When disaster strikes

I haven’t managed to do much active weaving (as opposed to the dream weaving that I seem to do a lot of!) since Benjamin came along, but I think I finally found a bit of a groove over the past month. I grab a few minutes here and a few minutes there, and before you know it, something is accomplished.

With the deadline looming for my first post-maternity leave “Yearning to Weave” column, I had in my hands what I thought was a pretty cool project. I tossed it into the washing machine on the delicate cycle, watched for a few minutes to make sure everything looked OK, and went on with my day while the cycle continued. I should have stayed just a bit longer. My rya knot rug concoction decided to burst free from its wefty confines. I told my mother that this was one of those moments where I realized that I have matured quite a bit. I muttered a mild mannered, “crap.” and proceeded to salvage what I could. The result? A square rug instead of a rectangle. And for your viewing pleasure, the mess I pulled out of the washing machine, and a gratuitous shot of Baby NOBO on the finished item.

Post-wash
Benjamin and the Rya Knot Rug

6 Replies to “When disaster strikes”

  1. With the right perspective, every “weaving disaster” has a silver lining. Benjamin is perfect (yes, he is!) proof of that.

    A lesson for all of us when we think we don’t have enough time to weave as much as we would really like to. Take a few minutes here, a few there, and before one knows it, a bout or two may have been measured or a warp beamed or some threading done or a few rows woven. What can be accomplished in the time is takes to fret over not having time to weave? Really quite a lot when all those moments are added together.

  2. What you saved looks beautiful Melissa! I know how much work it was since I had to weave a rya rug too, and now thanks to your experience mine will never see the inside of a washing machine…thanks for saving mine! Old/delicate rugs can we cleaned easily by sweeping them with a dry powdery snow—but hopefully not until next year.

  3. Having had a few weaving disasters myself, I know I’ve learned more from those than from all my successes. However, my reactions have frequently been less “mature” than Melissa’s, ~#@^%*!

  4. Hey Melissa,

    That masterpiece came out beautiful. And the rug isn’t bad either.

    Benjamin is getting so big. I need my baby fix before it is too late.

    Vicki

  5. Must be the month ;-) I started a table runner 400+ ends of fine cotton with a complex overshot design. On the 3rd of the pattern repeats ( over 100 picks of pattern per repeat) two sections of warp tangled – looks like unrecoverable. @@##$$ lot of work for a sample…..

    Benjamin looks good with the rug!

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