May Mug Rug

This month we celebrate May flowers with a Brooks Bouquet pattern.

This is a very simple design, yet it can look so impressive on many applications. Aside from mug rugs, this looks great along the edge of a place mat or table runner. It adds a touch of fancy to a shawl or scarf.

So lets get started!

As with our other Mug Rugs in this series, we will be using worsted weight cotton yarn.

The samples were done using a white warp and a variety of Spring like colors as the weft.

Begin by warping 50 ends, 1.5 yards long, in white.

Wrap your shuttle with the contrast color of your choice.

Weave 6 passes of plain weave leaving a 24” tail at the start.

We will again be using a hem stitch on each end of the rugs. Do your 1st hem now.

If you need help, here is a hemstitch tutorial. http://kromskina.com/hem-stitch-for-weaving/

Raise the heddle to the Up position.

Wrap the shuttle around 4 strands of warp by doing the following: Place the shuttle into the shed. Travel under 4 upper threads, and out between the 4th and 5th upper thread to the top of the warp. Wrap around these 4 threads and back into the same shed.

This time travel under the 4 previous threads and the next 4 as well (for a total of 8) and up between upper threads 8 and 9 to the top of the weaving. Notice how the 1st 4 strands group together when the weft is pulled snug. You have just made your 1st bouquet!

DO NOT CHANGE THE SHED!

Next go back into the shed just after the previous bouquet, and before the 2nd group of 4. In other words, go down between threads 4 and 5. Use caution that you stay within the shed and do not go under the lower threads.

Again head to the left, under the 4 threads just wrapped and the next 3 upper threads (a total of 7 threads this time). Come back to the top. There are now 2 bouquets of 4 warp threads each, and a bouquet of 3 waiting to be wrapped.

Repeat the process by wrapping one group as you set up for the next, pulling the wraps snug as you work. Don’t worry excessively about keeping them snug at this point. We will adjust again once the entire row has been completed.

Our grouping sequence will be 4, 4, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4.

So it will continue like this – Wrap those 3 and go under the next 3 and back up for a total of 6. Repeat this once more. Then on the following bouquet you will go under (wrap) 3 and the under next 4 (7 threads) before coming out through the top. Then again under the bouquet that was just wrapped and the next 4. These are the last 4 threads. Wrap those and exit the shed.