Weavette® Looms is now up and running

Licia Conforti, the woman behind the Weavette® pin looms and the author of Textured Patterns for the Weavette® & Weave-It Looms, is now back on line at Weavettes.com. 

I was really looking forward to her site. Up until Licia started producing her extensive series of Weavette® Looms, there was only the 4" and the 2" square pin loom available anywhere. For me, the opportunity to weave in a variety of rectangles opened up many of the ideas and patterns that led to the Pin Loom Weaving book series. 

Licia, it is so good to hear from you!! And a big welcome back to Weavettes. 

Pin Loom Backpack by Linda Wolf

Its been forever since I have posted and that is not because there aren't wonderful things happening in the pin loom world. There is so much happening that its hard to stop and take a breath (and post something). 

Case in point, this backpack was made by Linda Wolf of Oregon. She created it in parallel with my book, Pin Loom Weaving To Go, which just shows that great minds think... about backpacks, I guess. 

Linda allowed me to share her creation, which was shown at the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival. Here is what she had to say about it:

This little project backpack began life as a rug. When I was a weaving student in 77-78, we were given the assignment to dye the yarns for our weaving project. I dyed commercially spun wool yarn with commercial dyes (manufacturer of dye and yarn long forgotten) and made a rug which I used for many years. 

In the long run the warp chosen was not a good choice and gradually looked pretty ragged. I really didn't want to just toss the rug or give it to the dog so I pulled it apart. Some of the yarn was very tender so to maximize the yarn, I used my pin looms to create the pieces, sewed them together, then crocheted the large pieces together to form the backpack. I found the jingle shell on the beach which seemed like the perfect closure. I twisted a rope of the yarn for the straps using, "The Incredible Rope Machine".

The judges were particularly impressed with the nice color placement of squares, the "upcycle" aspect of the project and the woven patterns in chosen squares, as was I.

I am blown away by someone actually taking the time to pull apart the rug in order to make these wonderful squares. If it had been my rug, it would still be sitting under several bags of other projects where I would point it out to people and explain how I was going to take it apart and turn it in to something wonderful... the difference being that Joyce actually did it and entered it in a competition.

One more item from the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival 

This is a snapshot of my book vendor display with an extra element, Sara Cross's hippo frolicking with my pin loom hippo. Don't they look happy together? Sara pointed out that hippos do have tails, as is demonstrated in this illustration.  (Due to an error on my part, Sara is only now getting credit for her amazing hippo, hopefully the first of many artful pin loom animals. MS)

So many many many ways to pin loom

I have to admit that I spend most of my free time either weaving or thinking about weaving or thinking about a different way that I might use pin loom weaving. (You may sense a theme here.)

What I'm not doing enough of is looking around at the phenomenal approaches that others are taking with pin looms. So here are just a few of the wonderful projects I've run across. Each weaver gave me permission to share their incredible work.

Laura Waskiewicz Sapko 

Laura's scarf takes advantage of the repeat in her yarn, with some active input from the weaver. Laura noted, "I used double strand alpaca lace yarn. I had two balls so I could line up the repeat (or not as desired). I used one strand to chain 3 in a zig zag between two squares making two 12 square strips. Then chain 3 in a zig zag to attach the two strips to each other. The edge is chain 6 scallops from bump to bump with two in the same spot at the corners. I did three rows of it."

Katheryn Rider Carras

Katheryn is likely not the first person to look at a 4" square and say, "you know, you could use that as a backing for rug hooking" but she is definitely singular in her range and output. I am blown away by the time, care and artistry in each woven, hooked square.

Karen Young

Karen shared some pictures of her most recent purses. I particularly like her integration of two different loom products in the purse on the right. (And I am thrilled to see that she used some of my ideas in the Light Shoulder Purse.

Karen wrote, "Here is my take on the Light Shoulder Purse.  I used a white warp for 2 layers, one layer red warp and then wove green in chain stitch.  Finished this a while ago, except the snaps and button covers. Made myself get it out and finish it now as this will be my Christmas purse.  Found the Nutcracker pin to cover one of the snaps.  I'm going to keep that in mind as a way to change the look on the more all season purse that is still sitting in yarn balls waiting for three other projects to be finished first.  Enjoyed making the pattern.

The other purse was a combination of techniques.  Wove a (almost) square to finish a warp on the floor loom.  It was approximately 26 x 28.  Folded into a triangle and then folded the ends in. Wove squares and felted them for the cover on the bottom, partly to cover the seam.  Wove small squares to fasten the rings for the handle.  Turned out well.  Want to try this as an all pin loom project in the future." Thank you, Karen. I could totally see this being a fun pin loom project.

Carolyn Flpaa

You may remember Carolyn as the weaver of the astonishing Mother of the Groom outfit as well as the clever and prize winning Prairie Points. Check out some new close-ups of the top and skirt which I added to the original post... which you will find here--
The ultimate Mother of Groom outfit!

All proof of pin loom weavers doing thrilling work. Thank you so much for letting me share!

And one more thing--

Pin Loom Support Group

If anyone out there hasn't checked out the Facebook Pin Loom Support Group yet, I would encourage you to sign up. You do have to request entry into this group but if you know what a pin loom is, you will feel very welcome and at home there. 

New Pin Loom Weaving book is on the way

When I finished writing Pin Loom Weaving; 40 Projects for Tiny Hand Looms, I turned to my husband and friends and said, "That's it, never again." After all, I had just written down pretty much everything I knew about pin looms and I found out that writing a book is more difficult and way less fun than weaving.

Two things happened shortly after I made that statement,
1) I had a bunch of ideas about how to make pin loom animals and
2) I began to think about a cool new ways to weave. So for the past year I have been working on two plans. Regarding the animal patterns, you should soon be seeing more pin loom animal patterns online- starting with the free rabbit pattern.  And I have been writing a book with lots of new pin loom patterns using a variety of approaches to pin loom weaving. FYI, it turns out that writing a book the second time is just as difficult and frustrating as the first time.

You can be sure that I will proudly let everyone know when the new pin loom weaving book date gets closer. Right now it looks like it will be available in March, 2017. In the meantime I wanted to give you a look at some of the ideas that have gone into the book.

Pin Loom Weaving on a Potholder Loom

I have always wondered if it wouldn't be possible to pin loom weave on a potholder loom, considering that the potholder loom also has pins all the way around. But I was never happy with having to use loops and finish it off with a crochet type edge. So there are a series of patterns in the new book that are woven, with a finished selvage, on a potholder loom.

The effect is more open and loose than using a 4" loom like the Zoom Loom. The potholder loom works very nicely for scarves and shawls. It also makes it possible to weave large pin loom squares with much heavier yarns. The scarf below is woven from Isaac Mizrahi super bulky yarn, which makes it a colorful choice for Minnesota winter wear.

So keep an eye out for more animal patterns, its taking a while but they will be available soon, and I will be posting more information on the new pin loom weaving book as the publication date gets closer.

Pin loom sheep carousel

Hello everybody! I hope you had a great summer!  I have not posted anything for months due to getting caught up in the process of designing new patterns and writing about them for a second book on pin loom weaving. The book should be out in another nine months or so. Yes, it takes longer to make a book than to make a baby and sometimes it feels like its a lot more trouble. After weaving and writing for months, I feel as though I just landed from a very long trip, a little dizzy and very happy to be back.

So, here is an idea that came out of the fact that thrift stores often have an enormous selection of embroidery hoops. It just seems like there should be a lot of ways to use all those cast off embroidery hoops.  This is one way, a pin loom carousel. Its intended as a mobile for a baby with the soft animals tied on with ribbon. The hoop was painted a light sky blue. It would look lovely with clouds painted on it or script written around it.

It would be possible to get much fancier with your design by getting a used baby's mobile that has a turner and music built in. Just hang the hoop on that mechanism and it will parade in a circle.

My choice was to use sheep, lambs and one dog. The sheep and dog are patterns that come from the Pin Loom Weaving book. But it would look great with any of the pin loom animals. Plus, when baby gets older, the toys can come down to be played with.* This could make a fun and thoughtful baby gift or, if you have less time, perhaps just one sheep as part of a gift decoration. 

*Keep in mind that there are chenille sticks in the design of each of these animals, so baby will need to be quite a bit older or the chenille sticks will need to be removed.  Here is a way to remove danger for a baby.

• With the dog, just leave the chenille sticks out of the legs. 
• With the sheep and lambs, you will need to crochet replacement legs. I would suggest making a chain in the length and color to match the original leg, then half-double crochet back up the length. Attach to the body. You will have made a floppy but workable leg.

The 100 Pin Loom Squares weaving book

Is there any pin loom fan out there who has not yet checked out the new pin loom book-- 100 Pin Loom Squares: 100 Exciting Color Combinations to Try, Plus 15 Stylish Projects by Florencia Campos Correa?

I am excited about the book because it offers directions for tabby and a variety of patterned weaves. It has suggestions for using the pin loom as a regular warp/weft loom, which is necessary for certain kinds of patterns, like houndstooth or diagonal weaving.  I can see this being a great resource for building ideas on patterns for projects.

I am hoping that Pin Loom Weaving and 100 Pin Loom Squares are just the beginning trickle to a flood of great new pin loom weaving books!

Pin Looms are blowing up!

Stackpole Books has just put out a call for submissions to be included in a Pin Loom Weaving Pattern/ Design book -- September 2015 publication. Add your best items to the talent search!

"Stackpole Books is looking for fresh, interesting designs with long shelf lives to be published in a book of designs made from Pin Loom squares/rectangles. Designs may include, but are not limited to: home decor, accessories, wearables, seasonal, toys. We're looking for a variety of projects large and small for beginning through experienced pin loom weavers. Approximately 30 projects will be included in the book."

See the full details of Stackpole's submission request here.

 Can you believe what has started? Just a month after Pin Loom Weaving hit the shelves, the pin loom world is blowing up!  And that is all because of YOU and the passion of pin loom weavers everywhere.

Thank you so much!

I have added the fireworks because this may be the year that pin loom weaving truly makes itself known in the world.  Just imagine this post with cannons and a full orchestra in the background... see, doesn't that make it better?   MS