The first one is my own design on turquoise monk's cloth and using Caron Simply Soft yarn in a variegated oceana. I don't have the talent to create too intricate a pattern but I seem to have a knack for creating something geometric.
The second one is on ecru monk's cloth and using Christine Allen's "Fairy's Forest" from her spring pattern booklet. The yarns are Caron Simply Soft in pistachio and bone. Now this is a slightly intricate pattern but I love it and will use it many times. This is why the cost of a pattern booklet or even a single pattern is not outrageous because you can use them often. I sometimes start out with a registered pattern and then put my own spin on it which makes it truly unique.
My readers might have noticed that I'm only making table runners these days instead of full afghans and the reason for that is how buyers aren't aware how much time is spent making them and don't want to pay a fair price.
When I sell my table runners at craft shows, lots of people admire them but only a few appreciate them enough to buy one. I did have a repeat customer last fall so maybe Canadians are becoming more aware of the craft. In my opinion, it's much easier to sell a Swedish weaving table runner than to sell the much more expensive and time consuming afghan.
I'm still in Florida until the first week in April but I've already bought a fair amount of monk's cloth to take home. I bought the white and beige at Joann's Fabrics when it was on sale but haven't found any colored monk's cloth anywhere. I tried ordering some hunter green (red has disappeared altogether) but got caught up in a problem with using a Canadian credit card...they wanted to mail the fabric to my Canadian address instead of to my address in Florida. I may try again, though.
Anyway, I'll continue making these beautiful items whether they sell or not because I have so much fun making them.
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