These table runners and doilies were projects I worked on back home but only just finished the fringe here in Florida. It took me a while because I was very sick with pneumonia shortly after arriving in Florida but I'm improving every day and getting back to my much loved hobby of Swedish weaving.
The white table runner with design done in blue is my own pattern. I could never be disciplined enough to just sit down and design a pattern on paper before using it so my method is to just start weaving and make up the pattern as I go. I often start with an existing pattern and recreate it, too.
The doilies were just scraps of monk's cloth that I couldn't bring myself to just throw away.
I'm not teaching Swedish weaving this year at my Florida park because my stamina is pitiful. A few new ladies have already approached me wanting to learn so I will accept a couple of students here in the trailer...just not too many so we're crowded.
I sold my own trailer last year and am now renting a gorgeous new one but this will be my last 3 month stint in Florida...I keep getting sick and don't want to be away from home too long. A month or two, at the most, will be my choice and they'll be spent either at my daughter's house in Tampa or her beach house on the Atlantic side. I'm very lucky to have alternate choices like this.
Anyway, I'm back to Swedish weaving!
This is honestly the last table runner I'll make until I get to Florida in January. We're having a baby shower for my granddaughter this month and we know she's having a little boy so I just had to do it! I don't think she really likes my Swedish weaving but she can pass it on if she wants to...once a gift is given, it's their's to choose how to use it. Anyway, I just wanted to make this for my new baby!
The monk's cloth is a medium blue and the yarn is Caron's Simply Soft "spring brook", a lovely variegated that I managed to find. The center pattern is completely one I designed myself and the sailboat pattern is one I copied from someone's project. There is a lot of overlapping in the rows but it turns out well and doesn't look lumpy at all.
I love this and hope my granddaughter can use it as a dresser scarf in the baby's room but it's up to her. I just enjoyed making it!
I love this one and wish I had a little girl to give it to. It's Christine Allan's pattern, "Pine Ridge" but I did add another couple of rows inside the diamond. It didn't need it but there was a slight flaw in the fabric that I wanted to cover. The yarns used were Caron's Simply Soft in orchid and Red Heart Soft in plummy. I just love this Red Heart yarn color and I'm so sad I could only find the one skein.
Just a note: I like working with variegated yarns but only buy one that has short (approximately 4") color lengths. The colors blend so more easier when the color lengths are short like this. When using variegated yarn with long (sometimes 12"+) lengths of color, it seems to end up looking like blocks of the same color as you add rows to your project.
I never worry about producing too many pieces of Swedish weaving because I get so much enjoyment out of making them. If they don't sell at the craft show this month, I can always donate them or give them away. In any case, I'll just continue making them and enjoying the process and the finished project.
I've been doing a lot of black and grey lately so I decided to just grab up a few colors and make up a simple pattern for the top table runner. I used scrap pieces so I don't know their origin but it's done on beige monk's cloth and looks kind of retro to me because of the colors.
The bottom one is Christine Allan's pattern, "Moon Shadow" but I reversed the pattern, using the original center for my border and the border design for my center. I added a bit to the center, also. This is a very easy pattern and I'll use it when teaching a new pupil. The yarn is Caron's Simply Soft in bone. Another thing I really like is tone on tone like this.
The booklet I used is Christine Allan's "Christmas Patterns" and it was gifted to me by my lifelong friend, Donna, who passed away in July. This particular booklet is filled with really good patterns but, because it was Donna's, it will always hold a special place in my heart.
These are two more table runners and it really never ceases to amaze me how much I love the looks of every one I see...even if it's made by someone else.
The first one is from one of the borders shown on "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend" by Avery Hill. I often pick just one part of a pattern and use it as the main focus on table runners. The yarns used were Caron's Simply Soft Party in charcoal heather and Paton's pale grey mix and medium grey mix.
The second one is my own pattern using Loops and Threads in fern and Caron's Simply Soft in charcoal heather. I really love creating the pattern as I go, starting in the center and then building on it but I do wish I was able to do that with more complex patterns, too.
I still have a lot of older stock of monk's cloth but I recently was gifted some from my friend who passed away and it's the new stock with the weird salvedge. It's one that just can't be rolled over and sewn down to complete the edge so it has to be fringed. I don't like it at all. Thank heavens I still have enough old stock to last me the rest of my life and beyond. LOL!
The pattern is "Celtic Cross" by Christine Allan. It is on white monk's cloth and I used Caron's Simply Soft yarn in black and Paton's yarn in medium grey mix. For once I followed the pattern exactly because it was just perfect the way it was.
I really liked this pattern and will probably use it again in the near future. I'd like to do it in greens.
I'm never bored because I keep myself busy but I sometimes wonder what I'd do with my time if I didn't do Swedish weaving. It's so relaxing and satisfying that I sometimes put in many more hours than I plan.
The top photo is a full length table runner in white monk's cloth and using Christine Allan's "Serenity" pattern. I used Caron's Simply Soft Party yarns in spring sparkle and red sparkle and also a Red Heart yarn that is a variegate green.
The first placemat was done simply in rows of Red Heart Soft yarns in plummy on Ikea blanket cloth. Working on such a dark color is very hard on my eyes so I opted to do straight rows around the border.
The second placemat was done using Red Heart Soft yarn in waterscape on the grey/black Ikea cloth. It is a great buy for doing Swedish weaving...very inexpensive and just a tiny bit flimsier than the monk's cloth. It only comes in the grey/black and a very light beige, though.
I only do one craft show a year to sell my items and I'm pretty happy with what I've accomplished over the summer and fall. The craft show I do is at the senior center and we really get a lot of customers passing through. I enjoy talking to people and I always have a little freebee yarn necklace to give to the little girls who come by.
I'm going to make one more comment about Christine Allan's patterns. She is very talented at designing them and the diagrams are almost always super simple to follow. Anything that gives me a bit of trouble just becomes a unique pattern with my own spin on it.
