1960's Pin Loom Afghan

One of the most fun parts of going to fiber fairs is meeting and sharing with other pin loom weavers. While I was at the Oregon Flock and Fiber Fair (aka. OFFF), I met Nancy Mills-McHaffie, who was willing to share these cool pictures of a pin loom creation from the 1960's. To quote Nancy:

This embroidered pin loom afghan was designed and made in the 60's for a fundraiser by the South Dakota Eastern Star, Bryant chapter. It was won by Hattie Schanck and, over time, handed down to her granddaughter, Karen Schanck. 

Here is is lying flat on the floor, it is 15 squares wide by 22 squares long, (5" by 7.3").

By the look in these pictures it is in exquisite shape. I am astonished by the amount of work that was put in to the cross-stitching, but if you look at the early patterns for pin looms* many of them have this type of embellishment. I showed the pictures to a weaver friend who thought that it had likely been made from a purchased pattern. Since the old books were all in black in white, I may have seen it before but just didn't recognize it.


I'm really glad to see that the pin loom has its own tradition. I have heard from a number of people about special warm, woven blankets that had been passed down the family for years but nobody knew how it had been made. Now that knowledge is coming to light.

FREE PATTERNS-->  *If you are interested in the old pin loom patterns, check out eLoomaNation.com, the ultimate site for all the old pin loom pattern books. (let me know if you see this pattern among them). In addition to being able to download personal use PDF's of the 30's to 60's pattern books which include interesting historical elements such as pin loom woven women's business suits from the 30's, bedjackets and kid's sailor suits, you will find some great books of weaving patterns, which are just as fun and usable today as ever.

Here's an addition to the story of this classic blanket. Suzanne Eakin of pin loom angel fame as well as swakins note below have found the pattern in WEAVE-IT AFGHANS, Book 4, by Anne Orr. This book of is one of the many available at Eloomanation.com. It looks like the weavers of this particular blanket chose to change the color way from autumn tans, orange and browns to reds.

One more item. This is a picture that was sent to me a long time ago, I don't have a name attached to it.

The interesting thing is that it is probably about as old as the 1960's afghan above, but its kind of a transition piece, with a carefully cross-stitched piece in the middle, surrounded by the lavender/purple squares that are perfectly balanced to a  much looser, more open and lively pattern.

Why Rick Fahrenbruch is my newest pin loom hero

My family knows that I am passionate about all things pin loom and pointed me toward these pin loom blankets. I sent a request to Mr. Fahrenbruch and he was kind enough to allow the posting of these pictures of his work.

It took me a while to convince myself that this blanket was made with pin looms. Here are some close ups of this incredible blanket.

Rick, thank you allowing us to share in your work.

I honestly feel speechless-- the composition of the wall hanging above is wonderful. The use of negative space in the red on blue blanket at the top is incredible.

It is so fun to see this blanket taking advantage of the pin loom's ability to display the two colors over the spectrum from all white to all navy.

This is another example of composition that is so beyond my expectations of pin looms that I am grateful for the close-up, in order to see how it was done. 

Rick writes, "My Swedish grandmother taught me to weave on her 4x4 Weave-it loom when I was a kid.  Many years later, I came upon the same loom at Mom's house.  She gave it to me and my interest in weaving began anew.  Later I found Ebay and the Weavette looms and my imagination took off.  Yes, I noticed how similar our stories are... 
I'm now working on wall-hangings and I'll share them with you when they are ready to be photographed." 

Pin looms play well with others

I end up talking with and reading about the works of people who, like me, really like small hand looms. It is easy to forget that there are a lot of great looms out there and there are many ways to combine weaving styles.  These are some examples from my blanket closet. This blanket combines pin loom weavies with cloth strips woven on a rigid heddle loom.  I like being able to make large swatches of a cloth to order, but the pin loom makes such a great product that I moved away from rigid heddle.

Heart Like A Wheel

Blue Squares

<----   Another very old piece. The intention was to float the contrasting squares on the black strips made with an inkle type loom.





The piece below combines several sizes of pin loom weavies with 12" triangles made with a Hazel Rose triloom. This is a great combination of looms because is allows you to move away from the constraint of grid patterns by building in a 90 degree rotation. 

Please let me hear about your favorite use of pin looms-- with or without the involvement of other looms.