Posted by Angela on Monday, 1 March 2004, at 8:51 p.m.:
In Reply to: mug rugs posted by Gail on Saturday, 28 February 2004, at 10:40 a.m.:
Gail, for a beginner, I would recommend using a warp a single "mug rug" wide. This would allow you quick completion of each, and the ability to vary the next from the last if you wished. The biggest difference between the mug rug and your other projects would be that you might beat with less pressure than with a wider web, compensating for less resistance by the shorter weft.
You could certainly set up multiple "mug rugs" across the width of the loom if you wished to practice the technique of weaving identical items side by side, using a separate shuttle for each "rug" if you want each "rug" to have closed selvedges. If you chose to do this, it would be practical to leave a few inches between the "rugs" to make re-entry of the shuttles on the inside selvedges easier. I don't think that there is any time advantage using this technique, because for each shot of weft, you have to pick up, throw/pass, then catch, the shuttle for each "rug" before going to the next rug to the right or left of the first, using the shuttle again, and then when the last rug has had it's shot, beating the weft in, and changing the shed. The principal advantage of this method is that (if you use the same weft material for each rug) it forces you to produce identical items, perhaps most important when you need the lengths and colorways to be identical, as when you're producing pieces (which must match) to be sewn together, as in clothing, or on a larger loom, napkins where uniformity is desirable in a set.
If you wanted fringe on all four sides of each rug mug (bearing in mind that you would probably want to stay-stitch each fringed side quickly after removing the "rugs" from the loom), you would plan warp separations between the "rugs" (equal to the desired fringe length for each x2), plus floating selvedges on the right and left extremes of the warp to extend the fringe there, again far enough away that the planned fringe length is achieved on the right and left "rugs".
Making sense?
The yarns/materials you plan on using for the project will help you define which method is the most practical -- for instance, an all yarn mug rug woven 50/50 (in a balanced weave) would be probably be more attractive with fringe than a mug rug where the warp is 8/4 cotton and the weft rags, an unbalanced weave.
A word on the materials - if the mug rug will ever be used on fine wood or marble surfaces which can be marred if moisture penetrates the mug rug and filters to the tabletop, consider whether your planned project is sufficiently absorbent. Come summer, the glass for a cool iced drink in hot weather will have a great deal of condensation which will roll down the glass to and into the mug rug. If the rug doesn't dry quickly, yet stays on the table, the fluid will reach the table; not bad on formica but very bad on Aunt Madge's antique mahogony table.
If, however, all you want is an attractive way of making sure that coffee mugs with unglazed bottom rims don't scratch surfaces, you can be more carefree with the yarns you use.
It will be a fun project for you. Good luck!
Angela