Mat or Rug?

I've been making little mats since the Summer of 2020 with Liz Gipson's Summer Weave-Along: Mini Rugs. I highly recommend her classes. I used my 10" Cricket Rigid Heddle loom and a cotton warp for the first batch. All the rugs are about 8"x10". Cotton warp, various stash wool weft.

This is one of my favorites. All plain weave.

Then I put a linen warp on the loom and had lots of tension problems. Once linen gets stretched out it does not bounce back. The RH loom only moves half the warp ends up and down to create the shed for the weft. I decided to save the cross and transfer the warp to a multi harness loom where all the warp ends get moved. I had much better success. 

Linen warp sett at 6 ends per inch. Bulky Noro weft. Plain weave on a Macomber loom. 8"x10".

I've been asked what it's for. It could be used under a vase. It could be a place to throw your keys. It could be a table center decoration. Anything you want really! The rugs are fun to weave and make great gifts.

Sunrise or Sunset? This little mat or mini rug looks like one or the other depending on how you look at it.

Fried Egg Tote Bag

I knit this tank top in 2010. When I finished it and put it on I saw that the variegated yarn had pooled color into "nice" uneven fried egg splotches in the most awkward place. It was the same on the back so I could not wear it backwards.

A friend suggested I convert it into a bag. Once I refolded the tank, the armholes became handles!

The tank languished for many years. However, yesterday, I decided to dig into the sewing UFO (Un-Finished Objects) stack and work my way through it. I finished 6 things including the bag!

This is the lining, fully interfaced. I laid the knit tank on top of the fabric and rough cut the shape.

I also added a pocket with some fabric that reminded me of the first garment I made for myself back in 9th grade. Yes, I made a wrap skirt with fabric in shades of brown with clusters of mushrooms all over. For kicks I searched for "1980's wrap skirt patterns" and found the exact same one on Etsy here. My teacher asked me twice if I was sure about the fabric choice. Of course I was! I wish I still had the skirt because it must have been most hilarious.

Once I had the body sewn and the corners tucked to make a flat bottom I had to clip and fold the lining into the handles one edge at a time.

Then sew each one after pinning before moving onto the next edge.

I did have to patch the top of the handle as I didn't cut the lining long enough to go over the shoulder/handle. You can barely see it.

Corner button that I think adds a nice detail to the bag.

Finished bag. I love it!

Sometimes its good not to think to much or measure to much about a project. Just wacking out fabric shapes is not my normal way of sewing. This on-the-go method is freeing and a UFO got crossed off the list.

The GG Robe

I made a robe for my son Ian a few years ago. That story is told in this blog post. He wore that robe all the time. It kept him warm and toasty for longer than a kid's robe is usually able to. Well, it was finally time to make a new robe.

I took Ian to the fabric shop. We walked down the cotton aisle and the flannel aisle. He picked out 3 cotton fabrics and 1 cotton flannel and said he couldn't decide which was his favorite. Then he asked me to guess which one he wanted. I said "all four?" He said "YES!"

This is what he picked out. Flannel pizza and smooth cotton for the rest.

I know! Crazy right?!? I asked him if he was sure he wanted all of them in the same robe. "Definitely!" He told me exactly where each piece of fabric was to go.

He didn't want a tie so he picked out 2 buttons from my stash. Both are vintage. He liked the metal button because it had military stuff on it and the leather button looked like wood.

Putting all these pieces together...this is the result...I especially like the attitude!

Front view. The hard alcohol print is for dad to enjoy. And the money print gave him buying power.

Back view. He especially liked the pixelated bomb in the print.

 Inside view. The flannel is warm, cozy and yummy.

He calls it his Gangster Gaming robe. AKA, The GG Robe. Everything you need to have a good time...food, drink, games and money. Everything an 11-year old desires.

Side note: I did knit his house socks too. I wrote about his dad's pair of socks in this post. Same yarn, same pattern. I made myself a pair, too. Then I got over my sock craze.

My New Obsession

My new obsession is backstrap weaving.

One of my guild mates weaves on a backstrap at most of our demonstrations and I lurk. I've been following Laverne Waddington's blog for about a year. I have an interest in all things weaving already. Backstrap weaving seems to be the next logical method to explore. It seems so basic and yet so full of variety and technique. It makes me feel connected to history in the same way spinning fiber does. Backstrap weaving is a visceral and tangible connection to humanity and civilization. Where would we be if early peoples had not figured out how to twist fiber into yarn and make clothing with it?!?

Anyway, with help from my best friend and fiber arts enabler, Kathleen, I wove my first tape in November. I'd watched Laverne's intro to weaving lessons online but it was really great to have someone show me in person.

My 3 color warp using 3/2 pearl cotton. I set it up using the complimentary method with 2 colors for pick up potential.

Wrapping my string heddles around my fingers.

Tying off my string heddle bundle.

With a couple of cardboard spacers in place I started weaving. Using my fingers the way Laverne describes on a narrow warp, I really had to work hard figuring out how to manage my body to get consistent tension. I am sitting in a chair here.

A close up of the tape.

I was so obsessed I finished the next day. The tape has no pick up pattern. I just loved how the two colors alternated so cleanly. I had to refer back to Laverne's blog to see how she finished tapes with fringe.

Close up of finished tape.

 I wound another warp almost immediately and finished it within the week.

 Close up of my second tape.

Here is the set up in front of my TV shelving. I attached a clamp on the edge. Folded a towel to use as a backstrap. I even used a bar to do the roll up of finished tape.

My son took this slightly blurry picture of me. I moved to sitting on the floor when I got home from Kathleen's. I found it more comfortable. I can sit in Dandasana (yoga pose) and work my legs! The floor is useful as a work surface too to hold my tools as I weave.

I love the simplicity of the loom being my body and an anchor point. I can hardly wait to start the next warp.

Quick Cowl

I spent a weekend with my sister in Pasadena a few weeks ago. Out of character, I did not bring a project with me. Most of the time I bring something with me to work on wherever I go but then never work on it. This time I decided I'd packed enough and did not think I would have time anyway. Well...

I stayed an extra night and suddenly I was desperate for some handwork. Skein is a shop nearby that I had not been to in many years. I checked to see if the shop was open and I had one hour to get there and buy something.

The proprietor was great. She showed me lots of easy one skein projects I could pick up quickly. I settled on a cotton yarn and a sample cowl in the shop that I could manage without a lot of thought. Of course I needed knitting needles too.

This yarn...

Became this cowl...

Here it is flat...

Super easy! Using size 9, 16" circular needles, cast on multiples of 8 plus 7 stitches. Join in the round. Knit 4, purl 4. Continue until you want to bind off or when you run out of yarn. I cast on 95 stitches to make a tall cowl. You could cast on 119 stitches for a longer loop that's narrower.

I used the whole ball of yarn. I had 47 inches left. Did I say super easy already?!?