It’s April, so this month’s design will reflect an Easter Basket in appearance.
The structure is called Monk’s Weave. I’ve added a bit of a twist to the standard pattern with a small additional element (this will be explained in the instructions).
For this Mug Rug you will need your Pick Up Stick and two colors of yarn; one for the warp and one for the weft, preferably high contrast, but defiantly not a requirement.
Begin by warping 50 ends, 1.5 yards long with worsted weight cotton and an 8 dent heddle (about 75 yards).
The example is woven with Lily Sugar’n Cream Coral Rose.
The weft is the same yarn shown in Seabreeze, Overcast and Yellow.
Following the initial set up with waste yarn, weave 4 rows of plain weave using the weft yarn. Don’t forget to leave enough for the hem stitching.
For this next step you will need to place the heddle in neutral.
Use the pick up stick in front of the heddle.
Go under 1 warp thread. Then over 4, under 4 until the last thread. Go under that last one.
Turn the pick up stick on end and push it up against the heddle to create the shed.
Notice the end thread will not be caught if you simply pass the weft through. You must go around this end thread and then pass the warp through the shed. DO NOT BEAT. Keep the weft at a loose arch before weaving the next row. If not, you may have trouble with the edges.
Leave the pick up stick where it is and repeat the process to the right, again wrapping around the end thread before passing the shuttle through the shed. Continue until you have done 4 wefts – all in the same shed.
Use the pick up stick, NOT the heddle to gently push the weft forward. Don’t rush. The idea is to get them to lay next to each other, not pile on top of one another.
Check to be certain that you have not pulled too tightly (or not tight enough) by gently tugging on the edges. If it draws in too much or has loops on the edges, now is the time to remedy that. This weave structure can easily cause you to have too much draw in. Pay careful attention that the Mug Rug is not getting too narrow as you weave. You may want to measure the width and continue to check this as you go along. Marking the pick up stick with painters or masking tape makes it easy to check each section as you go.
Now it’s time to change the shed. Remove the pick up stick.
Raise the heddle to the “Up” position and do one pass with the weft (make sure you wrap the end thread if needed). Gently beat this into place with the heddle.
Remember the added element I spoke of?
This single weft of plain weave is something that is not traditionally found in Monk’s Weave. I chose to add it to this design because it will add a bit of stability to the structure and help to make the groups of threads lay more squarely. It also gives the warp threads a slightly jagged look, rather than an even basket appearance. For me, this adds a touch of interest to the mug rug.
Look closely at the example to the right. The first 4 sections do not have this extra weft pass. See how they cluster up together more? The plain weave pass will prevent that from happening.
For the next section, insert the pick up stick over 1 warp thread. Then under 4, over 4 until the last thread. Go over that last one (the opposite of the 1st section). Weave 4 rows in the pick up shed as before.
Repeat this process until you have 18 sets of weft groups. Alternate the plain weave row with the heddle up or down between each of the sets.
For the finish, weave 4 rows of plain weave and then use a hem stitch to secure.
Be sure to check out the video for more information and to see the process in action; https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCr_0xa80mEpfaw8GmV8bptw
