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.