Big Lake Wave
Also known as Over the Waves or Love's Path, this 3-shuttle, Finnish American rag rug pattern is handwoven on a 4-shaft loom.
– 2 min read
Art Portfolio
I first saw Big Lake Wave in the book "Finnish American Rag Rugs: Art, Tradition and Ethnic Community" by Yvonne R. Lockwood shortly after I inherited my grandfather's rug loom. According to the book, Big Lake Wave is a Finnish pattern that weavers brought to the US in the 1950s and 60s, however it was only used by a handful of Finnish American weavers during that time. The pattern goes by many names:
- Big Lake Wave - Saimaan aallot the waves of Lake Saimaa
- Over the Waves - Äänisjärven aallot the waves of Lake Onega
- Love's Path - rakkauden polku
I'm choosing to use the name Big Lake Wave because I saw a rug with this pattern (woven by another Ellen) in Finland at the Kotkaniemi Museum after visiting Lake Saimaa.
Setting up the loom for Big Lake Wave is fairly straightforward. However, weaving it is a challenge. Not only are you using larger shuttles for rug weaving, the pattern alternates with each pick between three colors. That means managing three large rag shuttles and making sure they pass over each other properly on each side to create tidy selvedges.
Big Lake Wave Portfolio
Handwoven with salvaged home textile fabrics on undyed cotton rug warp.
If you'd like to learn more about weaving Big Lake Wave
- Love's Path Rug Draft from CWJohnson9's project on Ravelry
- How to Weave with 3 Shuttles by Milja Talvikki on YouTube
