Off-loom activities:

• Draw a fantastic beast or an animal made up of parts of different animals. Write a story about it. What does it eat? Where does it live? What kind of sound does it make?
• Design a carpet to represent a garden or an animal park. Outline a border on a sheet of paper and draw some of your favorite animals in the center part of the paper. Add rows of plants, trees, or flowers to fill in the space around the animals. In the border, use repeating geometrical shapes to create a pattern.
• Design a symmetrical carpet:
  • Fold a piece of 8-1/2'' x 11'' paper in fourths, or quadrants.
  • In one of the quadrants, draw a floral, animals, or geometric design and outline it with heavy black crayon.
  • Fold the paper in half, either lengthwise or crosswise, with the crayoned area inside.
  • Rub the back of the crayoned area to transfer the lines to another quadrant.
  • Open the paper and trace over the transferred lines with black crayon.
  • Fold the paper again, and transfer the design to the third and fourth quadrants.
  • Open the paper and trace over all the transferred lines with black crayon.
  • Now fill in the spaces with colored crayons or paint.
• Chart a simple design on 1/4'' graph paper. If this were the size of an actual rug, it would have 16 knots per square inch (4 knots across x 4 knots down = 16). Try charting the same design on 1/8'' graph paper. (8 knots across x 8 knots down = 64 knots per square inch)
  • If you were weaving a rug, which design would you prefer to weave?
  • Which design would take longer to weave?

• Make a simple loom from cardboard.
• Weave a coaster or mug rug, using a plain tapestry weave. Vary the basic weave:
  • Weave a symmetrical or radial design.
  • Incorporate a personal symbol or image into the design.
• Use pile techniques or a combination of techniques.
  • Alternate rows of knots with plain weave to make a pile weave.
  • Use both tapestry and knot techniques to weave a composite animal.
• Use different kinds of yarn--wool, mohair, and cotton--and compare the effects.

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