.

These are sample mug rugs -- woven on a table loom -- but pretty much what we'll be doing.

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Yay!  The canvas boards just showed up!

Doesn't look like much, but what it is is a very sturdy board with a tooth, which helps to keep the warp in place and separated.

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I warped the canvas board with black Maysville cotton warp.  1/2 inch margin on either side.  The warp is wrapped around the canvas board with each wrap the distance of a thread apart.  It is tied off at either end, either the top or the bottom.  We will be weaving on both sides of the board.

It might be easier to weave on the back of the board if the text is covered with white paper or tape.  Perhaps blank label paper.

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Picked up some extra tapestry needles at JoAnn's.  Must remember the better tapestry needles are to be found in the crafts section rather than the sewing notions.

The Maysville rug warp came today.  Think I have everything I need for the class.

Sock!

I have some elements to work on.  This cutting and unravelling didn't quite work out as it was supposed to, but I muddled thru.  I somehow made my opening a whole row too wide.  Don't know quite how I did that, but I ended up with two cut pieces on either side instead of one.

It's done!  It was scary going there toward the end.  I dropped a lot of stitches trying to figure out the binding off (the book had an improvement that I couldn't grok so I skipped it).  Then the same thing happened closing the heel.  I simply couldn't figure out the 3 needle bind off and dropped a lot of stitches in the process, so I made something up and it seems to have worked.

On the bright side, I can now repair dropped stitches.  ;-]

Now I'd better get to the second sock before I forget what I just did.

Olympics Challenge

There's a Craft Olympics Challenge and I've decided to knit a sock (hopefully two).  Here's the sock so far:

I'm almost to the mid point -- at least the mid point in the leg, where the slit will go.  Never attempted a sock like this before (I've attempted a couple of socks, but they've never gotten much past this point anyway).  So I have high hopes for this technique.


It's from one of Cat Bordhi's books, Personal Footprints.  I like it so far.  Tho I don't have complete confidence in my footprint.  I'll see how it turns out.

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Curling works really great for knitting.

At this point I'm supposed to leave the heel 'til later and begin the leg.  But first I have to cut the yarn!!  I think I'll look at it a little longer before I do that....