Holiday Table Runner

My husband had been encouraging me for a long time to weave a table runner. I had not used my floor loom for almost a year, since it was stored away while we replaced our old living room carpeting with hardwood floor last December 2024.

The School of Sweet Georgia “Winterful Weave-Along” got me inspired to move the floor loom back into the living room and weave something. Usually I do not like work along projects where everyone makes the same thing. And I really do not like a work along surprise project. What if I don’t even like it? In this case, I liked the plaid pattern that was suggested, and I was inspired to finally make a table runner using holiday colors for my son and daughter-in-law.

The pattern uses four colors of 100% Lambswool yarn for a scarf. Instead of wool yarn I chose cotton, using off white and blue I had on hand, and red and green I purchased for the project. The red and green yarns are 3/2 cotton, which is a little thicker than the off white and blue 8/4 cotton. Using two different thicknesses of yarn in one weaving project can cause issues with the tension, but I like how it can make the outcome more interesting (hopefully in a good way). And I was also trying to use what I had on hand rather then spending more money.

In order to pick colors for a plaid, it was suggested to make a tiny sample of the warp yarns that are being considered by wrapping them around a card. I did this using a smaller number of threads but in the same proportions as the pattern, and only reflecting one half of the pattern. The other half would be a mirror image. By substituting the colors exactly according to the pattern, the edge would have been off white. I did not think that looked good, so I replaced it with red.

I measured the warp yarn using a warping board on our kitchen island. I have found that my favorite method of anchoring the warping board is by attaching is to a big box with an old belt. That keeps it stable and at the right height.

I have tried several different methods of measuring out the yarn when there are multiple colors. One way is to measure each color separately. I tried that once and did not like it. In the past I have tied the beginning of the round on to the post, and tied the end on again as needed when changing colors. This time I attached the ends to the side with a piece of painters tape. It worked great and then I did not have a bunch of knots.

Wayne helped me move the loom from the three season porch where it had been collapsed in the corner for almost a year. It turned out to be more time consuming than I expected to get it set up for use. The cords holding the harnesses came undone and I had to look up instructions online to figure out how to get them back in place correctly.

Several hours later and with better lighting, I was ready to start warping.

Once the loom was all re-assembled, I got going on warping the project. I have heard that weaving is faster than knitting the same thing. Getting all the warp threads on the loom and ready to go (“dressing the loom”) takes longer than the actual weaving part.

Once the warp yarn was all on the loom, wound around the back beam, and tied on to the front beam, I was able to weave the first rows and do the hem stitch at the beginning of the table runner.

After I finished weaving five repeats of the plaid pattern on the table runner, it seemed long enough and I was not sure if there was enough warp yarn left for another repeat. I went ahead and did the hem stitch at the end. Not wanting to waste the warp yarn that was left, I started weaving the remaining with all red yarn.

Without changing colors, weaving the end of the warp went pretty fast, and I ended up with enough for a coordinating kitchen towel. Where the blue and red intersect looks like purple.

The table runner came out pretty well, although the edges were a little uneven due to woven in ends from color changes, and two different thicknesses of yarn.

Following is a photo of the table runner on our dining table. We were having some people over for dinner, but I removed the table runner for that meal, as I did not want to get it stained before giving it to James and Kelsey.

At James and Kelsey’s house on Christmas Day, I took the following photo of three towels I made at different times. The mostly white towel was one of the first towels I made as a new weaver. Since then I have determined that using a majority of white yarn is not a good idea as it gets stained easily.

When I was growing up my mom had a set of Spode Christmas Tree dinnerware. After we had our own households, my sister and I each had our own set of 12. When my mom passed away, we each took six from her set. Living at the lake, we did not need 18 place settings! I gave 12 to James and Kelsey, and kept six. James and Kelsey had 14 people for Christmas dinner using the new table runner and the Spode plates.

I would like to make another table runner for us to keep. That will have to wait until spring or summer, as I cannot bring the floor loom to Arizona for the winter!