January 2025 – TURTLE Looms – Patented Pin-Loom Weaving and more

My friend Sujin and I visit once or twice a year, and I decided to make her a little snake keychain as a gift, in celebration of the Luna New Year. 2025 commemorates the sixth zodiac, it is the year of the Snake.

I used Caron Simply Soft Party in the festive color 0015 Red Sparkle on the TinyTURTLE™ R-regular sett hexagon pin loom. For the eyes I found some sapphire colored crystal buttons. Sapphire is the “lucky color” of the year. You could also use regular buttons. Lastly, I used a keychain clasps (you can find them at craft stores) for a great snake mouth …

To make the snake:

Weave 5 hexagons.

Use whipstitch to sew 4 hexagons together to form a row. This will be the body of the snake.

Weave in the remaining ends as shown.

For the tail end, gather the stitches of one side and pull them together.

Make a small tassel and attach it to that end to complete the tail.

Sew the “head” end of the snake onto one side of the clasp.

Sew the last hexagon to the other side of the clasp, then sew the sides of that hexagon to the snake body to complete the coin pouch.

The finished head of the snake will look like this.

Add two buttons as eyes.

Optionally, add a 2025 charm and/or feed your snake with a “lucky” coin!

Use the snake as a keychain or attach it as decoration to a purse, backpack, or as a zipper pull. Make one or more for friends and family. Most of all … best wishes for a happy and prosperous new year!

Happy New Lunar Year of the Snake to All Y’all

Have you woven your first new year pin-loom weavie yet? It may serve as a starting point to your “spend more creative time and spend it wisely” resolution for the New Year 2025.

So that you can keep such a New Year resolution, how about a “no-stress 2025 patchwork project”!

What’s a “No-Stress 2025 Patchwork Project”?

Here are a few “rules” …

Just start to weave … no need to decide what your project will be.
Any loom(s), any yarn(s) are fine.
When you feel like it, weave a piece or more and put them together (but even the putting-together-right-away is optional).
I recommend that you store your progress in a project bag or place for easy access.

At the end of the year you will have “something” … this may be just the one piece that you’re going to make today, and if that’s all you got then you can call it your 2025 coaster project and be proud of your accomplishment.

If you have a few pieces or pieces of different shapes, attach them to a premade blanket, and there is your patchwork blanket.

If you have many pieces in a plethora of colors and yarns … put them together into a blanket, a shawl, a ruana, a pillow, a table runner …

In short, anything goes, as long as you are enjoying it and are doing it without being stressed. You can only fail this resolution if you don’t start it!

I made two sample starter pieces, a Zoom loom square and an Original TURTLE R hexagon, using Paintbox Simply Aran (209 Soft Fudge) which comes close to the new Pantone color of the year 2025 Mocha Mousse. But remember, your starter piece can be ANYTHING pin-loom woven.

I decorated my square and hexagon with an embroidered year number, but it is perfectly ok to keep yours blank (or sew on a charm) and put your work into a zip-lock bag labeled “2025 no-stress patchwork project”.

Share your progress on social media and see what others are up to. I recommend using hashtag #NoStressPinLoomWeaving2025.

If “no-stress” and “patchwork” are not your thing, I will share a couple of more ideas over the next few days for alternative projects that will carry you through the year, so watch out for those posts.

Let’s add a little bit fun with a TINY GIVEAWAY!

We have winners! Congratulations to Joan Washburn, Linda, Linda Thompson, Connie Nichol, and Amelie. The winners have been notified via email.

I got these 2025 charms for crafting projects. I won’t need them all, so I decided to share some of them with you to decorate your 2025 project. I will send the winners one charm attached to a greeting card, which means that anyone who can receive a greeting card via USPS Postal Service can participate. I will give away 5 charms, either gold or silver colored, your choice. All you need to do is leave a comment below this post, mentioning your preference, “gold” or “silver”, by the end of Saturday, January 4th (midnight CST). If there are more comments than charms, Mr. Random will help to decide the winners. I will update this blog on Sunday morning with the winning names.