Pin loom weaving on a knitting loom

Make this zippered bag using a Kb fine gauge knitting loom. All the directions for weaving and creating these bags are at the Kb Loom site. 

Plus you can find directions for weaving on a knitting loom on a new page - Weaving on a knitting loom. 

Get way more information on knitting loom projects, potholder loom projects, make-your-own 2" pin loom projects and a lot of other stuff in Pin Loom Weaving To Go. 

One of the (many) things that I like about pin loom weaving is that when I get bored with one form of it, I can move on to another. I have recently taken a deep dive into weaving on a knitting loom, which has been extremely fun and has opened up a relationship with pin loom people and knitting loom people who have now have the opportunity to see their looms in a whole new way.

More projects to come. The two scarves below were both made using Kb's All In One Loom. This first stripey look was woven with the All In One loom in the narrow set up. The second scarf was woven using the loom extenders.  Details on both projects will be available soon.

In the meantime, check out Pin Loom Weaving's new page - Weaving on a knitting loom - and have a whole new pin loom weaving experience!

A Pin Loom Scarf with woven tape and a unique join

A Mother's Day pin loom scarf for all seasons with a rich woven texture and woven tape ties to lighten the look and feel.

After completing the tape woven place mats and experimenting with another combination of tape and yarn, I decided to keep weaving these lovely squares, 25 in all, and turn them into a scarf. 

The squares turned out to be of a medium weight and I did not want to add what could be a stiff, tight join between them.  I spaced out the join by using a 10 mm knitting needle, looping the join around it. Deciding that I wanted something still more frivolous, I then added ties to the joins, bundling the joins into groups of two or three and simply tying them with short lengths of the tape.

Because of its length (113 inches) I decided to close the loop and create an endless scarf. That keeps it from dragging on the ground and makes it easier to loop around neck and shoulders. 

The top image shows a section of loops before tying them with the tape. 

Diagram for scarf join using whip stitched loops and ties.

I am constantly amazed by the variety of ways that you can weave on a pin loom. While I have really enjoyed being able to weave consistent squares using a single source of yarn, there are amazing riches to be found in experimenting with a variety of fibers. 

Windowpane lace cell phone holder plus scarves for Spring

I was originally going to call this post, "Things to weave while hanging out at home" but realized that covers everything I have ever posted. If there was ever a perfect craft for something to do while hanging out and watching TV, I think that pin loom weaving is it. So this is one more-- actually, several more ideas of fun, easy things to do that are going to turn out really nice and be fun to have as Spring emerges.

The pin loom windowpane lace pattern is a favorite of mine because of its extraordinary simplicity and speed of weaving. I used a 100" cotton fingering yarn below in order to highlight the light, airy fabric for Spring.

The first step is weaving the squares. You will need four squares in Windowpane lace pattern for the cell phone holder.

WINDOWPANE LACE
Row 1: weave plain
Row 2: (U3, O1); repeat across the row, U3.
Alternate Rows 1 and 2, through Row 14.
Row 15: weave plain
Row 16: weave plain

The lovely thing about this pattern is that for the odd rows, you just weave plain. For the even rows, you just have to weave "under three, over one" all the way across the row, ending with "under three. The last row, Row 16, is woven plain as well. This is a pattern that I can handle while I watch TV- there is no counting, there are no complex changes from row to row. Its like the simplest pattern of all time and yet it turns into this lovely, lacy cloth. 

Next step, join the four squares to make a strip of fabric. I used the double overcast stitch to join the squares because I wanted to be able to carry my cell phone in the bag I'm making, so I did not want the fabric to give way. Here is the link for instructions for the double overcast stitch located on the Pin Loom Essentials page. 

Fold the fabric over to make a bag. My cell phone is short enough that I decided to make the bag with a flap over the top. When I am actually using the bag for my cell phone I may tuck that flap inside the bag.  You may prefer to fold the fabric in two and make a slightly longer bag.

Starting at the bottom of the bag, join the two sides using a single crochet stitch. When you reach the top of the bag, continue with a crochet chain for 36 to 44", depending upon your preferred length for the strap.

Then continue with a single crochet stitch from the top to the bottom on the second side of the bag and knot it at the bottom.

That's it!  I thought about turning the bag inside out but found that my phone is chunky enough that it works better with the crochet on the outside, you may choose to do it differently.

You will notice that I mentioned scarves earlier. I do not have any scarves made yet but I do have a bunch of really nice windowpane lace squares that will shortly go into a scarf. I'm thinking that once you discover how fun it is to make this fingering weight squares, you will soon have enough for your cell phone holder plus a scarf.

When you are ready to make your scarf, check out the different joining techniques shown on the pin loom essentials page and check out this crochet joining technique used in John Mullarkey's shawl for a variety of joining ideas/techniques for your Spring Scarf.  Now, go have fun and make something glorious!

Dr. Who Pin Loom Scarf

I don’t know how much overlap there is between pin loom weavers and Dr. Who fans, but I am a major weaver/Dr. Who overlapper.

When I stumbled across the website, Dr. Who Scarf, I knew that I wanted to weave my very own homage' to the original, knitted, Dr. Who Scarf. I wanted it to be as close to the original colors and design as I could get— without having to do any knitting.

For those who might not remember (or not have been born at that time) Tom Baker portrayed the Fourth Doctor Who from June, 1974 until March, 1981, which was the longest appearance of any one actor in the role of Dr. Who.

One of his most recognizable features was a very, very long scarf.

The Dr. Who Scarf website was extremely helpful by giving specific colors needed as well as a layout for the design. The original scarf was 10” by 13 foot with fringe -- which stretched to about 17 foot over the years. My recreation turned out to be 11 foot, 6 inches without fringe. I’m pretty short and decided that fringed scarf ends would end up acting too much like a dust mop.

To create the color blocks, I used 4x4” and 4x6” pin looms to make blocks 10” across. There are several sections that measure 8” x 10”, where I used multiple blocks of the same color. For thinner color blocks, I used 2x4” and 2x6” looms. For even thinner sections, I single crocheted 3 rows back and forth for an approximate 1” x 10” section.

I joined the blocks and all the color sections using a double overcast stitch. You can find information on this stitch on the Pin Loom Essentials page as well as a demonstration of using the double overcast stitch on the Pin Loom Video page.

I decided to limit my yarn choice for the project to what I had available in the house (which is not a ridiculous limit since I’ve got about two rooms full of yarn-much of which has come to me second-hand through various thrift stores). I found a very close match to all but one color in worsted weight wool. I had to use an acrylic yarn for the chestnut color.

This is the scarf laid out flat on the ground
pictured in sections.

When I started weaving and putting the stripes together I was blown away by how the color palette reeked of the 70’s. It dawned on me that my color choices may have been helped by the fact that some of the yarn I was using could have been spun in the 70’s. I may have been using the original colors!

This scarf project turned out to be the perfect choice for several weeks of travel. Since I had a clear diagram, with my modifications, from the irreplaceable Dr. Who Scarf website, I could pick up and do a few squares whenever I needed something to do with my hands. Because I was weaving in different sizes and colors, it was never boring and the project took shape surprisingly swiftly.

It was only after I finished the scarf that I did some further investigation and found that there are a number of people actively knitting, and selling, Dr. Who scarves. However, none of them are woven on pin looms, which I still consider the absolute best, and most fun, fiber technique.

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. 

Marilyn Wing, Master Pin Loom Weaver

I was lucky enough to catch up with Marilyn Wing, a master pin loom weaver who has been practicing the craft since about 1936.

Marilyn is responsible for the extremely clear, lucid directions on bias weaving on the 4" pin loom and was kind enough to allow me to put the project plans for her bag in the new book, Pin Loom Weaving To Go. So I had to catch a picture of her with bag and book on hand.

Marilyn was also kind enough to let me share a glimpse her latest creations, scarves spun out of raw, dyed silk, woven on the pin loom. That "raw, dyed silk" description might sound clunky-- it goes to show how little I know about what she is doing. But I got to see the silk cocoons that she begins with,

then carefully unrolling/pulling apart a fiber that is so light that you can barely feel it. She spins it into a yarn and dyes it, using the pin loom to produce the exquisitely light, airy, soft scarves you see here.

The sample on the right was woven in a traditional horizontal/vertical weave with pearls woven into the weave. I do wish that I could somehow translate into these pictures the extraordinary gossamer feel of these scarves.

The mobius type scarf below was woven using the continuous bias method with two rows of squares. One of the several aspects that blows me away is that after dying the silk yarn in multiple colors (!) she wove each square to exactly match the others so that the colors of warp and weft flow from one square to the next.  It is just lovely.

For all those who have considered bias weaving on a pin loom but was not sure where to start, I would encourage you to check out Marilyn's directions for bias squares and triangles in Pin Loom Weaving To Go. She makes it so easy to do.

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 Weaving from Egypt

Pin looms may have been an American invention, but they have spread around the world. It is so fun to see the numbers of people who check in on www.pinloomweaving.com from the UK, Canada, Ukraine, Netherlands, Australia, Germany, Italy, France, India and lots more.

I had an opportunity to correspond with Calvin, a pin loom weaver from Cairo, Egypt. Calvin was kind enough to send along some pictures of his gorgeous weaving.

Calvin writes, "I make all kinds of things: scarves, sweaters, hats, etc. And even blankets or Afghans when the mood fits. As for the scarf, it looks like something home made and not turned out from a machine which I like. The pattern is diagonal weave which I use exclusively for all items. I picked the diagonal because of the pattern itself and that the finished fabric is softer than all the others."

"I have unusual patterns of my own which I use now and then. Using two colors makes for an interesting weave: use one color for loading the loom and the other to weave the pattern to finish." I do hope that we can get pictures of more of Calvin's work in the future.  Thanks so much for sharing.

Endless scarves

Scarves are everywhere and pin loom infinity scarves can serve as an endless source of gifts and accessories. Plus, infinity scarves provide a great vehicle for weaving with variable yarns like the Mochi yarns.

Instead of crocheted or knitted lumps of color, the pin loom allows a fusion of colors; blending, muting, amplifying one another in unexpected ways. The challenge of weaving with variable yarns is to pick a length of yarn that does not include the entire rainbow. As you may remember from experimenting with paints or markers when you were young, if you mix them all together, you get a mud color.

All of the squares in this scarf project came from one skein of Mini Mochi yarn.

Just as there is no end of colors that work for a scarf, there is no end of yarn types or weights that will work. This infinity scarf, still in process, was woven with Mini Mochi fingering yarn, which produced light, somewhat lacy squares.



If you are looking for thoughts about how to complete your Infinity Scarf, check out Infinity Squared - designed and woven by Constance Hall.

I think that her choice of crocheted border sets off the weaving beautifully.

Ms. Hall's design is just one of the many Zoom Loom/Pin Loom patterns available through Schacht Spindle-- Zoom Loom Resources. Check them all out HERE.