| ================= Roving Rugs ================= > The roving rugs sound interesting. I'd be interested > in some info about them such as the roving weight, > sett and any other pointers on using roving weft. I have used roving as I would rags. Lay it in the shed and beat. You have to sample a bit to determine the thickness that pleases you. The rug I made does not have any ends hanging out, so I don't think it looks like a fleece. I used the roving as I would rags, laying it the shed without any thinner weft shots in-between. It is a soft, cushy rug and, if it does felt with use, it won't lose its looks.... I hope. I warped for 8 epi, threaded the warp 1,1,2,2 and sleyed 2 threads to a dent at 4 epi. This seemed to keep the threads side-by-side, without twisting over each other. I used 3 different colors, so the combination changed across the rug. I made the hem with thinner strips, keeping the design of the rug. The warp is cotton/poly. If you have a limited amount of roving, experiment with smaller pieces, like mug rugs or hot pads. You should be able to determine if you would like the effect in a larger rug. > What exactly is roving wool? Is this raw wool that > has been cleaned and felted? It's wool that has been washed and carded in preparation for spinning. It resembles fiberfill and can be separated into strips that can be spun into yarn, or woven into rugs. Some of the finer roving can be knitted "as is" for wonderfully soft mittens. Robin Murphy ---------------- I did a striped roving rug by setting at 12 epi regular poly-cotton rug warp, and doing every other row with a thick wool yarn... and it came out pretty nice. I washed in hottest water I could (monitoring the amount of shrinkage as I went so I didn't wreck it) and dried in hottest dryer and it shrunk up just enough for a soft but firm rug. It sold first thing at the next sale I did. KarenInTheWoods --------- I enjoy doing roving rugs. They can be expensive. Sometime if I dye the roving and it becomes somewhat felted and cannot be used for anything else I use it for rugs. I save bits and pieces of roving and make random colors. I also use 8/4 cotton 6 epi. They are very durable. Only problem dirt likes to cling to the roving; hard to shake off. Linda -------- |
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| (The roving rugs sound interesting.) |