And the light goes on

Tenacity has long been the cornerstone to my personality; however, I am beginning to think ambitious has begun to rival it.

Last night, I finished last of the Peaceful Rhythm tea towels. There were nine in all with another foot of weaving to use up some partial spools and test 5/2 bamboo as weft.

Both my sewing machine and overlook serger are being serviced for cleaning, so it will be a while before I have washed and hemmed photos of them.

However, it also means I have an empty and undressed loom!

The other day, I posted about two possible projects, more tea towels or a rug. I decided to hold off on the tea towels, until Lil' Miss was ready for them. It made more sense to go forward with a rug, as the Beast is the only loom, which can accommodate it.

I originally wanted to do something like this or this; however, with 6 hanks of rug filler in black, one in brown, and two in blue, I just did not have the variety needed.

Honestly, I was unsure exactly what I was going to do, until I glanced over at my desk and saw this taqueté pattern that I had printed last week.

This was printed with even  more tea towels in mind, but the more I looked at it, the more I thought I could use black 8/4 cotton warp (which I have), mixed with the assorted Maysville Cotton Rug Warp (8/4) I bought from a lady that arrived the other day. There were two shades of light purple and several different colors of blue.

A rather uninspired photo, but I was able to select three groups of colors. The slightly different shade of one purple from the other two, did not concern me.

For better lighting, I took them outside and joined them with the black that will join them:

I guess it was too bright, as it washed out the colors a bit; however, I think I may be on to something. 

My stash has just enough black 8/4 cotton for the warp, but this pattern requires a tabby weft to be thrown in the black between throws of the thick weft filler. I do not have enough for that. 

R & M Yarns has black 8/4 cotton warp for $8/pound, which is the best price, but the smallest cone is ~2.5 pounds, and their shipping is steep for one cone of yarn, as they charge a $5 handling fee and ship UPS. If I were ordering several more cones of 8/2, it would be worth it, but not for one cone of thread.

Webs has the 8/4 cotton warp for $8.50 per 8-ounce cone or half a pound. 

Great Northern Weaving as the same 8/4 cotton warp for $6.75 per half-pound cone.

I decided to go with Great Northern Weaving and will order the black I needed, as well as two more colors to go with my rug!

Don't laugh, many of you would have done the very same thing!

Before I place the order, the rug filler is still smelly. When I asked the husband to box it up and carry it out to the garage last night, he asked: "Can you wash them?"

Why don't I wash them?

So, the plan for the afternoon is to take the swift outside, wind each hank on it, secure them with a ton of threads, then throw them in the washer (gentle/hand wash). They are cotton, after all. 

As they are, I cannot stand the smell of them or the runny nose and hay fever they induce to use them. 

If I ruin them, there was no using them anyway. 

Wish me luck!