Swedish Weaving

Today I would like to discuss getting started with the monk's cloth, which is 100% cotton. It has four floats per inch, with an over and under four strand weave. I have talked about the bodkin needle, which you use to weave the yarn through the basket weave of the cloth. The patterns I have used call for washing the monk's cloth prior to weaving. However, I have found that it is easier to weave the yarn through the cloth before washing. Once the cloth is washed, it shrinks the material slightly.



There are many colors of monk's cloth available. I have used white or natural, but I have seen afghans done in a wine color with white yarn and pink cloth with wine yarn. When using variegated yarn with colored cloth, lay some yarn across the color you choose to see if all the colors will show.



The afghans I weave call for 2 1/2 yards of material. You fold the material in half lengthwise and crosswise to find the center. Most patterns start in the very center of the material. A good way to check is to count the rows of weaving and stitches in the rows. I put a piece of yarn or safety pin on the float for a center marker. The raw edges should be zigzagged to keep them from fraying. You can also turn them under with a hem, holding the hem in place by basting with yarn. I have also basted yarn on the center row both vertically and horizontally to visually see where the center is.



Most patterns show starting in the center row and weaving from the center to the left of the row, then reverse your material and work the other half of the pattern from center to the left. It does seem confusing at the beginning! Your pattern tells you how many yards of yarn you will need, depending on the design. I fold my yarn for the row in half and mark it with a safety pin. That way, when I start my row and pull my yarn through, I know to stop at the safety pin, as the rest of the yarn is for the other half of the row. You will have more yarn than needed, but you want yarn left at the end of each row. When the afghan is completed, you will be sewing up the sides and the yarn gets sewed down in the seam. This will keep the yarn from pulling out of the pattern.