Pin loom weaving with Scrubby Yarn

Happy New Year!
This has been a great day for me because I learned something new. No. It was even better than that because I learned that I had been completely wrong about an earlier assumption that stalled me out for a couple years, and then I learned I was wrong.

I have to confess that I spent a number of years thinking that it was not possible to use Scrubby yarn on a pin loom. If you haven't seen this product, it is a 100% polyester yarn that is made for making dishcloths or scrubbies. It has a fringe of twisted yarns that makes it very effective for washing and scrubbing dishes and it doesn't hold bacteria easily.

Because of the multitude of twists and fringe in the yarn, I was convinced that I couldn't weave with it, and I found that thought to be very frustrating.

I was so convinced that I couldn't weave with it that I only tried weaving with one layer of the scrubby yarn, adding a single crocheted edge to the planned dishcloth. I created something that was so ugly that it could possibly cause flashbacks to the 70's.  I am going to share it with you below, I feel that I should take responsibility for at least some of my embarrassing creations.

The point of this confessional is that it took me about THREE YEARS to get over assuming that I already knew the answer and just sit down and  try weaving with Scrubby yarn at which point I found out that it weaves up beautifully. I wove the 6"x 6" square on the right earlier today and it makes a supple, thick cloth with a lovely pattern and its going to make a great dishcloth (and who knows how many other uses?)

Once I got started weaving with the Scrubby yarn it was hard to stop. I decided to make a flower scrubby, which is a stack of 4"x 4" squares, each turned into a flower and then stacked to become and really cute, handy pot scrubber. You can see all the directions for making the woven scrubby HERE/

I wove four 4"x 4" squares for the scrubby (but only used three of them). They came out with a great plaid look. I wove one larger, 6"x 6" square to use as a flat dishcloth. The yarn is not super easy to weave, you can run in to problems with the loops. Whenever I had problems pulling my needle and yarn through the weaving, I stopped, found the yarn loop that was holding it back (which was easy because it was straightened out, not curly) and cut it. That didn't hurt the cloth at all.

I ended up using three 4"x 4" squares and weaving one 2"x 2" for the Scrubby flower. I added a short crocheted chain, using two ends of Scrubby yarn, to make a handle for it. The Scrubby flower came out really well but it is so fuzzy that it does not photograph very well.

So here is the first thing that I've learned in 2020. I am going to try diligently not to make assumptions, get frustrated and then give up. I am going to work to keep an open mind and spent this year exploring ways to make brand new mistakes.  I hope that 2020 offers you many opportunities to try new things, too.  Margaret Stump

Merry Christmas

Mini Sweater Pin Loom Day 2019

Here it is, the finished collection of Pin Loom Mini Sweaters, from people across the globe. If you didn't have time to take part this year, plan ahead, there will be a Mini Sweater Pin Loom Day on December 19, 2020, too. I can't wait to see more fun and glorious mini sweaters!

You can see all the directions for making your own mini sweater below.

Florencia Campos Correa had a WONDERFUL idea which she was willing to share with me and I want to share with everyone I know... since pretty much everyone I know has at least one pin loom. So we are declaring December 19, 2019 to be MINI SWEATER Pin Loom Day, a day to celebrate all the possible pin loom mini sweaters that we can weave up. 

All of the directions for making and sharing your mini sweaters are below, courtesy of Florencia. You'll be sending a picture of each sweater to florencia.campos@ullvuna.cl to be added to the massive picture of all the mini sweaters to be published on December 19th. 

Florencia's sample sweaters are so neat that now I want to have a bunch of mini sweaters for my Christmas tree. I know that I am only going to get a few done this year, but if I keep it up, in the next few years my tree decorations may all be mini sweaters. 

Join in! Send in your ideas for a great pin loom mini sweater and we will all celebrate a very happy Mini Sweater Pin Loom Day this December 19th!

Weave a Christmas Tree Pin

Here is a fun, tiny ornament that can be created in a snap and work as a Christmas brooch or wherever you need a bit of embellishment. The sweet secret is just how easy it is to make a gorgeous woven pin using a few beads, a yard or two of fancy yarn and a 2"x 2" pin loom.

The Christmas Tree Pin calls for two 2"x 2" squares, a light colored backing square and a green square for the body of the tree. Use some brown yarn to add a tree trunk to the backing square. Fold the green square under to create a tree shape and add your choice of beads for ornaments. I used a small, star shaped button for the treetop star. Lay the tree piece on top of the backing square and join with a whip stitch in green along the outside of the pin shape. 

After I finished embellishing the tree and joined the two pieces, I felt that the pin looked too wide and flat. So I bent the two edges around in order to make a slightly three dimensional tree shape. You can see the way the pin looks from the back in the picture below. The final step is to add a pin, either a big safety pin or a craft-type brooch pin, to the back of the Christmas Tree Pin. 

I have a few dinners still coming up this season and these pins will be going as part of the hostess gift, either attached to a card or a bottle of wine. I'm going to keep my favorite to wear on a winter jacket... so I have a gift, too!

Happy Christmas Elephant To All

This can be a crazy busy season with lots of demands from family and work. If you're feeling overwhelmed, consider turning away from all those ridiculous demands for a bit and inviting in your very own Christmas Elephant.

The elephant and the rabbit patterns can be found in Adorable Beasts; 30 pin loom animals and 4 playscapes, I added a Santa hat for the season.

I hope everyone is having a fun, exciting season... or at least taking a little time for themselves in order to cope.

Pin Loom Mini Sweater Day deadline is December 17!

Have you sent your pin loom mini sweater picture to Florencia Campos Correa yet?

December 19, 2019 is MINI SWEATER Pin Loom Day, a day to celebrate all the possible pin loom mini sweaters that we can weave up.

Send a picture of your mini sweater to Florencia at florencia.campos@ullvuna.cl by December 17 to include it in the giant pin loom mini sweater picture.

See all the directions for making a mini sweater in the post just below this one. 

After I wove a mini sweater I decided that I had to create someone who could wear it. Introducing - Shama Llama!

Shama Llama is my new pin loom llama. She seems to have a life of her own and immediately upon being created told me that she intends to be a fashion model. I think she has a real flair for it. :)

We have to start our holiday projects right now... or maybe last week.

All of my best ideas for the holidays usually arrive about two weeks before Christmas when it is waaaay too late to carry them out. I can only hope that hasn't happened to you.

So this is the year to turn it around.

Here are a few ideas for the holidays.

Pin Loom Advent Bags

I love this idea because almost every time I work on a project, there are always a few squares that don't get used, usually because I've changed my mind about some aspect of the project halfway through. Since there is no way that I am going to throw away a perfect good woven square, I've got one Advent bag halfway made!

The little bag to the right started out as part of another project, it is made with one layer of sparkly silver rik rak and dark blue single ply worsted weight yarn.

Lay two 4" x 4" squares together and single crochet around the edge in a matching or contrasting yarn. Use the same yarn in an eight inch crochet chain to complete a light handle for each little bag. Add the numbers or images in contrasting yarn. String them across a fireplace or wall. The traditional Advent calendar calls for 25 bags numbered one to twenty-five. But you might prefer to weave fewer bags and use some traditional images instead.

Pin Loom Gnomes

Who doesn't need one or a dozen pin loom gnomes at Christmas?  Grab the full instructions with this Gnome Link.

Pin Loom Christmas Trees

Gather up a couple foam cones, your favorite stray bits of yarn and Christmassy pin loom squares to make some fabulous table decorations for the holidays. I would suggest using lots of glue to get the squares in place, then secure with glass headed pins for a festive, ornamental look.

The cones would make a really special decoration if you added pictures of the family for a Family Album Tree.

Teacup Pincushions

They're fun, they're small, they're really cute and they have some utilitarian value to the recipient. What more could you ask?  See the whole post with this Teacup Link.

Pin Loom Scarves

You can never go wrong with a scarf and pin loom weaving can offer an unlimited number of ways to make one.

This is a creation by Laura Waskiewicz Sapko. You can read more about her creation at this Scarf Link.

Or think about Endless Scarves, great for any time of the year. See a bunch of ideas at this Endless Scarf Link. 


Hopefully you are way ahead of me and have been working on pin loom items for the holidays for weeks now. But if not, here is a place to start.  Happy Weaving!