The M’s and O’s placemats are finished! I thought that I’d put on enough warp to do only eight placemats but I got lucky and was able to do an extra two placemats. As you can see there are a lot of placemats!
One of the bonuses for doing these placemats was the possibility to use up some of Mum’s stash. Below is a photo of all the weft’s I was using and the next photo has all the empty cones! 
I used two cones of soft twist linen, three tubes of natural cotton for my warp, and a tube each of gold chenille and a brown ramie. I also used most of the white boucle there is only a little tiny ball left.
Here they are packaged in pairs before being packed up to go to a sale. The placemats are very generous at 18x12 with a two inch fringe with each end hem stitched to secure the fringe. These are thick and a very nice size as they are easily able to hold a plate, cutlery and a water glass.
I enjoyed doing these placemats so much that I’ve put more on. I just tied onto the warp - which is a task that I hated; I think that it took me longer to tie on then if I had just pulled on a new warp. I hated tying all the overhand knots and it looked very messy to boot. I didn’t even take a picture because I loathed it so much!The new placemats I’m working on are in various blues, I’m using several different shades of blue in cotton, a natural and a blue linen and for hints of colour I am using a blue linen that has bits of hot pink and yellow. The hints of colour really make the different shades of blue unified. As I am again using up the stash I have to pull the weft for two placemats at a time because I never really know how much yarn that I am going to have left and I want to have at least two matching placemats.
One thing that I am doing that I am really pleased with, is that I sit down and weave an entire placemat and do the hemstitching and before I leave the loom I set up the next placemat by doing the hemstitching and getting the shuttle ready. The next time I go to weave everything is done and ready for me; it is like having elves do the grunt work! 
I was taking some photos for this blog entry and Mum jokingly said that I should take a picture of the oven so people would know why she isn’t blogging! After running the self cleaning function she then spent over an hour detailing - it looks like new! 
8 comments:
They look fantastic! I can see why you are doing another run of mats. That has to be satisfying to have a big pile of finished weaving like that... and reduced stash.
They look great on the dining table... your Mum might want to keep those for herself.
She does look like she earned a reward for such a shiny oven. Dinner out maybe?
:) Susan
Hmm...good inspiration for some stash busting around here. Yours look lovely. I've never tied on a warp and am not sure I ever want to!
The placemats turned out beutifully! Great weaving (and stash busting!)
[the oven looks perfect, too]
The placemats look great, congratulations! It is always a nice feeling to reduce the stash, especially those cones with just a little yarn left on.
Your placemats look great! And I love your trick of leaving yourself set up to weave next time you start. Brilliant!
I love the picture of the long run of placemats on the floor. I swear, it makes me want to weave some placemats too. (Plus we use them all the time in the summer.)
That last picture of the oven is hilarious. I really thought it was a brand new oven.
Must be time to cook something and then eat it on those placemats! My vote is for pie!!
Sue
Satisfying! Very nice placemats... I think I am feeling inspired...
This is just a test.
I've just discovered your blog and I'm reading straight through from the beginning. This entry is EXACTLY what I want to do with some of the 'donated' yarn I've received. Thanks for listing all the different yarns you used - I was worried about combining unknown fibers with wool. I'm making notes of interesting things I learn from you both. I appreciate both the voice of experience and the thrill of discovering something new.
Post a Comment