Hello 2016! With my DIY weaving book coming out in the fall, I thought it was only fitting to start the year off with a relatively simple woven wall hanging DIY that adds a ton of texture and dimension to your space and won't take all weekend to make!
I fashioned this one around a gorgeous skein of yarn from Knit Collage as part of Ruby's bedroom makeover that I'll be sharing later this month. Pink is her favorite color and that extra dose of gold sparkle woven throughout the Knit Collage yarn added the perfect amount of whimsy. The base of this weaving is made from jersey yarn, a bulkier yarn option that makes quick work of things and creates a strong structure for the weight of these poms. I love how it turned out!
Supplies
- frame loom (similar, also similar)
- 1 skein of sport weight pink yarn
- 1 skein of light worsted weight peachy pink yarn (similar)
- 1/2 skein of chunky wool yarn (similar)
- 25 yards of pink jersey yarn
- pom pom maker
- weaving sword
- stick shuttle
- tapestry needle
- scissors
- weaving comb (optional)
The first step is to make all of your pom poms. I used a Clover pom pom maker because years ago I realized how much prettier my pom poms looked using one of these gadgets over using my fingers or any of the other DIY methods. Buy yourself a two-pack and call it a small investment in your aesthetic happiness. I also used the larger of two pom pom makers for the end result (blue), although the smaller one (green) is shown in the above photo. Can you blame a girl for not wanting her colors to clash?
I made three large pom poms from my chunky wool yarn, peachy pink yarn, and darker pink yarn. Three across and three down gave me just the right size for the space I wanted to fill on my wall but you can adjust yours accordingly. Be sure to leave at least five inches per strand when you tie them off so you can stitch them onto your weaving in a later step.
Warp your frame loom to the width you'd prefer and then weave a place holder with either your weaving sword or a strip of cardboard. This will help save the space for when we remove the warp from the loom so we can easily insert a dowel. It also means we'll be weaving upside down for this project!
If you are brand new to weaving and would enjoy a detailed tutorial on the very basics of weaving, head over to my Weaving Class tutorial on A Beautiful Mess and give it a read through.
Wrap your stick shuttle about four times with your jersey yarn. You won't wrap it as much as you would with a worsted weight wool yarn or it'll get too bulky to pass through your warp so this turns it into more of a giant needle to help guide it through. When you run out of yarn, leave your tail down behind your warp and overlap it with the next long strand by about two inches.
As you're weaving your rows, always be sure to create an arch before pushing your yarn down to the previous row of weaving. Again, refer to my Weaving Class tutorial for detailed step-by-steps for basic plain weave.
Once you've woven about the same height as your three rows of pom poms, flip your loom 180 degrees.
Cut rya knot strands in the length you prefer. To determine this, count how many warp rows you have and divide by two. Each rya knot will wrap around two warp rows. You can add in as many strands per rya knot as you wish depending on how bulky you want it to be. I only used two strands and each was about twenty-eight inches long.
To add a rya knot, find the center of your two strands and place it on top of two warp rows. Wrap one side of your strands around one of the warp rows and back out. Repeat with the other side. Since we are working upside down, you'll gently push this rya knot to the top to rest snugly against your last weft row. Repeat all the way across. You'll want to trim these at the end.
Add in another two or three rows of plain weave to secure your rya knots and the structure of your weaving.
Cut the warp row strands off the bottom of your loom so that you have enough room to tie them in knots, two at a time.
Since jersey yarn is so much bulkier, the support rows under the rya knots were a little more noticeable than if I'd been working with smaller fibers. I decided to fold them back behind the weaving like I was hemming fabric. I stitched it together using my tapestry needle and some of the yarn from one of the pom poms. This not only created a clean bottom edge, it helped frame the wall hanging against the wall to help counteract the weight of the pom poms. A happy accident.
Don't remove the top of your weaving just yet as it'll help keep things spread out well while we stitch those pom poms on. Start by finding the center of your weaving and stitching your center pom pom from your top row about three or four weft rows down from the top. Use your tapestry needle to stitch the tails around a warp row and then tie a double-knot on the back side.
Add in the rest of your pom poms in the same way. You should mostly cover up the weaving with the bulk of your pom poms but you can always make smaller pom poms and create a polka-dot effect or something similar.
This is how the back will look when you're done.
Gently pull your warp off of the top of your frame loom and remove your weaving sword or place holder. Insert your dowel into those same warp loops at the top and add a hanger. Trim your rya knots so they are even or create an interesting silhouette by cutting them into a V-shape or alternate angle. Hang on your wall and enjoy your splash of color!
I love the shaggy texture of these gorgeous fibers!
Mix your fibers as you wind them onto your pom pom maker for even more interesting pom pom combinations or add in a few more rows of rya knots for an even greater impact.
Have you taken the weaving plunge yet? I feel like it's the perfect medium for battling cabin fever if you get a cold winter where you are. After spending the last five months weaving in secret for my book, I'm so excited to get to share what I'm making again!
-Rachel
Details: Corona star decals c/o WallsNeedLove.
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