Kathryn’s Shawl and the Story of the Half Hexagon

Yes, the title reads like an introduction to a fairy tail, and here is how it began …

A few days ago, fellow weaver Kathryn posted a picture, showing how she wove that ONE half hexagon that she needed to finish her TexaTURTLE shawl.

A day later, she posted her beautiful shawl, which brought happy tears to my eyes. Let it be known that for a loom maker, seeing people make something beautiful with the tools that we provide, is the highest reward one can receive.

Congratulations, Kathryn, on your amazing shawl! 

Kathryn’s project also is a great prompt to start chatting about some new looms that are currently scheduled to be released later this year: Half hexaon pin looms. For over a year I already knew the title of the announcement: “6 Ways to Make Half Hexagons”. Did I catch you puzzled? Here is the answer:

• Hexagons have two ways they can be “cut in half”, so there are two shapes for half hexagons.
• There are three methods and scenarios where you would want to use half hexagons:
  • Just fold a hexagon in half: This makes sense when you want to make a project that has two sides, and the front and back can “share” a hexagon. This is true for a lot of bags and garments. Also, when you make a blanket, you might enjoy a  more sturdy edging (that’s why people put blanket binding on a blanket), so folding the outermost hexagons over will achieve just that.
  • If you just need a few hexagons to finish a project, like Kathryn did, use a helping tool like an extra weaving needle, a knitting needle, or a skewer to mark the “half” line and then weave around it.
  • If you want to venture out and use half hexagons as key design element for a project, which means you will make a lot of hexagons, you may want to use a loom just for that purpose. The weaving method is the same, but the pins are set in a special way to accommodate ease of use.

So there you have it: Two types of half hexagons, and three scenarios where you may want half hexagons … 6 ways to make half hexagons!

The looms are currently scheduled to be released later this year, but we may release them sooner if there continues to be interest. Kathryn will receive the honorary first loom “A” so that she can make many more pretty shawls and many more half hexagons. And (with a big lol) … we will be working on the “auto-order button” that some of you suggested …

(Shawl photos posted with permission. Copyright 2019 Kathryn Olson)