My First Rug – SE2SE

Last year, I completed the challenge set forth by The Livestock Conservancy called Shave ‘Em to Save ‘Em (SE2SE). I purchased and spun wool from people who raise sheep listed on the rare and endangered list. The goal is to support those who are raising these sheep and conserving their genetic diversity.

I used some the yarn spun from the fifteen breeds that I purchased to weave “Walking Around Bags” for my siblings. While I was doing so, I thought that the wool would make a good rug.

I have never woven a rug before. When I purchased my loom, used, in the late 1980s, there was a rug half done on it. As a new weaver and didn’t fully appreciate how much work had already gone into the rug so I just cut it off. Later, weavers told me that my loom, a Harrisville four-shaft, was too light weight to weave rugs. They said that you really have to WHACK the weft into place. So for years, I never wove rugs. But, after weaving the weft faced bags, I felt certain the loom would work for a rug.

I calculated that I would need 500 yards of natural color carpet warp. I discovered that I only had two partial cones, left over from a placemat project. So I weighed them and compared their weight to that of a full cone of maroon warp containing 800 yards. It seemed as though I would have enough.

It turned out to be enough and this was all that I had left.

I usually warp F2B (front to back) and the warp looks messy at this point. But carpet warp is sturdy cotton and I soon had they threads all straightened out. I had to wind the warp by myself and swore I would soon get around to building the warping trapeze that I have planned.

So that’s where all my bobbins went! When I got the yarn out, I discovered that I had many bobbins left over from the bag project. I had never unwound them thinking that I would be weaving again. Now I am rich in bobbins again!

I was taught to wind the bobbins by first piling up the ends, then going back and forth across the middle. My teacher said that this was because the hole in the shuttle was in the center. By winding in this way, you would use the center yarn first leaving that area empty and making it easier for the end yarn to come off. But look at my new shuttle! The opening is so long compared to the older one. I wonder why they made the change. I will likely continue to wind the way I always have.

The rug was 29″ wide in the loom. I wanted to be at least 2’x3′ and I had no idea how much it would shrink. I used a temple to prevent progressive draw-in. The warp is 8 epi in an 8-dent reed. The only plan for the weft was that I would alternate dark and light yarn and never weave more than one bobbin full of any one yarn. I ended up with 30 stripes, with each yarn being used twice.

The first 15 stripes are, in order; Shetland, Leicester Longwool, Florida Cracker, Navajo Churro, Hog Island (very thin stripe), Santa Cruz, Karakul, Clun Forest, CVM, Gulf Coast Native, Jacob, South Down, Black Welch Mountain, Lincoln Longwool, and Tunis. For the second round I lined the bags up in a pleasing way and used them in that order. The hem at each end is 2″ of 3/2 mercerized cotton (natural color). I folded the hem under twice and machine sewed it so that none of the cotton shows.

I purchased a non-slip carpet pad at Target because our floor is tile.

The rug is a little bumpy. Some of the yarns were very stretchy. I think I may have wound them onto the shuttles under a little tension. Some of the stripes act like they are elastic. I steamed the rug on my ironing board and though it looked flatter, as soon as it dried it became bumpy again. So I think this will just be a characteristic of this rug. I love it anyway and next time I will pay more attention to this tension.

I hope you like the rug and the story. As always, your polite and helpful comment are welcome.