I didn't realize how long the floor loom had sat unused until I offered to make a rag rug for my grandson from the worn sheets from his first big boy bed. The last warping had been to make a rug for the nursery this same, then unborn, grandson six years before.
After a few small rugs to use up fabric that would probably not be used for sewing projects, I decided to weave with smaller weft. These two scarves (red is 60" x 22", the black and white is 78" x 22") were woven with the same warp. The black is a light weight smooth cotton, the white is a nubby cotton. The warping pattern was black, white, black, white, black, white, white, black, white, black, white, black across the loom. The first four treadles were hooked up for a twill weave; the last two for tabby.
The black and white scarf was a tabby weave for the most, alternating weft colors for ten passes and then reversing the order. The stripes were woven using just one color of weft and a tabby or twill weave.
The red piece alternates ten passes of tabby weave with thirty twill--treadling 1, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2, 1 and so on.
The red piece was really a surprise. I used a light weight cotton weft for the first inch like I usually do when I weave a rug, then switched to some red knitting yarns, but they looked too heavy, so I removed them and continued with the light weight cotton. Both pieces drape well and are light enough to fold lengthwise for a winter scarf, or use without folding for a shawl.
