Clasped weft rug and more.

More Rugs -    Mainly, with this rug, I wanted to clean the used 8 dent reed I'd purchased.  It isn't rusty, so I figured a run over with steel wool might make things worse than better.  Instead, I just threaded it up and started weaving.   The previous rugs I've made were at a sett of 6, which is what some others have suggested, as well as what made sense with a 12 dent reed. Oh, yes, I'm using imperial measurements here, so inches, not centimeters.

Anyway, I had purchased some fabric and had 4 yards of each.   Not enough fabric of either for a solid colour rug, but enough for stripes or in this case, clasped weft.  Because the weft is doubled in each shot, I cut the strips at 3/4 inch wide.  Of course I was using a single sided printed fabric so  tried to be careful about keeping the print side out.  It wasn`t successful in a few shots, but was pretty good thoughout.   What I really noticed about the slightly closer set, was how much the white warp influenced the fabric colours.   Really, at a sett of 8, you could use warp stripes to your advantage, where they wouldn`t be nearly as visible at a sett of 6.    The white really adds a more pastel element to these fabrics.

I`ve never been fond of clasped weft.  I don`t really like the look of it.  Perhaps because it is a more modern feel than I prefer.    I stopped this rug sometime after 45 inches of weaving because I really was tired of how fussy this rug was.  It would be much easier in solids or plain yarn, where you didn`t have to keep the thin strips folded,colour side out, each and every shot.

This is a bright green duvet colour that I found at the thrift store. One side has a rather hideous, and very dated print, while the other is that bright green.  By cutting it in continuous strips, it is adding nice dots of colour in a random but pretty pattern.    Here the white weft, isn`t nearly as overwhelming as the above rug and it does tone down the bright colours nicely.  The strips are 1 1/2 inches wide.  It is making a slightly thinner fabric than the above too.

Interestingly, there are several resources that suggest thinner strips and more of them because they pack in more easily, but so far I haven't notice much of a difference, except that the fatter strips are easier to work with.  They are faster to cut, faster to wind on the shuttle and far easier to keep the colours nicely situated.

Oh - about the reed - almost nothing came off it, it was pretty clean :)
At some point I will need to sit down and finish the ends of all these rugs :(