I did it! I finished not just seven, but eight beautiful rugs on my loom today!
It’s one of those lifelong dreams and it felt absolutely splendid today… ever since I had a few hours on a loom in college, a long, long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away… I have always hoped that some day I could have a loom of my own and be able to weave! Well, it’s now a reality and that is just so darn nifty!
Being that we don’t have internet at the house yet and no cable or that sort of thing to while away the hours, I have had a good deal of extra time to work on my first batch of weaving! That is awesome… and fun too! And it’s a good upper body workout… honest! You have to do a lot of reaching and stretching and pulling and all that. I find if I weave too long, my shoulders and arms start to ache! I have to pace myself… do some weaving, do some strip cutting, do some finishing or sewing of the strips together. Lots of fun to do for sure.
My crafty kid, Jessy, helped me to unwind all these beauties off the loom this morning. It was delightful, as I thought I only had seven and forgot about one that was buried deep on the take up roll! A little extra treat!
Once unrolled, we snipped them apart and began to assess them and measure them. It was so wonderful to touch and experience each of these little gems. The colors and textures are a delight. I will have trouble parting with them! But one can only have so many rugs about the homestead! And I did get into this endeavor with the idea of being an income stream for the farm’s success. So they will be all available on the sale block for between $20 and $30 depending on size and materials. If any really catch your eye, please email me for details and to hold them!
They are all about 32 to 33 inches wide and vary from 40 inches long to over 80! (I got a little carried away on one of them! It was just too fun to keep weaving away!) My next batch will be a little narrower… about 27 to 28 inches wide is my plan. I’m going to be making a nice big long hall runner for my Dad! How cool is that? (Colors Dad… I need some color ideas! hee hee)
As my mentor does, we have decided to name them all, fun whimsical names! This one here is called Cow in the Heather. It’s black, white and gray fleece with purple strips of terry toweling! Fun! Super soft… my first rug!
This one is called Alana’s Wish… a good friend of mine asked for one in these colors and I hope she likes it! It’s very pretty in person…
This one is called “Clowning Around” because it’s over 90 inches long and is made of polka dot flannel sheets and orange sheeting. It’s very silly… It would be nice for a child’s room, nice and long and soft!
This one Jessy named, “Surf and Turf Stripes”. It’s a yarn wrapped, cotton cord rug that is really neat… it is very uniform and lays very nicely. I’m sure it will do very nicely as a rug in a kitchen or bath.
I know I want to keep at least one from the batch, but I’m just not sure which yet! I might have to go and consider all the places that I’d like a nice rug and try them out. You just never know! But in the meanwhile, after a wee bit of finishing, clean up and tying of the fringes, they will be available if anyone is interested in a lovely handwoven farm rug!
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Those look great. I always feel sorry for my rugs though, they get really dirty, really fast and I have no good way to clean them.
My favorite is “Cow in the Heather”. Since it’s your very first rug you MUST keep it! You can’t part with your firstborn! 😉 You should keep it close to you to remind you of your awesomeness!
Are you going to have a fancy sewn in tag on them with farm and/or biz name and the name or number of each rug? I have seen some like that at Farmers Markets and a few art fairs.
They all look awesome. I would love to use one of these to make a window “blind”. I am low on funds right now, winter is tough and my ebay sales are down this month. They would make great wall hangings too. Good luck with your sales and have fun weaving the next batch.
I love the red one! Can you give me the price? And can I mail you a check or money order? Love your blog. Glad you girls are feeling better.
ALWAYS keep your first work. Someday you will want to see how far you have progressed, and will want to see the work that started it all. Sew a label on it that tells date completed, materials, title, etc.–give it a provenance. Too often work (especially handwork) goes unlabelled and without credit.
Can these be machine washed? If so I would be interested in one. I have 4 dogs inside, so I must be able to wash it. Let me know. Thanks!