Back toward the end of last year I was planning a Turned Taqueté circles placemats warp in Mid-Century Modern colors. Meanwhile I got a special order for the circles placemats in blues before I could get my act together, so that went on the loom first. Once finished, I did something I’ve never done, but have been tempted to do for a little while.
I tied on a new warp to the old warp. And aside from a couple of tying mistakes (don’t ask) it worked very well. And because I tied on to the old warp, I was able to eke out one more placemat than I thought I was going to get from the warp. Pretty cool!
Here they are still on the loom:
Here are the finished placemats, now residing in my Etsy shop:
The warp is 5/2 cotton, sett at 24 ends per inch, and the same width on the loom as my ubiquitous dishtowels. It was fun working in an entirely new colorway. I seemed to be in a rut in that regard, so a completely different style concept was very welcome.
The warp that I tied onto is still in place, waiting for my next project, which will be dishtowels. And how great is it that the towels will be the same sett and width as the placemats?
iowaweaver 
I have been wanting to try this weave structure and I like weaving placemats. There are tricks to tying-on that I would like to learn.
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I wouldn’t mind hearing about your tying mistakes, what you learned, and what type of knot worked best for you
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My tying errors amounted to getting the background threads, which were dark on the old warp and light on the new warp, reversed. Did that a couple of times. And I didn’t notice until I started weaving. Oops. I used overhand knots because they are fast and hold well.
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I tie on often when Trying the pattern in a different color way. Takes about same time but their seems to be less errors on my part. Your placemats are lovely!
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Thanks for replying about the knots!
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For your dish towels, the 5/2 cotton, is it unmercerized? What brand?
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The dishtowels are 8/2 unmercerized cotton Maurice Brassard. The placemats are 5/2 mercerized cotton UKI Brand, available widely.
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Hi, these are absolutely beautiful! I love the placemats idea! I did enjoy weaving the towels last year. Maybe after settling in our new house this year, (downsizing to smaller house), I can get back to the loom. Regards. Alice
Sent from my iPhone
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I love your work and your enthusiasm! Thank you so much for sharing. I had never thought of weaving towels and placemats on the same sett and size. What size are the towels you weave? Or what size are your towels. I like this concept.
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The towels and the placemats are 20.5″ wide in the reed. They are both 24 ends per inch, just different size yarns. I weave each towel 33″ long on the loom and each placemat 19″ on the loom. Hemming and shrinkage render them the appropriate sizes for their intended uses. Thanks!
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I wonder what would happen if one used painted warp for the alternating threads in the circles or squares. And thanks for the treadling tip on rounding out the circles a bit..
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