First look at Pin Loom Weaving book

I have been on pins and needles, counting down the days until the Pin Loom Weaving publication date and waiting for the return of the items that will appear in the book. Many of the items are now back and I have started taking pictures to share, you can see some below. However, the publication date has been moved back a month, it is now June 1st, 2014.  AAAAAUGH!

I know that in the larger scheme of things it won't make that much difference, but I am really looking forward to sharing the book with everyone. In the meantime, here is a beginning sample of the Pin Loom Weaving items.

This is my most recent take on a yarn bag. I wanted to make something very simple, very usable. I like the idea that you can make them as deep as needed by adding on extra rounds of weavies.

Dogs and cats... The dogs came first, the rest of the farm animal set (sheep, horse, cow, pig, cat, chicken, house and barn)  followed. The design is variable enough so that you can create your dog favorites and put together your own dog show.

Animals Toddler Blanket... one of my favorites. It offers a number of features including soft, cuddly edges, a colorway and illustrations that will work for little boys or girls. The illustrations are applied with black crochet cotton and are reasonably easy to apply. The heavy lines are made using a crochet hook, fine details added with a tapestry needle. All the instructions and illustrations are available in the book and the book will be available June 1, 2014.

Soft Boxes - An assembly for 4" pin looms

IN THE JUNGLE SOFT BOX

Soft boxes combine the fun and creativity of pin loom weaving  in a medium size project. A lovely little 3-D box that comes with a canvas on each side.  These boxes were made as gifts. The attached jungle animals and cats are buttons that are usually available at fabric stores.

Each soft box is constructed from twelve 4"x4" squares. The squares were woven on a pin loom, then a single crochet edge was added. The exterior squares were finished with free stitching, buttons and yarn pulled through using a crochet hook to create loops.

FOUR SEASONS SOFT BOX

After completing the embellishment, an exterior weavie is sandwiched with another weavie for the lining (I usually weave a lighter matching color for the interior) with several layers of quilt batting in the middle.

The two woven layers with batting are whip-stitched together. The sides and bottom are whip-stitched to create a box. The top edge of the box is finished with a single crochet row to give it extra structure and to carry the color that was used for joining around the top.

The soft boxes were made primarily with medium weight worsted wool.
You may notice that the background of the "Winter" side of the Four Seasons box is woven with stripes of white and a cream color. This is accomplished by winding one color on the pin loom for the first two layers, then knotting on the second color to use for the third layer of winding and to weave through.

The top of the soft box was made by the same process as the sides with the addition of an extra row of single crochet, chain 2 at each corner, then two rows of half-double crochet with no  added chain stitches to create a box lid. 

ADOBE HOUSE SOFT BOX

The boxes have proved to be very lasting and reasonably useful. Most end up being used primarily as ornaments and holders for jewelry or other personal items. I use one when I travel to protect a glass cologne bottle. They are soft and crushable and easily straightened out at the end of the trip.

One thing that surprises me when making a soft box is just how much weaving and work goes into it. That may sound like an unfortunate admission but what you get out of the work is a small but treasured prize. 

Pin Loom Polar Bears

Bear Number 1

The perfect animals to celebrate the polar vortex, another recent visitor to Minnesota.  I have added a second bear below with better bear paws.


Ideas for animals continue to gallop ahead. Last night saw the birth of this polar bear. This is definitely a pattern that will need some modification. I really like that it has a bear-like head. I checked out some pictures of polar bears, which helped me know to set the ears back far enough. I really love the dark pads on the feet.

You may notice that the bear seems to be standing on its toes, which was not intentional. I believe that this is a function of using too much stuffing and weaving it in too stiff a yarn. The bear was woven in an acrylic, worsted weight off-white yarn. I will need to try weaving it in perhaps a combination of baby-weight yarn with a light chenille yarn. The chenille would offer softness and give to the fabric, the baby weight would make the fabric much lighter, therefor even more give.

Bear Number 2 with improved paws

 I have added a second bear, made out of the same yarn as the first because I wove enough material for both bears at the same time. The only change that I made was pinching in above the paw area at the front of each leg. There may need to be further modifications and I think that softer yarn will also help, but its not too bad.

Bear Number 2 on left, Bear Number 1 on right.

How the bear was made

The bear body is made from two 4" x 6" weavies that were fastened together (I use single crochet and slip stitch) to form an oval. Leave an opening at the neck to turn it inside out and stuff.  The face is a 2" x 2" that has had two small darts taken in it to make a cone. This is attached to a 2" x 6" weavie that has been curled around and stitched together to form the neck. The legs are each a 2" x 4" weavie on the outer side and a 2" x 2" weavie on the inner side. These are joined together using single crochet and slip stitch to make the paws, turned inside out and stuffed.  The dark toe pads, nose and eyes are added on. The ears are a loop of crochet, ch3, sc2, sc1 in loop.

I t is going to take quite a while for me to write down all the steps and put together good diagrams. At this point I figure that I should listen to the creative urge that is making all these neat animals and fill in the details later. 

Yarn used for Bears 1 and 2. 

Primitive Pin Loom Raven

We are definitely into late autumn weather in Minnesota. The leaves have lost their color and are mostly on the ground. The winds picks everything up, whirls it around a few times and scatters all the leaf piles into leaf drifts. None of this seems to faze the ravens and crows. They seem to be made for this season, flying with abandon on the wind.

I love that raven spirit and am working to create a proper woven raven. I am planning to put together the design details as soon as I get them worked out and written down.This particular raven has answered a number, though not quite all, the questions I had about how to weave a raven.

I think that the shape of the beak is about as good as its going to get. The beak probably needs to slide a little higher on the head-- crows and ravens don't really have much of a forehead. And a proper raven needs to have longer, more defined tail feathers. I am also trying to figure out a simpler way to make it. This particular model stands about 8½" tall and 9½" from head to tail. It is made with 2) 2x6" weavies, 3) 2x4" weavies, 4) 4x6" weavies, and 7) 2x2" weavies. That's a lot of yarn in one bird!
 

I hope the winds of autumn are blowing your way... toward a great Thanksgiving.  If you have any thoughts about raven design, particularly thoughts about how to put together a proper tail, please let me know.   thanks MS

Happy Halloween

This little bird is the first in a new series of experimental crows and ravens. Although I named it a crow for the sake of the the Halloween greetings, I think it will more likely end up representing the blackbird end of the spectrum. 

 

Animals, part two.

Here are a few more woven-from-pin-loom animals.

All of these animals are made with three ingredients - woven yarn, chenille sticks for structure and stuffing.

All are made with the product of the basic four pin looms, 2" x 2", 2" x 4", 4" x 4" and 4" x 6". I know that there are more sizes and there are projects out there where I will use the 6" x 6" loom or other sizes, but most of the time, the two small squares and two small rectangles are sufficient.

This is my idea of what a mountain goat might look like.

  

 
I am pretty sure that zebra stripes don't go in those directions, but people get the idea. One of my challenges in weaving is to remember that it doesn't have to be perfect. After all, I'm doing it for the joy of it, so if I get into some sort of perfectionistic snit, I am defeating most of the purpose of weaving. The other purpose being to make some fun thing.
  


Having said that, I have to admit being very fond of the donkey because it seems to catch the donkey spirit.

  

Ark and animal inspiration

These are a few of the several pictures I've found of 19th century Noah's Ark sets. What an incredible amount of work and skill!

  They were made at a time when Sunday was such a special day that children couldn't play with normal toys, but they could play with toys that represented a story from the Bible.  The ark and animals that I am working on are all woven, but I hope that I can get a little of the same primitive and loving feeling to them. I'm afraid that the vast number of animals shown is part of what keeps pushing me to figure out how to weave more and different animals.  This effort is now being joined by my friends and coworkers. I have had a coworker request some alpacas that will be made with alpaca yarn.  Alpacas are amazingly goofy animals, I have never seen an animal that looks so much like a sock puppet.

Next challenge, weaving an ark. Its interesting how their conception of the ark differs from today's toys. I'm thinking that the bridge, the house part, was painted to look like a mansion of the time.

Animals, part one.

I have recently discovered that pin loom weavies make great little animals! I had previously made people (dolls) as well as angels (also dolls) so it is not a major leap to realize that I could make four footed dolls as well. My plan, still under construction, is to make an ark (large purse) that will hold the variety of animals.

Making the animals is turning out to be enormously fun. Making animals is the total opposite of making a blanket. You only need a few weavies and can often complete the project in a day or two. I am giddy with immediate gratification. I know that in the long run I will need at least two of each animal. So far I have just made one of most of them, I'm too excited about how well it is going to slow down and finish a second. Going back later and making more of each species will open up the opportunity to make them better and to write down some instructions on how they go together. 

I believe that I have the beginnings of an ark-ful of animals. They include zebra, giraffe, elephant, donkey, fox, kangaroo, rhinoceros, tiger, lion, camel, goat and unicorn. I am still working on flamingo, alligator, penguin, moose, deer, and maybe a pegasus-type horse. Reading over the list, I realize that I am making more different kind of animals than are really needed in one child's toy. But they are so much fun to make. Plus as soon as I get the animals and ark completed (with pictures up to show it off) I am going to use a number of the same elements to complete a Nativity set.

Here are a few of the individual animals.

I was going to say that my favorite animal is the giraffe, but I like each one as it comes along. I am particularly fond of the rather strange looking rhino, which reminds me a little of a rhinoceros as conceived by Edward Gorey.