Take It or Weave It

Inspired by this post by Trish of genuine mudpie, I decided to finally give weaving a try!  Thanks Trish!

At first I was going to use a paper plate like Trish did, but I remembered I had a set of knitting looms, (my back up plan if my real knitting doesn't pan out), that I thought could work!  I wove some baker's twine back and forth around the loom, and started to weave in some little bits of left over yarn.  

At first I didn't think it was going to work because the middle looked pretty bad and messy. I think there were too many strands of thread overlapping in the center.  But I kept going and it began to grow on me as the center started to look a bit like a heart.

Since the middle wasn't perfect to begin with, I decided it needed a little bit of an imperfect look.  Every once in awhile I would weave over or under two strands of thread instead of going every other.  It was easy to just add in new colors as I went, leaving the yarn tails hanging in the back to sew in after.

Oh my, I match my weaving... or my weaving matches my clothes...  One would think I might like these colors or something...

When it got to be about coaster size I cut the loops of thread off the pegs.  However, I made the mistake of cutting them all off before I started to tie the strings together...  I started to lose the last row of yarn!  Panic ensued, I had to fight with it a bit, and then I ended up tying some of the strings tighter than others.  What was I thinking?!  I wasn't, which was the problem.  Never craft when you're hungry (or tired)!  It's just a recipe for disaster!!  I should have cut one loop, tied the two strings together, and then cut the next loop.  Oh well, now I know.

I sewed in all the yarn tails on the back, and was about to sew in the little pieces of baker's twine... but for some reason I just liked the string hanging out around the outside of the coaster all hibbly-bibbly like!  (Yeah, that's probably not a real word.)  Just perfect for tea time don't you think?

I also second Trish's idea of a weaving party!  I think it's relaxing, and anyone could do it!  The really cool thing is you don't need fancy equipment; a paper plate works beautifully, as would a board some some nails.  Now I think I want to try weaving something in a rectangle or square shape...  Oooo what about a rug!?  (Or maybe since I have the knitting looms out, I should give them a try!  So many crafts so little time!)  Who else would be up for a weaving party?