It’s TURTLE Tea Time!

20200615_134640_resized (2)Great news: The Handweavers Studio & Gallery in London, UK, is now carrying TURTLE looms! We celebrate with “Biscuit Baskets” and tea time.

We are pleased to welcome Alan and Dawn Willey from The Handweavers Studio & Gallery as our first international stockists for TURTLE looms.

handweavers-businesscardIf you live in the UK and have been hesitant about ordering a TURTLE loom because of the difficult to estimate shipping and customs costs, wait no more. The first shipment of TURTLEs made it across the ocean and is ready waiting for you. You can visit the store (re-opened June 15th) or order online and have it shipped to you. Take a look at what’s in stock!

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To celebrate, we wove some “Biscuit Baskets” in the Handweavers Studio logo colors, to hold a biscuit for your tea time. The pattern idea is based on our Easy Tassel Basket, but we have added some design variations. We used Scheepjes Catona cotton yarn on the Original TURTLE Loom, fine-sett, for the baskets. That’s the same loom and the yarn that was used for the Indian Blanket Flower afghan in Little Looms 2020. And yes, the Handweavers Studio carries the Little Looms magazine, too!

A quick look at the basket design ideas:

(1) Use different colors for each hexagon. We were inspired by the variety of orange and pink tones in the Handweavers Studio logo. The modular character of pin loom weaving allows to easily combine multiple colors!

(2) Add stripes to the center section of the hexagons. The stripes are a inspired by the logo yarn cones. Adding the same stripes on each of the three hexagons makes it look like the “yarn goes around” a cone.

(3) NEW TECHNIQUE! Weave an overshot motif. Here is a first example for how to use overshot weaving with TURTLE hexagon pin looms!

Not sure what overshot means? We think Weavezine used a really good way to explain it: Overshot is a weave structure creating a plain-weave cloth with decorative supplementary weft floats. These floats lie on top of (float over) the ground cloth. If you pull out all of the pattern weft threads, you are left with a plain weave cloth formed by the warp and the tabby weft.”

We are making a free worksheet available that shows you how to work the different techniques.  Download the Biscuit Basket Variations worksheet.

We hope you will celebrate with us!

2 thoughts on “It’s TURTLE Tea Time!

  1. I love weaving these baskets…If. weave with 100% wool, I assemble and then felt them in my top-loading washing machine… I love the new variations…thanks Gabi for keeping my baskets fresh.

    One other variation : I like I to weave the first section with a variegated yarn and then switch to a solid color for second half…this makes a nice pattern when the bottom is sewn and then the “flaps” contrast nice with the body of the basket.

    1. Thank you for your kind note, and Oh! I love your variation! I need to try “Jane’s Basket” … Thank you for sharing!

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