Travel Turtle 2022 – Call for November Host

Posted on by texasgabi

Inspired by TT22’s visit to Stephen King’s home in Maine, Charlene decided to get the novel “Fairy Tale” on Audible … and I haven’t seen her since then. But … it is time to determine where TT22 will go for Thanksgiving this November!

If you are interested and available to “entertain” TT22 for a month, please leave a comment in the comments section below.

No hexagon weaving experience necessary … anyone who wants to weave hexagons is welcome.

The picture shows Chris’s first ever hexagon, woven on the day that TT22 arrived, using yarn that September host Sarah had put into a little care package.

Signup is open now, and will end Sunday, October 30, at midnight US CDT. I will contact the new host and make the announcement shortly after I hear back from him/her.

If you would like to know more about how this challenge works, please see the plan.

Meanwhile … TT22 had the most amazing time leaf peeping in Maine …

  • This year, leaf peeping season has been colorful and impressive.
  • Chris definitely understands to add a beautiful color palette to support the scene.
  • Combined with some squares, Chris turned the hexies into a hexagonal prism ball!
  • Another highlight was a visit to Stephen King’s home …
  • TT22 comes prepared, all dressed up appropriately in a spooky bright red attire.
  • “Sometimes” Chris has to work, and TT22 was allowed to come along and watch her transcribe legal conversations at lightning speed!
  • Then Chris took TT22 on a boat ride on one of the many lakes in Maine …
  • This picture doesn’t need any caption other than that this is beautiful Maine at its best!
  • And of course, with all the water, blue is the yarn color of the day!

(Photo credits: All photos except title by Chris Thornton. Used with permission. All rights reserved.)

Holiday season is next! Chris made this beautiful poinsettia.

A Candy Corn Mouse

Posted on by texasgabi

Fellow pin-loom weaver Pamela shared a post, showing a most adorable crocheted mouse by Stephanie of CrochetVerse, which is an adaptation of a free pattern by Pops De Milk. Pam prompted to continue the inspirational crafting chain with “Someone design a woven version of this.” … and I felt called.

So that more people can weave such a mouse, I decided to use only one loom. I used the Square 2″ R and some Sugar’n Cream cotton yarn that I had at hand in the desired colors, but any square loom and matching yarn will be just fine. Using the bias weaving method (as shown) may stretch slightly differently, but traditionally woven squares will work, too.

Weave:

(2) orange squares
(1) white square
(3) yellow squares

Sew the two orange squares to the white squares (simple whip stitch will do, no matter which weaving method you used).

Then sew the two orange squares together as indicated.

Sew the three yellow squares together as indicated.

Next, attach the yellow strip to the long orange edge … you will need to hold in the yellow a little bit.

This is what your piece looks like when all square are sewn together.

Using a yarn tail or separate piece of yarn, work a running stitch along the long yellow edge. This will be used to gather the back end of the mouse (see below).

Now fold the piece in half, wrong side out, and sew along the bottom edge.

Turn the piece right side out, stuff …

… then pull the ends of the running stitch yarn to completely close the back. Make a knot, then hide the ends inside the mouse.

Accessorize your mouse with tail, ears, feet, and a face as you like.

I provide a brief description of what I did below.

In a nutshell … I embroidered the eyes with black embroidery thread in a star stitch. The nose and mouth are straight stitch.

The tail is made of yellow yarn held double. Join the back of the mouse with a slip stitch, then chain 12 or desired length, fasten off.

Ears: Using a long tail, working with the white yarn, make a magic loop, slip stitch and chain 1 into loop. Work 4 single crochet, then pull the magic loop close to shape a half round. Use the same long tail to make another magic loop and work the second ear the same way. Fasten off, sew ears to head.

Back feet (make 2): Using yellow, chain 4, work a triple picot (chain 2, slip stitch into the 4th chain; repeat twice). Work 4 single crochet stitches into the back loops of the chain, back to the beginning. Fasten off. Sew feet to the yellow part of the body.

Front feet (make 2): Using orange, chain 3, work two picots (chain 2, slip stitch into the 4th chain; repeat once more). Work 3 single crochet stitches into the back loops of the chain, back to the beginning. Fasten off. Sew feet to the orange part of the body.

Happy fall, all y'all!

TT22 is Going to Maine!

Posted on by texasgabi

Congratulations!
Chris Thornton in Maine
will be our TT22 host for October.

Chris is a freelance court reporter/stenographer who lives with her husband of 30 years in Old Town, Maine.

Hobbies? “Anything to do with arts and crafts: Knitting was my gateway drug for spinning and weaving (3 floor looms, several tapestry looms, rigid heddle looms and inkle looms)” But then there is also sewing (garments and quilting), basket weaving, and baking bread …

She also shares her home with Flash – a teacup Australian Shepherd. Flash will interrupt herding the birds in the backyard to become TT22’s buddy for the month.

Chris started pin loom weaving on a Zoom loom in 2019 and has added several triangle and square continuous strand looms since then.

When asked if she has woven on a TURTLE loom before, she replied “As they say in Maine, ‘nevah’!  Looking forward to it!”

So are we! Chris is thinking of weaving a hexagon flower …

You can follow Chris on her Instagram account MaineWeaver, where this month she will be sharing TT22’s autumn adventures in Maine.

Meanwhile …

Old Town, Maine, is the home of Old Town kayaks and canoes … Charlene had to check it out instantly … I think she’s ready to take a dip in those beautiful lakes …

(Photo credits: Photos 1-3 by Chris Thonrton. Used with permission. All rights reserved.)

Travel Turtle 2022 – Call for October Host

Posted on by texasgabi

TT22 arrived “home” safely in New Mexico, and has mostly recovered from its trip half around the world to Australia (see pictures below). Now comes the question “Where will TT22 spend the scariest month of the year?”

It’s time to determine the next host, for October.

If you are interested and available to “entertain” TT22 for a month, please leave a comment in the comments section below.

No hexagon weaving experience necessary … if you have a friend who is new to (hexagon) pin loom weaving, please share this post and invite them to host TT22!

We will try to keep the signup short, to give the next host as much time as possible. Signup is open now, and will end Sunday, October 2nd, at midnight US CDT. I will contact the new host and make the announcement shortly after I hear back from him/her.

If you would like to know more about how this challenge works, please see the plan.

Meanwhile, TT22 wants to share a few impressions from its stay at the Misfit farm, and its trip to Australia …

  • The month started with a warm welcome by Belle at the Misfit Farm.
  • TT22 enjoyed all the perfect yarns at TLT Yarns & Handcrafts in Ruidoso, NM.
  • Then it was time to start its longest travel ever … thank you, Sarah, for taking TT22 to Sidney, Australia!
  • It’s a long flight, and TT22 was nervous, but Sarah and TT22 managed to get a lot of weaving done.
  • Sightseeing in Sidney.
  • TT22 even got some souvenir yarn!
  • And then … the Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park.!
  • TT22 almost got a knot in its weavie, trying to say the name of the park … Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa.
  • It was a wonderful “welcome home” to the farm by TT22’s new friends!
  • TT22 shared all the adventures and ….
  • … the yarn was sniff approved. TT22 will miss those furry friends!

(Photo credits: All photos by Sarah Cole. Used with permission. All rights reserved.)

TT22 is Going to New Mexico!

Posted on by texasgabi

Congratulations!
Sarah Matula in New Mexico
will be our TT22 host for September.

Sarah lives with her husband, 3 horses, 13 llamas, 3 rescued alpacas, 19 chickens, 2 turkeys, 2 dogs, and a cat on a farm in New Mexico. Yin Yang (pictured) keeps an eye on the farm, while Sarah manages a Legal publishing team across Australia, NZ and Philippines.

In her free time Sarah enjoys hiking with llamas, shearing, spinning, weaving, knitting, crocheting, looking at patterns, and collecting yarn.

Sarah weaves on anything from pin loom to floor loom. Here is her latest project on her 3 ft tri loom.

I asked her what she has made so far with pin looms, and while she states that “joining is my Achilles heel” she recently did make this beautiful star pillow, inspired by TT22 April host Debbie’s weave along.

While TT22 is en route, Sarah is doing some “warming up” weaving, exploring 3-1 twill. It looks like it will be an interesting month!

You can follow TT22’s stay at Sarah’s (and possibly more travel) on Facebook at the Misfit Farm. Sarah’s very photogenic dog Heidi (on Instagram) volunteers to add some reporting contributions as well.

(Photo credits: Photos 1-4 by Sarah Matula. Used with permission. All rights reserved.)

Charlene is hard at work to prepare a passport for TT22 … “just in case”!

Travel Turtle 2022 – Call for September Host

Posted on by texasgabi

We may have difficulties getting TT22 away from Maryland, where he has been playing hide and seek with Deetzie either in the gardens or at the Black Sheep yarn store (… no wonder, with such a yarn selection!)

However, it’s time to determine the next host, for September.

If you are interested and available to “entertain” TT22 for a month, please leave a comment in the comments section below.

No hexagon weaving experience necessary … if you have a friend who is new to (hexagon) pin loom weaving, please share this post and invite them to host TT22!

Signup is open now, and will end Wednesday, August 31st, at noon time US CDT. I will contact the new host and make the announcement shortly after I hear back from him/her.

If you would like to know more about how this challenge works, please see the plan.

Meanwhile, TT22 wants to share a few impressions from his August diary on Ravelry …

  • The trip across the country went smoothly, and Crow and I had great chats along the way. Thank you, Beth, for sending Crow along!
  • Exploring my home for August … a brook in the backyard! Instant favorite. It’s the Charles Run that ultimately feeds into the Chesapeake Bay.
  • Had a great time with Deetzie’s grandson! We didn’t get much weaving done, but we enjoyed making noise together.
  • Look at those Black Eye’d Susans! I learned that they are the state flower of Maryland. From Texas I know that they make excellent natural dye …
  • I felt famous when we visited the biweekly Sit&Stitch at the Hereford Branch of the Baltimore County Public Library…no one had seen a hexagon loom before!
  • Then we visited the Perennial Farm in Glen Arm and I helped Deetzie to buy two Chelone (Turtlehead) plants.
  • This is one of the Turtlehead plants … not sure if it’s the pink or the white one … I like them both, and this way Deetzie can always remember that she bought the Turtleheads when the TURTLE was visiting!
  • But my favorite place was the Black Sheep yarn store … yarns and colors galore! Perfect place for hide and seek, and weave, and hide, and weave, and hide …

(Photo credits: All photos by Reeves Walker. Used with permission. All rights reserved.)

TT22 is Going to Maryland!

Posted on by texasgabi

Congratulations!
Reeves “Deetzie” Walker in Maryland
will be our TT22 host for August.

Meet Deetzie, a retired Latin teacher who now works part time at the Black Sheep Yarn shop where she teaches rigid heddle loom classes.

When she is not at the store, she loves to spend quality time with her husband, her three daughters, her grandchildren, and her two dogs.

In addition to weaving, she likes to knit (like this adorable balloon elephant), crochet, and garden. The latter she jokingly refers to as an “euphemism for weeding”!

Deetzie got her first TURTLE loom in 2020 and has made several beautiful projects since then, like this turtle in its nest, or the Elongon scarf below.

She does not know yet what she’s going to make when TT22 arrives, but she’s definitely ready to have a great time!

You can follow Deetzie and TT22’s adventures this month on Ravelry, where Deetzie is known as FactaeManu. Very fittingly for a fiber loving Latin teacher, this Latin phrase means “Made by hand”!

Meanwhile … Charlene enjoyed reading the comments of the host applicants. She loves the story of the turtle rescue, and she got the band aids out to “tape up Pam’s finger, so that it heals faster”.

All this said, we hope to see you all again when we are looking for the next host!

(Photo credits: Photos 1 – 4 by Reeves Walker. Used with permission. All rights reserved.)

Travel Turtle 2022 – Call for August Host

Posted on by texasgabi

Are you ready for the next Travel Turtle 2022 chapter? We’re looking for a host for the (most likely) hot month of August … spend some quality time with a small craft and invite TT22 to your home!

 If you are interested and available to “entertain” TT22 for a month, please leave a comment in the comments section.

No hexagon weaving experience necessary … if you have a friend who is new to (hexagon) pin loom weaving, please share this post and invite them to host TT22!

Signup is open now, and will end Sunday, July 31st, 6 pm US CDT. I will contact the new host and make the announcement shortly after I hear back from him/her.

If you would like to know more about how this challenge works, please see the plan.

Meanwhile … TT22 has been having a great time exploring bright colors at Beth’s house this month …

Welcome Elongon and Square in 3″ R!

Posted on by texasgabi

The new Little Looms Fall 2022 magazine is stealing the show! It makes it difficult to squeeze in the announcement that “Hey, we have a couple of new looms!”

First, there is the new Elongon 3″ R … a larger elongated hexagon loom with regular pin spacing for worsted weight yarns.

With 3″ side length this loom is great to make quick progress on larger projects, like the Cathedral Window blanket, but it is still very comfortable to hold and to work with.

Next, there is the new Square 3″ R loom, to match the above Elongon and also with regular pin spacing for worsted weight yarns.

The squares work up quickly and can be used on their own or together with any other looms that work with or complement a side length of 3″.

I enjoyed making the Cathedral Blanket with these looms, using a wonderful wool, Berroco Lanas.

I hope to chat about working the “stained glass” effect a bit more in the near future, because I think pin loom weaving is naturally perfect for that.

Of course the usability of the new looms goes far beyond stained glass effects. You can use them for pretty much any other project on any other Elongon … the results are “just a little bit bigger”!

Side by side hexagons woven on the Elongon 1″ and Elongon 3″