For Father’s Day I decided to weave my Dad a small tapestry with wool. I looked at the yarn I had available and decided I had the colors for a dog nose and tongue (yes, really). I wanted large blocks of color that didn’t need excessive detail, so a super closeup fit the bill.

I warped the loom with thin cotton, and used store bought black and pink merino wool and my own spindle spun orange wool (mostly merino) for the weft. I wove upside down because I figured that would be easier with the shapes I wanted. I did make a sketch and used that behind the weaving as my guide.

I found it easier to weave in the ends as I went. I finished with the fringeless method of pulling the weft through the work then weaving in. Although the shapes were recognizable as a tongue, probably a dog’s, I decided to add some embroidery to help define the shapes. I used a digital art program to sketch and refine the ideas before I attempted thread.

I used the pink and black to outline and smooth out the blocks of color, then used a sparkly gray acrylic for the nose. I found the stem stitch served best. Definition on the tongue was made with a coral colored yarn.

To display the tapestry, I chose to mount it on a fabric covered frame. I had a pre-stretched cotton covered frame, to which I stapled thin batting, then a rough cotton fabric (of all the fabric in my stash, I like the texture of this best). I sewed the tapestry to the fabric using a curved needle and cotton thread. As I sewed I was able to even out the edges at least a little! I did label the back and attach hanging wire as well. The title of the piece is “Doggie Kisses”.

I may consider more small embroidered tapestries in the future. The process of making and even mounting this one was quite enjoyable!

I saw some pins on Pinterest on twining yarn around the warp threads and the string was sitting there, and the frame was sitting there, and shouldn’t I just try it? I started out going back and forth, then decided to try some random blocks of color, then since it is a washcloth anyway, tried some spirals and arcs.

I liked doing the arcs the best, especially the top white central arc, as the S twist of the twining went well with the S twist on the yarn. I don’t care for the knit look (that results from doing a S twist on one row, and a Z twist on the next), not only does it look knit, it is very stretchy in an unpleasing way for a wash cloth. The warp threads were very easy to pull through, though.

I do like that the twining covers the weft threads on the back of the work as well as the front. I also like weaving in the ends in the middle and of the work, rather than the edges. On this piece, I only wove the ends in one way, rather than going back and forth three times as I’ve done previously, so it will be interesting to see if the ends work loose.