Odds and Ends

 These are some things I've been working on lately.  The first item is one of two doilies I made for my bedside tables.  The fabric is white monk's cloth and the yarn is Phentex Merit in Creme Menthe.  I used only the border pattern in "Winter Wonderland" that is in Avery Hills' 
"33 Contemporary Swedish Weaving Patterns for Monk's Cloth".  I believe this is the first booklet in a 4 booklet series.

The second set of items are just doilies made out of scraps of brown monk's cloth.  The yarn colors are also scrap pieces but are mainly from Caron's Simply Soft.

  I also made a gorgeous turquoise table runner for myself but, try as I might, I couldn't photograph the color even close to what it really was.  It's pretty interesting in my eyes anyway because I used a plum color yarn on the turquoise cloth which really appealed to me when I started the project but I worried others would not like the combination.  I persevered and finished it and do love it.  Sorry I can't get the true colors in a photo for the blog!

The little doilies are because I hate to throw away fabric.  I think these pieces came from a larger piece that had some spots of discoloration on it so I cut out the good parts and put them aside until I felt like doing some small projects.  I have rarely found monk's cloth that is discolored but seem to have found quite a few in the brown.  

3 New Table Runners

 I haven't done much Swedish weaving lately because I've been busy selling some jewelry on Marketplace.  These 3 runners were finished a few weeks ago but I just finished off the fringe the other day.

The first one is a new pattern (for me) called "Triple Diamonds" by Valerie Zhiha and very easy to follow but I had to reduce it's size to conform to the table runner.  I also created my own border.  The fabric is light beige monk's cloth and the yarns used of Caron Simply Soft in chartreuse and I Love This Yarn in shophop, a bright and happy variegated yarn.

The second runner "Lacey" by Christine Allan using Ikea's end run fabric in grey/black and I Love This Yarn in chartreuse.  Again, I had to shorten the pattern and I did add my own border.

The third runner is another piece of the Ikea end run fabric in grey/black and I used a variegate turquoise yarn from Caron's Simply Soft.  The pattern is Christine Allan's "Fall Melody".  I shortened it and created my own border.

I really wish my eyesight was better because I do love the look of the dark fabric but don't use it often simply because it's hard on my eyes.  

Well, on to the next project.  I'm very thankful that I have these hobbies to turn to since I'm stuck home most of the time.  Covid has changed my life..only socialize with my family and I don't go out much, even order my groceries online from Walmart and just go over to pick them up.  I can't imagine how people are handling the isolation unless they have indoor hobbies.

Just a note:  I choose to make table runners instead of full sized afghans because I've gifted every one I made to family and friends.  I've found that buyers won't pay a decent price for the afghans because here in Canada, especially, people aren't familiar with Swedish weaving and don't understand how long it takes to complete an afghan.  I also have a bit of attention deficit disorder and like to see a finished product quickly so the table runners suit me just fine.

3 + 1 More Table Runners

 

The +1 in this case is the first one and it's not perfect.  I didn't notice at first that there was a discoloration in the center of the cloth but, as I started weaving in the pattern, I continued anyway thinking it might not show very much.  It does and I really wasted my time bothering with it.  I'm selling it on Marketplace at a much reduced cost and pointing out the flaw, of course.

The second piece was fun and easy to do...looks much more intricate than it is so I can't wait to use this pattern again.  The pattern is "Heavenly Hearts" by Christine Allan and I used Caron's Simply Soft yarn in melon and sunshine and Bernat yarn in rouge.  I happen to love these colors together and use them often.

The third piece is probably the last Christmas one I'll do this year.  It's "Flashy Flames" by Christine Allan and something I learned from this pattern was a completely different take on doing the little strip of a border.  I prefer to put a border on everything I make and it's fun to play around with different ideas but I've never thought of doing one quite this way.  I hope my photo shows it okay.

The 4th photo shows my own pattern (no name) and there's a reason for this.  I did the first row of an actual pattern and had such a hard time seeing and figuring out the second row on the dark fabric that I just made up my own pattern as I went along.  I think it turned out pretty nice.  The fabric is the dark grey/black end run from Ikea and the yarn is "I Love This Yarn" in a variegated pink/purple/green called wild carnation.  I absolutely love using this yarn...got it at Holly Hobby in the States but haven't seen it here in Canada.

I only sell my pieces at a senior center Christmas bazaar here at home and there won't be one this year but that doesn't stop me from weaving.  Doing Swedish weaving and watching the beauty of it grow with each row gives me pleasure so I'll keep on weaving.

  

Yarns With Glitter Thread

 

I know I've posted my experience with glitter thread yarns before but it never hurts to have a reminder.  I really like using Caron's Simply Soft Party but I have to weave differently with it than I do with yarns without the glitter thread. 

I discovered a while back that glitter yarn will run through the floats easier if I knot the ends and pull through the floats with the knot right against the needle.  This really matters because every time you have to untangle your glitter yarn, you take the chance of breaking that glitter thread.  The few times I broke the glitter thread, I had to pull out the whole row and redo it because I won't sell an item with it broken.  This is time consuming and puts you in a bad mood.  LOL!

The table runner shown above is a project I'm working on right now and I learned something from it, too.  That particular row takes 4 widths of yarn and so far I've been lucky enough to only break the glitter thread at the very end where I could cut it off...but I still have to weave the corresponding row.  I decided that, if the glitter thread breaks in the next row, I'll pull out both rows and change the pattern.  I won't ever use a pattern again that requires more than 2 1/2-3 lengths of yarn when I'm using glitter yarn.  The longer the piece of yarn, the more likely you are to end up breaking the glitter thread.

A lot of us use glitter yarn for our Christmas patterns so I thought this was a good opportunity to let you all know how I use it.  I'd love to hear from anyone who would like to share their ideas on the blog.

A Few Thoughts

I've been Swedish weaving for around 20 years but would never consider myself an expert.  For one thing, I don't know how to do lettering and will have to watch it done before I can do it myself.

Swedish weaving is one of those crafts that looks difficult until you try it...best have someone there to teach you on your first project.  I've always told my students that they will know all they need to know after they've completed about 3 rows.  From then on, you pick up new abilities every time you do Swedish weaving, either by figuring it out yourself, carefully reading direction, or joining a group of other weavers always happy to help you out.

My habit is to complete 3 projects (no more afghans for me anymore, though) and then do the final machine stitching before placing them for sale, giving them away, or keeping them for myself.  This got me into a bit of trouble a while back when I accidently attributed the pattern to the wrong designer but I've since developed a better way of keeping track.

I stick to making table runners and doilies now because I've outfitted my whole family and friends with Swedish weaving afghans and they're almost impossible to sell because of the price.  Unfortunately, hand crafts are often not treasured because buyers have no idea how much time and work goes into making them.

You don't see much Swedish weaving in Canada because it is horribly expensive to buy supplies.  I was lucky enough to buy all my fabric in the States when I wintered in Florida.  The fabric, especially is still pretty expensive but much less so in the States even with the devalued Canadian dollar.

Because of Covid, I can't sell my goods at the Senior Center bazaar this year so I've started listing them on "Marketplace" so that people in my area can come to my home and purchase directly.  It doesn't give me much exposure like the bazaar did but that's okay.  I truly enjoy my craft whether it sells or not.

Well, I've almost completed the recent 2 items now and will start my 3rd in a day or so.  I surely do love Swedish weaving.

Two Versions of a Pattern

 

This is "Lacey" by Christine Allan and I loved it enough to do it on back to back table runners.  Both fabrics are white monk's cloth and, on runner #2 I used Caron's Simply Soft in bone.  It looks to my eye as a golden beige and I use it often, either alone or to complement other colors.  I love my bold colors but I also love the look of one color yarn for the whole pattern.

Runner #1 shows the same pattern but I decided to do some shading, something I'm not particularly good at but admire it on other people's work.  I used 3 shades of grey in the pattern but saw right away that my second choice of color was too much like the center.  I persevered anyway and I still like it a lot.  The next time I try shading I'll be more careful with my color choices, though.

I also used less of the pattern on runner #2 and that's okay.  It's good for us to pick and choose.

Just a note:  I use Christine Allan's patterns a lot but there are thousands of great patterns out there.  The "Candlelight" pattern came from Monk's Cloth Lady and I've had great luck with the patterns she sells, too.    

My Real Happy Table Runner

 

You would think that after all the years I've been doing Swedish weaving that I'd make sure of my measurements before starting a project but no.  I become too complacent because I work with pieces I've already cut, prepared, and stored away waiting for me to pick them up and start working.  They are all very close in size with the exception of the odd run fabric from Ikea.  I cut those smaller but that's quite apparent when I start working on them.

Anyway, I worked my butt off on the last "happy" runner, putting in much more work and hours than I do for the pieces I sell.  That one was going to be for me!  I didn't pre-measure because I'm sometimes an idiot.  When I finished it, it did seem kind of larger than usual but that didn't bother me until I laid it on the t.v. stand and it was way, way too wide.  Well, darn!

No problem.  I listed it on Marketplace and it sold immediately for a few dollars more than I sell my regular sized table runners.  Some lady got a real bargain but that's okay.  She was thrilled and I was flattered.

Now I still wanted a "happy" table runner for me so I started another one but with a different pattern and only slightly different colored yarns.  The photo above is of the finished product and I love it!

I used a pattern "Candlelight" by Sandra's Stitches which is actually meant to be a Xmas runner but it looks just lovely as an every day one.  The monk's cloth is white and I used a variety of bright and colorful acrylic yarns, mostly Caron's Simply Soft.  I won't bother listing the colors because it doesn't matter which ones you choose if you want to make a "happy" table runner or afghan.  Just use the colors that please your eyes.

I followed the pattern pretty closely but the border is my version.  As usual, I like to tweak the patterns a bit so they feel like my own.