RE-weaving a favorite lawn chair

About 12 years ago, (or best guess on the date when I look back in photos for reference) --- I wove up these matching lawn chairs for our anniversary present to each other.  

We bought NEW frames, and we cut off the new webbing.  We chose these frames as they are taller, wider and have nice wooden armrests that would hold up more than a few years.  These chairs have traveled all over the country with us, and we always fold them up and put them away each night.  We don't let them get wet if we can help it, but they do dry out fast because of the polypropylene cord used in making them.

I designed the pattern myself on graph paper, and wove them to match the shutters on our log home.

Sadly... last year... my chair broke at the hinge.  12 years is a long time for a chair to last, but I wanted to reweave it onto a new frame, so I saved it in the garage.  Unfortunately, we can no longer find that particular chair for sale anymore.  I know my friend Cella has one, but she won't part with it.  Short of breaking into her house late at night and stealing it, I had to come up with something else.

So last year we bought these Coleman chairs.  They are nice.  They have a folding table on one side.  They are okay.  But they are not the same in comfort as the woven lawn chairs.   Sigh.

Yesterday, after seeing Steve's chair also waiting in the garage for it's partner to be fixed, I took my chair into the house and decided it COULD be fixed with a bit of effort between me and Steveio.

Sooooo ......

I didn't know if Steveio would have to remove the entire three sides of seat frame, 

or if he could just replace the one side.  Just in case, I preserved the entire woven seat portion.

The blue yarn is just temporary to hold the woven pattern into place 

while the frame is being worked on

Once I had the pattern preserved, 

then Steveio took the chair out to the garage and worked some magic! 

Next, it's my turn-----

Doing these chairs takes a lot of *OOMPH* and needs a lot of strength in the hands 

to pull each of the cord loops through each of the previous loops.  

I think I have *retired* from my chair-weaving days, 

so please don't email me to ask me to do one for you, okay?

I think we will still keep the Coleman chairs with the side tables in the motorhome for "company" ... 

Also we have our two Ultimate Relaxing Recliners for resting and relaxing in.   These type of lounge chairs are not good for around the campfire as the sparks could hit around the ankles and burn holes in the chairs.  But they sure are nice for resting in!   Or sipping wine?

Back to the woven chairs...

Between my sister and I, we have woven many many of these lawn chairs... 

here are pics of just a few of them over the years and some of Steve's folks' chairs too

These chairs are made by a technique that uses macrame cord (the braided is better to use than the twisted)  and two big heavy metal size K crochet hooks.  By using graph paper to plan out a pattern, one can make almost any design.  They are very comfortable and warmer to sit on around the campfire at night, compared to the plastic strap or webbing types of chairs.   We use the heaviest frames we can find.  Usually the round metal pipe type frames last longer than the lighter weight square tube aluminum type frames. 

If you would like to learn about how to make these type of lawn chairs, 

here is a website link with more information:

http://www.kingskountry.com/how-to-make-a-macrame-lawn-chair.html

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