Weaving Technique || Shag Weave Stash Buster

This is probably my most favorite post yet, because it is a way to use up all those left over yarn tails and have fun too! If you’re like me, you save all those slightly long end tails you cut off when your finishing up your weaves (and if you don’t have yarn tail ends you can cut lengths of yarn to make this.  But, start saving those ends now so you can make this again in the future). I usually have a plastic sandwich bag that I stuff the long end tails into while I weave, and I’ve accumulated a lot of these bags over the years. So for today’s post I just dumped out one of the bags. It’s full of end tails from probably 4 or 5 different weaves and I really like how the colors are so different. I may not have picked all these colors to go together, so this is especially fun.

The best part of making a shag weave with end tails is:

• I’m just using what is in this one bag I’ve collected so I’m not going to worry about colors
• These are already cut, so I’m going to just add them short and long and later trim them as I feel necessary. Although, for the most part I didn’t trim too much
• Since the two steps above make it so simple, I really enjoyed just focusing on the process of this weave with little pressure

So now that you’re excited too, grab your end tails and let’s begin!

step 1| weave a few rows of plain stitch to make your foundation. I wove 3 rows of two threads together, but if you want more of a hidden top, weave two rows of a thin thread.

step 2| add your first row of Rya Knots, I have more detailed instructions of how to make them here.

step 3| weave 2 rows of the plain weave again, this helps stabilize your rya knots

step 4| continue alternating between a row of rya knots and rows of plain weave. You can also play around with the look you like best. If you want a bulkier shag, then rya knot 2 rows and plain weave 2 rows with a thin yarn. If you want a longer thin shag then add more rows of plain weave between your rya knots. There really is no wrong way to do this!

step 5| once you have made the weave to your liking, make sure to weave at least 2 rows of plain weave at the bottom to lock in your warp threads. Then finish your weave as normal (steps on that here).  I also went through and trimmed a little of the fringe here and there to even the weave out.

Do you also keep bags of yarn tails? I hope I’m not the only one who doesn’t want to throw out even the smaller bits of all this pretty yarn. If you do make one of these, let me know. I would love to see what everyone makes! You can comment below or tag me on Instagram!

Happy Weaving!

Kate

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