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. 

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.

  

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.