Wee Coverlet in Action

Our daughter chose one of my Maltese Cross Wee Coverlets for her little guy. We had the chance to see her and both of our grandchildren in August. Wish they lived closer. Handwoven blankets are one way I can wrap them in my love from 2300 miles away.

This is my little grandson napping with his Wee Coverlet.

So far his blond curls have not seen a scissors. I'd have a hard time snipping them, wouldn't you?

Hip Pocket for Mom

Mom's "Hip Pocket" by RepWeaver

My mom lives in a retirement center where she takes her meals in a central dining hall. Since she doesn't feel the need to drag a purse along to meals or to activities she needed a small handbag just to carry her keys, her meal card and a hanky. So she asked if she could have one of "My Hip Pockets".

My jeans pocket bags did not seem appropriate to her style. And I wondered if the fringe might prove troublesome for her. So I designed this one especially for her. Mom's favorite color is blue and she wears it a lot so her little bag goes with nearly every outfit she owns. She is very happy with it and receives regular compliments from fellow residents.

Mom's "Hip Pocket" by RepWeaver - reverse side

The bag is made from what was apparently a swatch of home interior fabric I picked up off the "free" shelf at my weavers' guild. I added tatting, beads and machine embroidery. The shoulder strap is one of my handwoven inkle bands. The bag is lined and sports two interior pockets.

Sometime when I can manage it, I'd like to make more like it.

Toothbrush Rugs

Toothbrush Rugs

Have you ever heard of "Toothbrush Rugs"? They were named before the advent of the modern toothbrush. Back in the day, a toothbrush handle was straight, simple and had a hole at the end. I guess it was the thing to hang your toothbrush for storage. Anyway these old brushes can be fashioned into a tool to make rag rugs. First the brush part is cut off. The remaining handle is shaped into a point at the non-hole end. The resulting needle is threaded with rag strips to sew them into thick and sturdy rugs.

Here are second and third toothbrush rugs I have made. Since I didn't have an ancient toothbrush I simply used a very large tapestry needle. It worked just fine. This is a great way for me to use up odd lots of rag strips left over from my Rep woven rugs.

These rugs are generally round or oval shaped. It has been a bit of a challenge trying to make them rectangular. But I am getting better with practice.

The one at top lives next to our shower door where it makes a perfect step out rug. The one at bottom now lives with a family member living in the deep South. Her kitchen floor is stained concrete. Since any latex product causes damage to such a floor, it's a challenge to find a rug that doesn't need a grippy non-slip pad underneath. Since this rug is heavy and a bit stiff, I hear it stays in place on the slippery concrete floor.

These rugs are hard-wearing and machine washer and dryer friendly. They are especially useful in homes with children and/or pets.

Wee Coverlets for Baby Revisited

 Wee Coverlets are a blast to weave even though they take a lot of time. I wanted to thread another warp. Here is the result - seven coverlets and a small eighth piece, perhaps a ⅔ coverlet.

Wee Coverlets for Baby by RepWeaver

The warp is 20/2 mercerized cotton in Natural with a few yellow ends and two variegated ends in the borders. The pattern wefts are 10/2 mercerized cotton.

Wee Coverlets with source book.

This is the little book where I found the Miniature Overshot draft I used. The title is Miniature Patterns for Hand Weaving: Part II by Josephine E. Estes. This book is in the public domain. You can find it as a PDF here: Original Miniature Patterns for Hand Weaving: Part II
The draft I used is Maltese Cross found on page 9 of the book.

Detail of Wee Coverlet, Maltese Cross by RepWeaver

Detail of Wee Coverlet, Maltese Cross by RepWeaver

Next you see a couple of close-ups to show you how the border colors worked out. The maroon one looks different than the rest because I used the warp yarn as tabby until it ran out. After that I substituted a tan yarn, slightly darker than the warp color. The result makes for a livelier background that I find pleasing.

 

Two Wee Coverlets side-by-side for comparison

Here are side by side coverlets from two warps. The one on the left is from a previous warp. Its draft is Lover's Knot I. The one on the right is a Maltese Cross wee coverlet.

The Gift

My Granddaughter's Gift

When our little granddaughter celebrated her fifth birthday her mother suggested a potholder loom as our gift to her. I wasn't expecting her to do very much with it until she was older and thought Mom was going to have to do most of the work for her. Imagine my surprise. Our tiny girl is a great weaver. Not only that, she has a talent for color and pattern. After the first one or two potholders she was off and running, doing even the finishing all by herself. She finished off two bags of loopers already so today we had to order some more for her. Can you tell how tickled this grandmama is?

And now today our little one was learning how to crochet. Wow!

Here is one of her looper creations given as a gift to me. She is one "gifted" little girl.

Now for the Victory Lap

Spring Doily tatted by RepWeaver

Summertime arrived along with gardening, home improvement and house guests. Hence the long, distracted silence here.

It has been a slow next-to-last row on my "Spring Doily" designed by Renulek. The long chains are a bit vexing. Perhaps I ought to have pull them a tighter? So far, I enjoy the look of this. Now it's on to the final "victory lap" row. Wish me luck but don't hold your breath. This may take a while.

Spring Doily tatted by RepWeaver, detail

The detail shot clearly shows the row I decided to flip. It is the one with the small golden rings without picots. I like it this way except it would have been better to have added those picots. I will do it that way if I ever tat this doily again.

My latest Wee Coverlets are finished. Next I need to photograph them. After that you will see them here.

Warp On, Weave Off
RepWeaver

Studio Helper

Dear, dear Dot. She truly thinks this is helping. As far as our two cats are concerned, the loom is nothing but a jungle gym. A nice big jungle gym from which no end of adventures in climbing and jumping are to be had. That might explain several of the more interesting scratches to be found there. Kitten intervention may be more annoying than otherwise but really, how can I argue with such a sweetie?

Dot hard at work.
As you can see here, being cute takes quite a bit of effort.

Dressing my loom took a bit of time and effort over the long weekend. In this warp there are 1139 ends of 20/2 cotton sett at 30 e.p.i. It is 38" wide in the reed. That is a problem because my widest temple, the one you see here, expands to a maximum of 37". Argh! Guess I didn't think about that when designing this project. So I had to order a wider temple and am hoping priority mail really means two days. It is supposed to be only two days, isn't it? Or is that just a soft target?

Here you see the first of my latest round of baby coverlets, this time in a miniature overshot pattern from Josephine Estes called "Maltese Cross". I can't decide which this orange color way reminds me most of -- Dixie Cups or Creamsicles. Which do you think fits?

Warp On, Weave Off
RepWeaver

2014 Spring Doily

This doily was a tat-along type pattern by Renulek. I like her blog even though it is written in Polish and the translation could use translating. The photos are great though and the way Renulek shows the directions right on top of the photo works in any language. Guess that's how it goes with music and weaving drafts as well.

Since I am way behind the pack on this project, all 14 rows have already been published and many tatters have finished their doilies long since. Here I am just beginning row ten.

Renulek's Spring 2014  Doily tatted by RepWeaver

The thread is DMC Cebelia which used to be my favorite back in the day but not any more. I have been trying to use my stash of this and had been doing hearts for Valentine's Day. Since the shuttle was still full I decided to do a trial of this pattern to see if I would like it. Apparently I did because I just kept going. Now I wonder how much more I can get out of this ball of thread. I may have to work in more of the gold color.

If you know this pattern and perhaps have been working on it yourself you may notice that I flipped row number seven. After a lot of thought I made this decision because I wanted the gold colored rings to appear the way you see here. If I had it to do again, I'd still flip the row but would also add the picots to match the gold rings in the previous row. It's hard to see those details in this photo, guess I ought to take a close-up shot next time.

Also, for row ten I am leaving off the thrown ring which I will add in again in row eleven.

When the doily is finished it should fit nicely on this little round table. It stands between the sofa and my husband's easy chair. Not sure how well it will work because he likes to toss a lot of "stuff" on that table. Time will tell.

Allison's Rug

Allison's Rug by RepWeaver

Here are the finished rugs from my latest rug warp. There are three in total and each is around 25" x 52". After a long struggle with the colors, I am beginning to like this combination.

The area woven with the darkest green (Forest) may look familiar. I saw it in Väv Magazine, No. 4, 2013, on page 37. This issue is devoted to the topic "Stripes" and is filled with great ideas and inspirations and is bound to be a favorite.

Three Rep Rugs by RepWeaver

Just to either side of center there is an area of dark grey/duck patterning that doesn't stand out. There isn't enough contrast. It would have been better with the light grey rather than the dark. But I didn't have enough of the light grey. Ah, well. Otherwise I think the design works. This design is one I plan to eventually weave again only next time I will chose different color way.

Rep Rug by RepWeaver, detail

Rep Rug by RepWeaver, detail

It's Wedding Season

Yes, it's that time of year again and already there are three wedding invitations in my inbox. Yesterday's children are preparing to say "I do." Time passes in spite of the fact that I cannot possibly be any older.

With each invitation's arrival I check the online wedding registries to look for the happy couples' color ideas. Then I look for a rug in my inventory. But a recent bride, Allison, chose a combination that I hadn't yet attempted -- turquoise, mint green and grey. These are three colors that I would not have put together and could not see myself using. Since then I have discovered that for the moment these colors are tres chic.

Allison's Rug by RepWeaver

Where to start? The biggest hurdle was getting over my own color sensibility. After a long deliberation I decided the best thing to do would be to add a few of my own ideas to include lighter and darker shades as well as highlights.

For some time I had been wanting to use common Inkle-type threadings side-by-side in a rug. The possibilities are absolutely endless so it was a lot of fun playing with various ideas and combinations.

I limited the warp length to six yards due to the fact that I had limited amounts of either shade of grey on my shelf and also because I had limited time before Allison was to be married.

The rug went out in the mail a couple of days ago and should be delivered today. It will be interesting to hear how it is received. I sure do hope the newlyweds like it.

Here are the three rugs fresh of my loom before they were hemmed. I'll post a few more photos of the finished rugs soon.