First Rag Rug

Here it is, my first real rag rug completed and on the floor! Looking at it now, I like the warp stripes and colors, as well as the weft colors. It lays quite flat, selvedges are nicely even, and only a tiny bit of "smile."

It seems to meet the tests of a good rag rug ~~ you can't put your fingers through anywhere, and when rolled up and stood on the floor it stands. Another "test" I read in the book "Finnish American Rag Rugs" is hold the rolled up rug in your hand, palm up, at shoulder level, the rug should not droop, and happily, it doesn't.

The rug passed another test here, too, right after taking these photos, I walked over to the computer to download them, turned around, and there was a cat already laying on the rug. No, I'm not ready for a 50 pound Keeshond and five cats to enjoy this rug just yet, so yes, I picked it back up off the floor.



Another view of my first rag rug.

Details: 8/4 cotton rug warp, sett 12 epi. Good tension when weaving, beat hard, change sheds, beat hard again, and I used a temple. Weft strips are sheets purchased at thrift stores, cut into 1 1/2" strips and the strips were sewn together. When winding the ski shuttles, I wound the weft on folded in half and when placing the weft into the shed, made sure it was still folded.

Hems at each end are cutton rug warp, two threads per shed using a double-bobbin shuttle. I started by weaving an inch or so of string, then 3 1/2" hem, and reverse at the other end. I cut the rug from the loom, machine sewed each end 3" from the first "rag" row, rotary cut just outside the machine sewn line, then pin and sew the hem. The finished rug measures 28" wide, 55" long.

The warp has been tied on again. I'll use some of the same strips/colors so they are ready to use, but I'll need another three or four colors so must get those cut into strips and ends sewn which shouldn't take long. The second rug shouldn't take as long now that I've gotten a bit of experience.

Spring Fleece Washing

Spring came very early to the WI Northwoods, and on April 2nd, a beautiful 75+ degree day, I decided it was perfect weather to get part of a fleece washed that I'd purchased a year or two before. Thankfully, it was still in good shape having been well-packed for shipping.

This particular fleece came from Andy McMurray, Humble Hills Farm. It has beautiful locks, nice crimp, and is probably Romney, a breed I particularly like to spin.



As we live in the WI Northwoods and have a well and septic system, I am careful about what goes down the drains. I know of people who wash their fleece in their washer and spin the water out, but last year I bought a new front-loading washer so soaking the fleece that way is no longer possible. Plus, I hesitate the put that much lanolin/grease down the pipes and into the septic tank.

My method of washing fleece is to fill old "de-commissioned" canners (no longer used for processing food) with hot water and soap, and use other canners for rinse water, rising twice. The washed fleece is then laid out on a couple drying racks that rest on sawhorses.

This time I had only washed enough fleece for one rack. Since it was so windy for a couple days, I set the second rack over the top to keep the fleece from blowing away, something the area critters love.



Beautiful fleece drying on racks on the lakeside porch. I'm looking forward to hand-carding this fleece. Though hand-carding takes longer than drum-carding, I feel the results are better, and worth the extra time.

Since this was only a portion of this fleece and the weather is supposed to warm up over the coming weekend, I'll be washing the next batch.

Missing Bits

You know how pairs of socks go into the wash and come out as singles? Socks go missing, never to be seen again? I occasionally have the same problem with little bits of things disappearing in my studio. A couple years ago, the top wood knob on my Glimakra swift disappeared. I turned that room inside out and never did find it.

This time it was the thread guide on my Lendrum double-treadle folding spinning wheel, mysteriously gone. I'd arrived at the gallery a few days ago, wheel in tow, sat down to spin, and something just wasn't working right. Now I have to tell you, I've done almost no spinning on this wheel in a couple years, and my other wheel has the usual hooks for thread guides. I was busy with kids and moms coming in to see the children's art exhibit so wouldn't have been able to spin much anyway.


Back at home, it finally dawned on me, the thread guide was missing. I didn't find it in the car or driveway, perhaps it fell off in the parking lot? What to do?

I looked online, you can buy various flyers and carrying bags for this wheel, but no one listed a thread guide. Aha! I bought the wheel at a WI Spin-In four years ago from Susan's Fiber Shop in Columbus, WI. I called and yes, she had ONE left which arrived a couple days later. I'm all set now, have wheel (and thread guide), can spin!

Oh, if anyone has seen my large pair of everyday scissors, the ones with the orange handles, will you let me know?

I visited Susan Johnson's blog, "Avalanche Looms" earlier this week (link is on the list on the right of the screen) and found a post "Rags, Rags, Rags & More Rags," where she writes about her love of old rag rugs and a new book just out, "Finnish-American Rag Rugs" by Yvonne R. Lockwood. I emailed Susan and ordered a copy from her which I found tucked in-between the mailboxes today when I arrived home.

Eagerly tearing into the package I found a large 11" x 9" book, about an inch thick, and 249 pages, full of the rag rugs weavers of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. If you're like me and like to read not only about an art or craft, but the PEOPLE who do it, I think we will really enjoy this book. In addition to color and b&w photos of rugs and weavers, it looks like an interesting history/record.

In my brief look at this book, I saw photos of various Finnish and American looms, weavers at the looms, finished rugs, and so much more. I had to laugh at photos of their "stashes!

After finishing up this blog entry, I'll be upstairs in flannel PJ's, with this book in my hands, eagerly reading. The timing for this book was perfect for me, arriving while weaving my first real rag rugs!




Today was a work at the gallery day for me and I took a spinning wheel and basket of Coopworth roving to work on, along with the book "Damask and Opphamta" and printed out notes (emails) from several drawloom weavers offering suggestions for adjusting my drawloom. They enabled me to list everything I need to check and adjust on the loom to get it working properly. A good, productive day!



It is Art Education Month in WI and Artistree Gallery invited K-5 students, both from the Land O'Lakes Elementary School and Home School students, to create artworks to be displayed for a couple weeks at the gallery. Gallery artists removed their works from the big wall, the kids works were framed and hung, and a reception was held this past Saturday.

Their works are bright, colorful, cheerful and wonderful to enjoy. I had several visitors at the gallery today coming in to see them. Congratulations, Art Students and Teachers!

Adding a Bit of ZING!

Three days ago, I started weaving again for the first time since my little incident with a rotator cuff injury. I'm back in the studio, and will now be back posting on my blog. I like to keep this blog focused, for the most part, on weaving and related fiber interests.

I'm looking forward to the day when I can weave off a rag rug in 45 minutes, like one weaver I know, not the months it has taken me. I'm still learning to love it, but it's coming easier now and I keep myself focused on what is happening with colors.

I'm also finding it easier to weave the rag rug while standing up, easier to hold the shed open while I "futz" (is that a word?) with the weft before beating, changing sheds, and beating again.

I love the colors in this warp, and the sheets/strips that are blending in nicely,
but decided it was time to add a little ZING, just a few rows, and used a brighter solid Copper or Burnt Orange color picked up from the plaid sheet just before it.

My "design," has the colors reversing at the center. I've redrawn my color plan and measured each color as well as counted the number of rows of each. I'm about 8" from the middle, and anxious to get to the second half of this rug (as well as the next two). There should be a photo of a completed rug on here before long! After several weeks of not being to weave or crank, I want to be DOing again. My upper arm still has a fair amount of pain, but I can use it again, and must, to keep mobility.

I may have mentioned it before, but the next warp will be 8/2 navy blue cotton, with 8/2 cotton in variegated blues. Hhmmm, solid navy warp, or stripe them for more interesting towels? Thinking I might want to get a bit of white, ivory, or a natural linen color (or both) to add in the warp as I have quite a number of large cones of white/natural cotton/linen blends to use, too. It's time to sit down with graph paper and color pencils and work out stripe warp options and see what I like best.

And now? Something has changed on Blogger, my photo shows on the compose page in code so I cannot move it. Posting this, but must find out what changes Blogger has made recently!

Tangents

I sometimes wonder why it is some people are able to be very focused on a particular area of weaving or a particular technique, and others, like myself, like to go off on tangents occasionally. I see myself primarily as a weaver, and have areas of weaving I focus on. But, I also enjoy cranking socks on an antique sock machine, do some spinning, a bit of felting, and some handknitting. For a long time now, dyeing has been on my radar.

While in the garage chopping kindling each morning, I've been noticing all the big canners, lined up on shelves, and looking forward to spring and summer, and getting more fleece washed. I'd also noticed a couple smaller pots I'd saved, thinking they might be useful for dyeing.

Earlier today, I was out emptying the ash bucket from the woodburner, and found an Amazon box at my doorstep. After quickly getting the fire started, I opened the package to find "Hand Dyeing Yarn and Fleece: Dip-Dyeing, Hand-Painting, Tie-Dyeing, and Other Creative Techniques" by Gail Callahan. I had placed a pre-publication order, so the arrival of this book was a happy surprise today.

This is not (yet) a review, but when I'm finished here I'm heading straight upstairs to sit and start looking through this new book. I have a number of dyeing books on my shelves, but this one appears to be a book I want to sit down and read cover to cover. I'll let you know, but from my brief glance, I'd say chances are good I'll be ordering dyes very soon. I already have ready-to-dye skeins and cones of sock yarns standing by, and let's not even think about how much (white) raw fleece is waiting to be processed and very possibly dyed.

Over the past four years or so, I've collected a few nice tapestry forks. Recently, two more were added to my little collection, one is double-ended (far right in photo), the other has metal tines (second from left) which I plan to use for tapestry techniques in weaving rag rugs. I'd been watching for one for some time now, and this one finally crossed my path.

There is a Schacht table-top tapestry loom (with A-frame stand) upstsairs, which I've enjoyed using, also an upright Glimakra "Sara" frame loom (taller than I am) that I'm looking forward to using someday. Both looms a good reason to collect tapestry forks!

Tangents,... in this case, new areas of fibers to learn more about and try. It's nice to have new horizons to look forward to.

Practice, Practice,...

It was 1981 when I took my first weaving class and bought my first loom. Until now, my weaving has always been with 22/2 cottolin, linen, 8/2 and 20/2 cotton, preferring weave structures like twill, huck, and satin. Currently, I am still in the early stages of weaving my first rag rug, and I'll be honest, rag rug weaving is taking some time to grow on me. Immediately after starting to weave this rug, I KNEW I preferred weaving with finer threads. But what can I say, I live in a rustic log home with plank floors that have been wanting rag rugs on them for a long, long time.

I have woven quite a few 14" to 16" wide table runners with 8/4 cotton rug warp and batik fabric for weft (above). For these, I cut the fabric 1.5" wide, then fold and press the fabric as if making double-fold bias tape, only it is not cut on the bias. Why go to all that trouble? Because the "rag" runners are made for display on tables, close to the viewer. I do not like the "hairy" look, and do not want all those little threads working their way out. These runners look very nice with tableware and exceptionally nice with pottery (below).



However, Joe, a good weaving friend of mine, has been urging me for a long time to give rag rug weaving a try. I've long been an admirer of Scandinavian design, and have quite a number of Swedish rag rug weaving books for inspiration. I enjoyed designing the stripe warp and choosing the rug warp colors. It is getting the weft into the shed and folding the weft it in half (when both sides are not equal in color) that I am not yet particularly adept at. I may be the slowest rag rug weaver around, but am trying to give this a fair chance.

This is my first 28" wide rag rug, 8/4 cotton rug warp, and cotton/poly sheets for weft. For the past couple years I've been haunting the local thrift shops for sheets, on the lookout for good solid colors, prints, and plaids that have COLOR and not mostly white with pastel flowers, though I have some of those, too. So I was excited recently to find a wine/blue/green plaid sheet with almost perfect colors in for my stripe rug warp.

After washing the fitted sheet (no flat sheet, perhaps another area weaver found it first?), it was time to "slice & dice," rotary cutting it into 2" strips, then sew them together, and wind onto a ski shuttle.

Last night, I wove a few rows of the plaid to see the color effects and it's looking as good as I'd hoped.



Like the green and white ticking stripe at the beginning of the rug, the colors in the plaid are coming randomly to the surface within each row, giving a nice mottled effect.


Depending on the quantity of strips (size of sheet), I'm dividing the number of strips in half or thirds (more if the sheet is queen or king size), depending on how often I want that color to appear in the rug. I had "mapped out" my colors/design on graph paper using colored pencils, but I've already changed it a bit so need to revise my plan before I go much further as I would like this rug to be balanced.

After taking about a month off from the studio I had hoped to finish this rug this week, but I fell on Tuesday, injuring my shoulder, so there has been a slight delay while I gave it the rest it needed. After weaving those few rows last night (the first weaving since falling), I went to bed and could not sleep for the pain. No weaving today, the heating pad will be my friend tonight!

The rag rugs need to be woven and I'm looking forward to seeing them on my floors! As with most things in life, I'll get better at rag rug weaving with more practice.