Harvest Hues Winner

Posted on by texasgabi

It was so much fun to read the comments! Cat toy (with catnip or … a bell!) seems to be the most popular suggestion, but dish scrubby (Hobby Lobby carries the hedgehog scrubby holders again this year!), acorn, pin cushion (good one), gnome (yes, we really should have another gnome), pumpkin , dryer ball (hmm … haven’t made one of those yet), shower loofah (yass!), potpourri sachet, soap sack, pot scrubber, or hacky sack. All of the above would work! Click on the links to see some examples.

But before we go any farther, let’s congratulate Melinda Crittenden on winning the skein of I Love This Cotton in Harvest Hues! Melinda, check your messages for some more information.

The project in the picture is a little sponge puff, made of the leftovers from the one skein of “I Love This Cotton” that I used to make the Leaf Pile Hand Towel.

When I weave hexagons, I measure start and end tails as recommended in the instructions, so that I have enough yarn to sew the hexagons together. This does leave clip ends that can be used as stuffing for something, or to make a “leave no ends behind” hexagon: Just knot the clippings together and weave away! It will be fun and funky, and is very functional.

I also had enough of the cotton to weave one more “normal” hexagon, and while the lavender sachets are extremely popular and the idea for a soap sachet invites itself because of the cotton yarn, I wanted to do something different.

I decided to make a little sponge puff: Sew the two hexagons together along five sides with simple whip stitch. Get a sponge pouf made of netting (or any other type of netting, even some plastic produce netting will do). Clip the thread that holds the netting puff together, then stuff the hexagon pouch as desired. Cut the netting (depending on the pouf, you will be able to make 2-4 sponge puffs). Close the remaining side of the sponge puff.


It feels soft to the skin, will lather soap nicely, and it will dry out reasonably well after each use.

Happy fall weaving!

Leaf Pile Hand Towel

Posted on by texasgabi

I had some “yarn research” to do at Hobby Lobby last week, and I discovered a new color of “I Love This Cotton” named Harvest Hues (362) … what an inspiration to ring in fall crafting!

This cotton yarn works perfectly on all “regular” TURTLE hexagon looms, and the Original R was at hand, so I started weaving right away.

As with all variegated yarns, each hexagon will look differently so that you always want to know what the next one will look like. The smooth and soft yarn is therapy to the hands as you work with it. No surprise, the one ball that I bought wove up quickly.

The stack of hexagons started to look like a pile of leaves.

Laying them out randomly, it turned out that 24 hexagons make a great hand towel for kitchen or bath. Just about one ball of yarn!

The towel is worked sideways. Use this chart to randomly layout your “leaves”.

Use mattress or whip stitch to join hexagons into rows.

Use whip stitch to connect the rows with each other.

The finished towel measures about 21″ x 16″ before washing.

Crochet a hanger at the top of the towel as follows:

  • Join the yarn with a slip stitch in the corner of the top hexagon.
  • Work a single crochet stitch into each yarn turn along the edge (7 sts).
  • Chain 10.
  • Turn, and close the loop with a slip stitch into the first sc. Cut yarn. Weave in all ends.

Are you ready for fall? Happy fall, all y’all and a GIVEAWAY!

Let’s have a little fun: To celebrate fall crafting, we’re giving away one ball of “I Love This Yarn” in 362 Harvest Hues (Just the yarn, no loom), enough to weave one hand towel, three dishcloths, or make anything else your heart desires. To enter for a chance to win, leave a comment on this post … what do you think is the project shown in the top left corner of the following picture? Post by Wednesday, September 8, 2021, midnight CDT! Mr. Random will determine a winner, which will be announced Thursday morning after 10 am CDT.

Six Ways to Make Half Hexagons

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If you put multiple hexagons together to make a project, you may notice that the edgings are in most cases not straight, but more or less zig zag. While this can be a nice design element, there are times where you just want to have that “straight line”. This is where half hexagons come to the rescue, to fill in the gaps. But … why six ways?

As with hexagons, half hexagons also have their own geometry story to tell. For example, there are two ways to half a hexagon:

Hexagon A folds along the longest diameter, which makes a shape that is shown here. We call it Hexagon A, because it seems to be the more commonly used half hexagon form in fiber arts.

Hexagon B folds along a side of a hexagon, which makes a shape that is shown here.

You can weave these two shapes of half hexagons in different ways:

  • Weave a full hexagon and then fold it in half. It’s not cheating! This approach can add strength to a border where you want it, for example around a blanket or for a garment opening, like the front of the Hope vest.
  • Weave half hexagons on your TURTLE loom and use a tool to bridge the missing side. This is a great when you need a small number of half hexagons to complete a design, for example for the Wings Shawl.
  • Use a TURTLE half hexagon loom. Having a special half hexagon loom for weaving comfort makes sense when you want to make projects that require a lot of half hexagons.  The first half hexagon looms will become available in 2022.

Two ways to half a hexagon, three methods to weave them … six ways to make half hexagons!

This blog includes instructions for weaving the two forms of half hexagons on current TURTLE looms. The weaving method is the same on all TURTLE looms, no matter how big or small your loom is, or if it’s regular or fine sett, or if you are weaving regular or elongated hexagons.

Download the guide to weaving half hexagons on TURTLE hexagon pin looms:

20210625-GuideToWeavingHalfHexagons-V10Download

There are many more stories to tell about half hexagons, and we will do so here on this blog, over time. Sign up to be notified about new blog posts so that you don’t miss anything!

All rights reserved. Contact us if you have any questions.

Did you find the bonus treat?

Weaving A Triangle On The Square Loom

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Weaving fellow Deborah Carpenter Bagley recently started a “2021 Mystery Weave Along – Quilt Edition” in the Facebook Pin Loom Weaving Support Group. It’s a three week weave along towards a small quilt-style project, made of triangles and squares that can be woven on any pin loom(s) that make those shapes.

I decided to participate in this relaxing event. I chose the Square 2″ F-fine sett loom that weaves up quickly, and some Paintbox Cotton 4-ply yarn from my bucket with yarns that I want to sample. Deborah offers 2 – 4 color options, and I chose the two color option to keep it doable as a small project aside.

Weaving a triangle on a square loom with equidistant pins (pins are distributed evenly along the sides) is like weaving a continuous strand triangle … all you need is a spare needle along the hypothenuse (the longest side of the triangle) to support the weaving process.

While there are many, good instructions for that type of triangle weaving available on the Internet, I received several requests from fellow pin loom weavers who wanted to see a triangle woven on the Square loom. For all of you who asked …

Weaving squares goes fast, and weaving triangles goes faster. No surprise that the desire to weave more is taking shape. Deborah’s three color version might make a seasonally timely “red, white, and blue” theme, and the four color version makes me think of Amish-style quilting …

You can still join the weave along on Facebook. Great opportunity to practice your new triangle weaving skills. See you there!

(S)Watch This!

Posted on by texasgabi

One useful application of pin loom weaving is that you can test a new yarn for weave-ability in just minutes. It will not replace proper sampling for a project, but it is a quick way to find out what a yarn looks and feels like when it is woven, and it provides an instant piece of cloth for blocking.

Take for example this collection of scrumptiousness, which was part of my haul from this year’s Yellow Rose Fiber Fiesta where I “discovered” Winterstrom Ranch, a full service mill, with an intriguing variety of yarns in different blends, weights, and colors.

For my sampling, I used the Original TURTLE Loom™ R-regular (about 7.25 epi) for the thicker weight yarns, and the Original TURTLE Loom™ F-fine-sett (about 10 epi) for the lighter yarns.

My conclusion is that all yarns weave up and block beautifully.
The yarns have only little stretch, perfect for weaving. The yarns are smooth and not stiff.
I wove a hexagon each and sewed them together into a flower shape prior to blocking, just for fun. I blocked in cold water with a little bit Eucalan, for about 20 minutes. All fibers gently fulled, minimal shrinking, all color fast.

But see for yourself!
Winterstrom Ranch is one of the vendors at the CHT 2021 Conference Marketplace this weekend …

Swatch … Always …

A Fiber Runs Through It

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The theme of the CHT conference 2021 is “A Fiber Runs Through It”. It reminds of the river walk that meanders through San Antonio, TX, but it also inspires to think of fibers and how they “run” through our weaving.

This post shows a quick project that was inspired by the theme: A little lavender puff with small pieces of fiber randomly running through it.

The project uses fibers that will be available from vendors at the CHT Marketplace!

The puff front is woven of a Windmill Crest Farms custom blend alpaca yarn Trilogy ( 75% Alpaca, 15% Bamboo, and 5% Silk waste) in strawberry pink. The back is woven of Morning Glory/Titan (80% Alpaca, 20% Bamboo), a marled yarn in natural colors that weaves up into a cloth with a vivid effect. Both yarns are fingering weight that weave up beautifully on the Original TURTLE Loom™ in fine-sett.

The “fiber that runs through it” is organic Texas cotton sliver from Conserving Threads, who offers a wide variety of natural fibers.

Weave the lavender puff hexagons:
– Following the loom instructions, weave one hexagon in Morning Glory/Titan for the back.
– Start weaving the front hexagon in Trilogy until you switch to weaving back and forth.
– Prepare 4-5 sliver pieces (see below) and weave them in randomly:

Prepare the sliver pieces:
– Pull an end of sliver off the rope, about 3″ long.
– Split that end into 2-3 pieces.
– Gently twist each piece, so that it doesn’t fall apart when handled.

Use a crochet hook to gently pull a piece through the shed from the previous row. Continue weaving, pack well.

Each front will look unique! When finished, lift the hexagon off the loom.

Sew the puff:
– Turn the front hexagon. The “right” side will be the side without ends. This will lock in the sliver pieces and prevent fraying.
– Put front and back hexagons on top of each other – wrong sides facing – and use the tails to sew along five sides (use simple whip stitch).
– No need to turn.

Stuff the puff:
– Use a small amount of stuffing (we used polyfil, but you could even use some of the leftover cotton sliver).
– Add about a teaspoon of dried lavender flowers to the center of the stuffing and fold close.
– Insert the stuffing into the puff and close the remaining sides.

Give a lavender puff to a friend. Put one under your pillow.
Gently squish the puff to release more lavender aroma.
Enjoy!

Come Visit Us at the CHT Conference!

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All TURTLEs are busy preparing for an appearance at this year’s Contemporary Handweavers of Texas conference in San Antonio, TX. The great news is that the vendor market will be open to the public, so anyone can come!

We will not just bring all TURTLEs, but also exhibit some of the projects that have not been on display before, including the Wings shawlette, the Indian Blanket flower afghan, and the Hope vest. There will be more on display, as space allows … let us know if you want us to bring any other specific project that you’d like to see!

Besides the TURTLEs, we will have all currently in print Little Looms magazines available for purchase, as well as the current Handwoven May/June 2021, SpinOff Summer 2021, and PieceWork Summer 2021 (all published by Long Thread Media).

The hours for the Vendor Hall (Grand Ballroom E and F) are:
Thursday     4 pm – 7 pm
Friday 11 am – 5:30 pm  AND  7:30 pm – 9:30 pm (“Moonlight Madness”)
Saturday 10 am – 12 noon  AND  1:30 pm – 7 pm

Make it a road trip … the conference offers free access to the remarkable CHT weaving exhibit, which is an awesome opportunity to get inspired by an exquisite variety of masterly handwoven treasures. And if you have not been to San Antonio before, add a visit to the historic Alamo (One of the tour guides is a fellow pin loom weaver … ask for Laurel!) and the River Walk.

While exercising good COVID habits (wearing masks and cleaning hands and tools frequently), we will have a sample table to try out the TURTLEs, and we will be there to answer any questions that you may have.

As simple as that … hope to see you, soon!

Happy World Turtle Day!

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This year’s World Turtle Day (May 23, 2021) is presented to you by Shelldon and Shellington, who are both creations of fellow pin loom weaver Susan Pihl.

Susan wrote recently that she was inspired by our turtle mascot Charlie, the first ever stuffed turtle project that we made, using the only TURTLE loom that was available at the time, the Original TURTLE Loom™ for worsted weight yarn.

Now that our hexagon pin looms come in multiple sizes, Susan used several to make her own turtle … meet Shelldon!

As it is the nature of stuffed turtles, you can’t just have one turtle, so Shelldon quickly got a friend, Shellington.

Here’s a brief anatomy of (or you could say instructions for) Shelldon and Shellington. All credits go to Susan, with a big thank you for sharing!
Susan used Loops & Threads Impeccable on regular sett TURTLE looms:

– The body is made of two Original TURTLE Loom hexagons, sewn together and gently stuffed.
– The head is made of two TinyTURTLE™ hexagons, sewn together and gently stuffed.
– The front flippers are made of TinyTURTLE hexagons, folded in half.
– The back flippers are single hexagons woven on the BabyTURTLE™.
– Join all pieces as shown in the picture.

Susan used small black beads for Shelldon’s eyes and French Knots for Shellington’s: Work one eye, then stitch through the head to work the other eye, holding the yarn in a little bit, which adds a touch of perfect shaping to the head.

Shelldon and Shellington are best buddies and decided to decorate with TURTLE looms this year, to celebrate their favorite holiday, World Turtle Day.

Mishell prefers to watch the events from the sideline, resting comfortably on her turtle pad.

We understand that not all turtles can be woven, but they can still celebrate! Vogue street fashion has it that this year it is “in” to “wear” a turtle loom if you are not made of woven hexagons.

Whether you consider to make a Charlie, or a Shelldon, or your own creation, we all hope that you will have a wonderful World Turtle Day!

Photo credits, except the “Charlie” project photo, Susan Pihl. Used with permission. All rights reserved.

Did you make a turtle? Send us a picture, and we’ll add it here to the Turtle Gallery:

  • “Stress free weaving” turtle by Donna B.
  • Freddie’s turtle by Michele R.

Designing with Hexagons – Going 3D (Part 2)

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Ready for more 3D? Handwoven posted the next blog article about designing with hexagons … Part 2 of Going 3D covers sharing hexagons between layers, fun ways to gain volume and change width, and a few handy tips.

Read the article: Designing with Hexagons: Going 3D (Part 2)

For your convenience, here is a list of all projects mentioned in the article.
Please note that if you are now a subscriber to Little Looms magazine, you will have access to all projects that were published in previous issues!

Forget-Me-Not Pillow
Cocoa Bear, in Little Looms Holiday 2020
This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 20180929_163151_resized.jpgAspen Clutch, in Little Looms 2019
20180512_123357_resized (2)Grape Table Topper, in Little Looms 2018
IMG_3494Grape Pillow
Stuffed Toys A Sheep and a Pig Hexagon Pin Loom image 2Stuffed Pig Toy
Flower Power Emoji Meter
GVt 22nd century hat22nd Century Hat
sloth GVTWell, you already know him, but here’s the link again …
Take it Like a Sloth!

Go ahead, go 3D!

Dreams Come True

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I’ve been waiting for the opportunity to take these pictures for years …

When we first moved to Texas more than a decade ago, I was inspired by seeing the Indian Summer Blanket wild flowers in this little field. A real blanket like this would be awesome … “I want to make this!”

It took many trials and errors to find a way to express the shape of the blooms, and in the end, hexagons were the answer.
I sampled many yarns, because I wanted the colors to be as close as possible to the “real thing”. I found Scheepjes Catona, a cool summer cotton, that seemed perfect for the purpose. It comes in over 100 colors, including shades that were close.

Then … the opportunity to make the blanket for Easy Weaving with Little Looms Summer 2020.

Finally, this spring, the Indian Summer Blanket flowers are blooming again, and Texas weather is at it’s best. The blanket that looks and feels like a field of Indian Summer Blanket flowers … in the field that provided the inspiration.

Never give up on ideas that inspire you.
Dreams come true.