These are the recent table runners I've completed. It was so darned difficult today to get accurate copies of the colors but what's most important are the patterns.
I enjoy making the runners because they're completed very quickly and it makes a nice break from struggling with 2 1/2 yds. of fabric for afghans. It's also a good way to use small, leftover skeins of yarn. A friend of mine made a Christmas runner and attached all kinds of Christmasy items to it. Because of that she'd have to hand wash it but it looked lovely.
A few years ago, before Walmart stopped stocking lots of monk's cloth colors, I would buy up every remnant they had so now I have a huge stock of them.
When I teach someone to do Swedish weaving, I always have them start with a table runner and, once they see the beautiful result, they always go on to make afghans. I think doing the table runner as a first project is less intimidating and less expensive for them to learn a new craft.
This is a Swedish weaving afghan I just finished. The first photo is the most accurate in regards to color...it's cloudy out and difficult to get better accuracy. The monk's cloth is a soft yellow and I used 2 shades of green and a gold yarn for the design.
I've never put one of my afghans up for sale before, just gave them all to friends and relatives, but I've sort of saturated that market and have decided to sell this one. I'm doing a craft show next month and will be selling some Swedish weaving table runners, too. If they don't sell, I'll put them on Ebay in January.
No-one can afford to pay us a decent wage for making these so we have to do it for the love of weaving. I enjoy the process of seeing a project shape up but prefer to give them to my loved ones rather than sell them simply because of the time it takes to complete them.
Both Donna and Faye have been working on their projects for a while but it doesn't matter how long it takes us to complete one. What matters is that we enjoy the process.
Donna realized yesterday that she'd made a slight mistake way back near the beginning and I told her this could now be her new pattern instead of taking it all out. I've completed many afghans this way because it doesn't always make sense to take it all apart when we find a mistake. No-one will ever know.
Faye's afghan is much more brilliantly colored than my photo shows and it's close to completion but might not be finished before I leave for Florida. That's why I'm posting the photos now. We've had a nice time all summer meeting every Tuesday afternoon to weave, chat, and have tea. I'll continue meeting with my fellow weavers every Thursday morning in Florida, too. It's wonderful how much we learn from each other...new techniques and sources for fabrics.
I've given away every afghan I've made but have run out of friends and family to give them to so I'm going to put my present project on Ebay to sell. It will be interesting to see how well that goes.
