Lap Robes for Holiday Cheer

 

It's Holiday Cheer time again in Nevada County.  Each year the visiting nurses in this county collect Christmas gifts for their homebound patients.  For the past few years, the Not 2 Square weavers have been putting together lap robes to help warm the heart and the body!   This year there were a total of 10 lap robes, several knit hats and a knit scarf in our donation bag.  What follows are photos of some of the lap robes donated this year.

 

Dee Jones wove the striped material in both of these quilted covers.  She artfully combined a variety of commercial fabrics with her own hand woven to make generous sized lap robes.  There will be a couple of very happy folks when the nurses deliver these.

Diana Abrell wove the overshot top of this lovely blanket.  It is lined with a striped material and bound with satin binding.  Diana then secured the quilt with ties.

Igor Raven wove this lap robe double width on his Baby Wolf loom.  The binding was woven by Beryl Moody to match the throw.

Ingrid Knox donated three lap robes this year.  Pictured  are two of them.  Ingrid used a variety of yarns in beautifully designed stripe combinations.  All of her lap robes are easy care and will keep their recipients warm and cozy this holiday season.

Jackie Hervey wove this two block 3/1 twill throw from a variety of rayon yarns in her stash.  It is a nice weight and lays very comfortably over lap and knees.  Don't you love the color contrast between the two sides?

Members of the Not 2 Square group often donate items to older teenagers in foster care as well as this Holiday Cheer project.  We find it is a great way to work down the stash, try out new ideas and techniques and give back to the community.

Gifts for Holiday Cheer

The Not 2 Square Weavers like to do some sort of community spirited project each year.  This year some of us decided to weave lap robes for Holiday Cheer.  This is a local outreach for home bound seniors (and others recouperating from illnesses).  Visiting nurses supply Judi Barbour with the number of people under their care and she puts together gift stockings from donations for those with the most need. 

Since some of the recipients are confined to wheel chairs, several of us decided on rather narrow pieces that would cover the lap, but not be too wide and cumbersome.  It turns out that for wheel chair use, the pieces need to be without fringe so there will be nothing to get caught in wheels, etc.

Gus is pictured above with one of her lap robes woven in cotton and acrylic - the draft follows.

I wove my lap robes using a networked threading and treadling in turned taquete and a couple of weights of cotton.  See the related blog post here that gives more details on the process.  Working with the warp faced weave and divided threading allowed me to separate and weave the hem in two layers, which I turned to the inside to finish.

Marcy had woven a chenille lap robe before we decided to participate in this project, and she generously donated it.

Diana bought acrylic baby yarn to weave her pieces, but had a disaster when the yarn slipped and slid during the finishing process so she had a hand sewn robe in reserve which went along with our donations. 

Ingrid didn't weave her piece, but rather sewed it and finished it like a quilt.  See her blog for the colorful and warm covering she donated.

It was very gratifying to learn when we delivered our items to Judi, that there were so many donations this year that everyone on the nurse's list will be getting something warm and wonderful for Christmas.