The idea for this runner is from Mary Meigs Atwater’s Recipe Book; series V, number 11, titled botanical garden. I used her profile draft but altered my tie up to create buildings and trees versus her garden.
It was a pleasure to weave and my next go at it will be with a colored warp.
I wove this piece in the hopes of achieving the appearance of a grid (3 D) on the finished textile (see picture 2). I couldn’t bear to weave all gray double weave so I added color to one side of the warp to add some vibrancy.
There are some 3 dimensional aspects even on the colored half where I tried to create an overlying grid. (See picture 3).
A wif does not portray the double weave structure so is not included. However, I used traditional two block double weave on an 8 shaft loom and varied between the four possible tie ups. My color draft and tie ups are pictured.
The piece now hangs as a doorway curtain leading into the yoga room of our home.
This roving was tightly braided as roving into a 3-strand braid. The braids were then washed in hot water and dried to felt the braids. The braids were then laced with waxed linen thread in the traditional way my grandmother braided rugs using old wool suits.
This roving, that I bought from a local farm (Walks Far Acres), was handspun by me and then plied into a 8-strand cable yarn. Three of the 8-strand cable yarns were then braided (as you would your hair) into a continuous oval that I then laced using waxed linen thread in the traditional method used by my grandmother (who braided rugs using old wool suits).
For the blue/purple side of the rug, I tried to weave the fabric strips in to create a movement from blue to purple. I chose the backside fabric to be a contrasting color to the front. The hems are based on Tom Knisley’s hem pattern.