Rug Weaving--post 2

First Happy Thanksgiving to all the Canadians! 

Goal number two on my October list was to document my rug weaving process.  Last April, I took an online course from Ilka White, a fiber artist from Australia. I posted about my experience. Since then, I've worked on growing this project!

Torn strips ready for weaving

I start with 10 strips of the navy sheet and the light blue flannel sheets. Sometimes, if I'm close to the end of the sheet, I'll rip the remaining bit. 

About to add three flannel strips

As the strips become too short to act as the weaver, I'll add another strip. Ilka recommends keeping the strips about 18 inches. I decided not to cut the strips into those lengths. First, it meant less times to add a strip and second, less strips mean less knots. The longer length didn't bother me with the weaving.

Weaving one pass

It is't difficult to weave this design. the weaver and the strips are the same color. It is an over and under process row after row!

Inserting the crochet hook

When I reach the end of the strips, I insert a crochet hook into a nearby finished loop. 

Positioning the crochet hook
to pull the tail through the loop

I pull the tail of the weaver through that loop. 

Beginning to pull the tail through the loop

Usually, the loop I'm using will be the same fabric. 

The strip almost pulled through the loop

I do try to fold the edges of the strip so the right side of the fabric is out.

Once the strip has been pulled through the loop, I go back to adjust the tension in each of the strips. This process takes a little time too; but, the result is worth the effort.

Detailed view of the strips

At the end of September, my rug measured 31 inches in diameter. I have torn all the bottom sheet and have started tearing the top sheet. I am past the half way point of this project!

31 inches of woven rug

My husband asked if I knew how to finish this project. I said that although Ilka had told us how to decrease the strips and had included the directions in her class handout, the answer was no! The class was too long ago to remember what she said so I hope that when I get to that point, I'll be able to achieve the finish!

34 inches of woven rug

I've been working on the project during the times when I am working on my sitting ability. (I had knee revision surgery the middle of September and I'm not ready to be seated in front of a sewing machine yet!) I was surprised to measure the rug before snapping the latest photo to find it is about 34 inches in diameter. Now that the rounds are larger, it takes longer to gain those inches! Note that it is almost as wide as my kitchen table!

This isn't slow stitching; but, it is a handwork project so I'm linking to Slow Sunday Stitching. I'm also linking to Finished or Not Friday and Patchwork and Quilting.

September Recap and October Goals

Surface view of rug

My September goals were:

✔1. Document making a special pillow case for the youngest granddaughter.

✔2. Document the activities the youngest granddaughter did during her visit.

✔3. Piece the string blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. This month the color is purple.

✔4. Share what I did at the summer virtual retreat.

✔5. Share my progress on the book club quilt Garden Flowers.

✔6. Make progress quilting the butterfly.

Strips ready for weaving

✔7. Make progress on my rug weaving.--Post surgery, I started with three  one hour sessions of PT to work on sitting. I've spent 45 minutes of each session weaving my braided rug. The second week, I was up to 45 minutes five times per day. I have torn all the flannel strips of the bottom sheet and they are attached to the rug for weaving! The rug is now too big to fit on my sewing room workspace. It is on the kitchen table. 

Every time that I think I'm feeling comfortable with the process, I note an issue trying to happen. I can see that I need to add more stitches as the rug is trying to curl. I am loving the results so far! It now measurers 31 inches which is six more inches than last month!

✔8. Make progress on Lala's Irish Chain.

✔9. Determine what to do for the next book club quilt. We are reading Radium Girls by Kate Moore.

Thoughts of a project for Radium Girls

--I drew some thumbnail sketches. Picked one to pursue. After thinking about it, I decided to come up with a different design and use the main fabric. I even chose different fabrics. Now to make the pattern. .  .

✒10. Do what I can to make progress on the Magnificent Mystery and Floral Baubles sew alongs.--I didn't work on Floral Baubles. Sitting is still not all that comfortable.

✔11. Recover from knee revision surgery--Because 23 months after knee joint replacement surgery, I still have pain and loss of mobility. 

Focus fabric for the Radium Girls project

It was another terrific month in spite of spending half of it outside of the studio rehabbing my knee! I hope to feel like sitting at the machine to piece and quilt in October! I do feel like living life is just around the corner for me!

Fabric Accounting:

Current Month:

Fabric in: 8 yards

Fabric out: 0 yards

Net gain for the month: 8 yards 

Year to Date:

Fabric in: 57.25 yards

Fabric out: 124.75yards 

Net loss: 67.50 yards 

Fabric purchase this month. Fat quarter 
bundle for string project.
Yardage for Magnificent Mystery project

Best Book of the month: The Forty Year Grudge by Liza Tully. This is the second book of the Merritt and Blunt mystery series. It's a cozy mystery. A murder occurs during a small gathering of sorority sisters who are together for their 40 year reunion. I thought I knew who did it and why; but, I was wrong!

My October goals are:

1. Document making the back for Lala's Irish Chain.

2. Document my rug weaving process.

3. Pre-wash and starch some background fabrics for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

4. Document my plan for the project for Radium Girls.

5. Make a Memory Bear. I cut out the pattern pieces from the flannel sheet that I'm using to make the woven rug.

I'm listing a few goals because this may be a difficult list to achieve. I sure hope that I'll be stitching. Three weeks into my knee revision recovery, however, my body is not ready for sewing. My last PT session set me back. I've returned to using the walker to get around the house. No position is currently comfortable. Sigh. . .I so want to be doing other activities!

Linking to Oh Scrap, Sew & Tell and To Do Tuesday.

Woven Rug--post 1

The class

Mid-April, I took a rug weaving class from Ilka White. It was a two day class via Zoom. Each session was three hours. Thirteen people were in the class. At least five us were from the United States.The majority of people were from Australia. Australia is where Ilka lives. Learning what materials could work for a rug was eye opening. T-shirts, jeans, cotton shirts, wool scraps, table cloths and sheets were a few of the materials mentioned, They really eye opening factoid was that all these materials could end up in one rug! I chose sheets. The dark blue are old sheets from our bed. The lighter blue flannel sheet was a set that my daughter had on her bed growing up. She didn't want me to throw them out until I had made her something from the fabric.

Progress at the end of the first session

A couple decades later, I decided she might get a kick out of a rug! I learned about Ilka from fellow blogger, Linda, at Flourishing Palms, Linda had posted about several projects she had made using Ilka's techniques. I began following Ilka. When Ilka posted the online class, I registered.

Progress at the end of the second session

At the end of the first day, I wasn't happy with my piece. I removed the stitches and started again. I was happier with the look. On the second day, I asked for another demonstration on how to add strings to the piece. It took a long time for Ilka to get to that point as she addressed that question towards the end of the question session. I did add a piece; but, after picking up a couple bits of wisdom I should have learned on the first day, I didn't get make much progress.

When Ilka showed videos and sometimes while she demonstrated, I had so much buffering that it was difficult to follow the process. I struggled with weaving the end of the strip into the rug until I discovered that I had missed the part where she had snipped a button hole at the end of it. She used her crochet hook to enter the hole and pull the strip through the rug. 

At the end of third session--back to the beginning

On the third day and on my own, I tried to make use of the knowledge I thought I had garnered at the end of the second session. I realized, I had made an error early in the weaving process. I removed stitches until I was back at the beginning!

Results on the third beginning

Starting the fourth day, I felt confident that I could conquer the process. This time, I wove like a left hander. I am left handed. This is the largest portion I have been able to weave. I've started to add strips to the weaving with plans to add more. Ilka said rug weaving was meditative. Perhaps it is, once one gets into the zone of the process.

I hope to work on it a little each week. My goal is to use all of the flannel sheets. When the sheets are used, then that will be the size the rug needed to be! I likely won't post often about this project; but, may include a photo with my monthly recap/goal post.

Documenting taking the rug class was goal number one on my May list. Linking to Finished or Not Friday and Patchwork and Quilts.