Jeweled Beetle Runner

Weave your version using colors that excite you—even the ones you usually hesitate to use. Try combining warm and cool tones, unexpected brights, or even those “clashing” shades you’ve been saving for something special.

About this Project

While out on a walk one day, designer Rahul Kiran K spotted the shell of a greenish-blue beetle shimmering like a tiny gem. He has always loved working with bold colors and high contrast. The louder and more unexpected a color combination, the more fun he has finding ways to make it work. For this piece, he used five bright colors in the warp and repeated them in the weft. Summer and winter felt like the perfect structure because it lets three yarns—warp, tabby weft, and pattern weft—interlace at any given point. What surprised him most was how much of an effect the dark pattern weft had on the piece. On one side, it tones down the chaos and gives the patterning a nice graphic feel. Flip it over and the colors burst through in little pockets. And, if you look closely, you will even spot a subtle bug-like shape woven into the design as a quiet tribute to the beetle that started it all.

Contents

• Project Instructions PDF
• Runner WIF

Details

Structure
Summer and Winter.

Equipment
5-shaft loom, 14" weaving width; 12-dent reed; 2 shuttles; 6 bobbins.

Yarns
Warp: 10/2 mercerized cotton (4,200 yd/lb; Shuttles & Needles), Teal Topaz, 222 yd; Pine Bark, Aquamarine, and Gerbera Green, 216 yd each; Green Quartz, 108 yd.
Weft: Cotton knitting yarn—4-ply/sportweight (100% cotton; 350 yd/100 g; Shuttles & Needles), Black Diamond, 632 yd (see “Weaving Tips”). 10/2 mercerized cotton, Teal Topaz, 151 yd; Aquamarine, Pine Bark, and Gerbera Green, 141 yd each; Green Quartz, 71 yd.
Note: Shuttles & Needles is located in India. If shipping to the United States is challenging, consider these substitute yarns (10/2 yardages listed are for both warp and weft):
• 10/2 mercerized cotton (4,200 yd/lb; UKI Supreme), #42 Deep Turquoise, 373 yd; #105 Paradise or #109 Bermuda, #144 Cocoa, and #152 Pistachio, 357 yd each; #50 Avocado, 179 yd.
• 10/2 mercerized cotton (4,200 yd/lb; Lunatic Fringe Yarns), 10 Blue Green, 373 yd; 5 Blue Green, Burnt Umber, and 5 Green Yellow, 357 yd each; Thyme, 179 yd.
• 4-ply cotton yarn, Paintbox Yarns Cotton 4 ply (100% cotton; 186 yd/50 g; WEBS), #25 Pitch Black, 632 yd; or MillaMia Naturally Soft Cotton (100% cotton; 180 yd/50 g; WEBS), #300 Black, 632 yd.

Dimensions
Width in the reed: 13 ⁸⁄₁₂".
Woven length: (measured under tension on the loom) 72".
Finished size: (after wet-finishing and hemming) 12" × 68" plus 3½" fringe.

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