Knitted Work Using Fabric Selvages

Turkey Tracks: February 4, 2022

Knitted Work Using Fabric Selvages

It is a really ICKY day here today—raw and wet and icy.

It’s a great day to stay home and sew. And I have that lovely and healthy soup to eat. I added in some cooked broccoli yesterday. Today maybe I’ll add some cream or cheese.

Northeast Wildlife came yesterday and closed and wired all the places up high on the roof where the flying squirrels got in—along with any place where they might try to enter. There may be some bat entries too, but we’ll deal with that in the spring as that requires caulking entry places. The squirrel solution is elegant—there are traps places in the entry holes that allow egress but not entry. Meanwhile, all my bird feeders went home with Northeast Wildlife.

Margaret-Elaine, a local quilty friend here, commented on yesterday’s post by noting the placemat upon which my bowl of soup sat. She thought I had woven it with, I think, the old-fashioned hand-weaving looms I have—and I have made a lot of rugs and placemats with the two sizes I have. The frame is rectangular and has nails at the top and the bottom where one strings the ”woof” base.

But these placemats have been made by knitting (garter stitch) the selvages from quilting fabrics.

When I get a long enough strand, I just add it into the ongoing project. The pieces are linked together by making slits in each end one wants to attach and looping them through the ”mother” ongoing strip. You can see the linking knot in the picture. It works better to keep the ongoing strand length to 2-3 feet as it twists as one works. And it is easy to add a new strand when needed. If it is short, it just takes a little time to ”update” the project.

I like using selvages as they don’t shed like cut fabric would. I have wondered about using the looms to make something with these selvages, but that requires A LOT of strips AND one has to lay in a base on the hand loom around which one plaits the added strips—so one has both the woof and weave parts. This knitting method is already pretty thick.

I have saved my “warm” selvages (orange, red, pink, etc.) as I think I have one more selvage quilt in me. I do like them. I gave away all the cool and black/white/grey selvages. After I make the ”warm” selvage quilt, I’ll be done I think.

For this current selvage-knitting project, when I get a big enough central piece, I’m going to stop there, pick up stitches along one side, and create another “patch” or ”block.” And then, when I’m done there, I’ll stop and move to another side. It might take…years. LOL.

Here are some of my selvage quilts: a ”cool” one and a star one.

Have a great day everyone!