next projects - repair heddles

I put a new project on the Fanny - 3 more rag rugs, though these are a little larger than the ones I did last time.  However, I made a stupid threading error and was just 1 heddle wrong.  It didn't affect the rest of the pattern, so rethreading the pattern from the mistake on wasn't necessary.  Instead I used a repair heddle - one I made from #10 crochet cotton and 2 safety pins.

The thread is cut so after it is knotted, it will be slightly shorter than a regular heddle.   The thread is folded in half and 2 knots, about 1/2 in apart are made in the middle, to form the heddle eye.   A safety pin is attached through the folded loop.  I measure the heddle on the shaft, so that I know where to put the bottom knot and safety pin.   The heddle needs to fit fairly securely.   The nice thing about this repair heddle is that you can reuse it over and over.

I used #10 crochet cotton for the warp, doubled because I had it on hand from a rather good sale last winter.   I used a sett of 6.  The rags are the green duvet cover that I really wasn't fond of.  I'm aiming for 32in. wide by 48in. long.  It is going to be close for length, I'm almost at the halfway with only a handful of the first half of the rags left.   My fingers are crossed that there won't be a lot of shrinkage in the length when it comes off the loom.

I found some sheets that were barely used at the thrift store, so they will be the basis for the next 2 rugs, although I will measure a little more carefully and do the real math first, just to make sure I have enough fabric.  Otherwise, I'll be out hunting for coordinating prints :)

 Grumble grumble... the sheets were mis-labeled.  The twin duvet cover and sheets, turned out to be a crib cover and 2 tiny curtains.  The queen sized jersey sheet actually had an original tag which stated it was a twin sized sheet.  Of course, because of the way the sheets were packaged at the shop, it was impossible to tell sizes until I got them home and started measuring.     Now I need to either put my projects on hold while I find more fabric which will work with the first ones, or cut this rug off and change the rest of the warp threading to fit the materials I do have... grumble grumble.

A couple of years ago we bought a set of jersey sheets.   They were awful.  The top sheet was enormous and the jersey was extraordinarily stretchy, so it was uncomfortable to sleep on.   Since they were purchased as winter sheets, when I finally found a set of nice flannet sheets, which didn't have a holiday print on them, the jersey sheets went into the fabric pile.   I was going to turn them into t-shirts but the stretch made them awkward to work with.  The serger didn't even like them.   So today  I turned them into t-shirt yarn.  There are lots of ways to make t-shirt yarn, most which seem to require many hour spent cutting the fabric into strips with scissors.   I folded up the sheet and turned it into continuous strips with my rotary cutter; quick enough and a fairly satisfying end to those awful sheets.