Not having any idea as to what "Jazz Strings" looked like, except for the small photo on Great Northern's web site, I decided it was time to try another recycled material to weave some rugs. "Loopers", which I have woven and posted about recently, are a waste product of the sock industry. "Jazz Strings" are from tee shirt manufacturers.
Little did I know what a "challenge" it would be to untangle the contents of my 11# bag of Jazz Strings. After searching but not being able to find any ends, I just started pulling on one of the strips of material. That did work and I finally was able to come to an end, where I began winding it into a ball.
A closer look of the Jazz Strings. They are available in solids and stripes......I asked for something with blue.....this is what they sent. With such a repetitive pattern in the material, I am anxious to start weaving it up so that I can see what it will look like as a finished piece. The material is also VERY soft, so that, too, should make for a nice "feel" for a rug.
Here is what 11#'s of Jazz Strings look like after being wound into balls. Amazingly, so few pieces! I must say though, untangling the material was not the only challenge......the other was winding these huge balls! They are easily the size of basketballs, but are closer to a medicine ball in weight. It stretched as it was wound, so these are SOLID balls. ;)
I took this photo to give some perspective on their size compared to the dining (my work) table.
I asked for some tips on weaving with this material on Rugtalk, one of my online fiber groups that I subscribe to on Yahoo. I was fortunate enough to receive some very nice responses, and I am very grateful to those who sent them. Hopefully, I will get warp measured out today so I can begin setting up the loom once again to begin weaving a rug of "Jazz Strings". :)
3 comments:
Those look really nice. I can imagine how they would feel under foot. Can't wait to see them
VERY interesting. I think these also have potential for crocheting household items. Certainly hot pads and trivets, maybe rugs. Hmmm, could be an interesting winter project.
I love to recycle old T shirts to weave, the one thing I found was that you need to lay it into the loom loosly, don't pull it, cause it is so stretchy it will tend to pull in at the sides. Anxious to see how this goes. Have to order some of this stuff!
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