Customer Projects Showcase – April 2023

Posted on by texasgabi

Spring is springing these days, isn’t it? A friend wrote me that it is sunny and warm today where she lives, and 29F and snow in the forecast for the next day. The good thing is that any weather is weaving weather! This month we have two projects, a how-to tip, and an announcement or two …

I hope that you saw my mosaic Bee Queen table topper in the new Little Looms Summer 2023? If you’re not up to making that many hexagons right now but want to “bee busy”, you could make something like Susanne Eakin’s bee hive wall hanging, using the Tiny TURTLE F … and don’t forget the adorable (PennyTURTLE) flower!

I always like when people contact me and share their weaving stories, as Linda Aprin did! Linda watched the video “Weaving with one hand” and then shared a few ideas about things that she did differently. I appreciate that she allowed me to spread the word to others who may find this useful!

Linda writes:
“Instead of clamping the loom, stabilize it with Dycem, the blue stuff in the picture. That lets you easily turn the loom. Also, instead of a clothes pin, use a clip like the one in the picture. It lets the yarn slide and helps the work flow instead of starting and stopping.”

Jane Grogan has for many years made Christmas tree ornaments for her family and friends. One year she made 30 adorable little turtles! Jane wove two TinyTURTLE R hexagons and added felted feet, head, and tail. She decorated with a little ribbon, added a hanger, and ready is a cute turtle ornament!

ETA April 30, 2023: Jane saw your comments! She provided a pattern – with template for the body – for you all to make your own adorable turtle ornaments. Leave a shoutout thank you in the comments section of this post if you plan to make some turtles! Here is the pattern for you:

JaneGrogan-TurtleOrnamentPattern-1Download

That said, there is a “Turtle Weave-Along” coming up this May! The WAL will be from May 1-23, and ALL turtle makers will be welcome. More details will become available shortly on the TexasGabi blog.

One more announcement … I’d like to invite you to come back and read our blog on April 19 (hint, hint … signing up on the right to be notified about new blogs will make it real easy). We will celebrate our 6th TURTLE anniversary with launching a Weaving Buddy program … see you then!

(Photo credits: All project photos are by their respective project owners. Used with permission. All rights reserved.)

Customer Projects Showcase – March 2023

Posted on by texasgabi

On the verge of spring in the northern hemisphere, there is still need for warming accessories, but also time to get some happy colors out!

Pin-loom veteran Jane Grogan, designer of the “Lilas au Printemps” wedding shawl in the Little Looms Spring 2022 magazine, uses small amounts of pretty yarn to weave single hexagons for greeting cards. A great way to showcase precious (handwoven) yarns or some pretty leftovers. Any of the Original TURTLE looms will create the perfect size hexie for a standard greeting card.

TURTLE loom customer Lisa Robinson recently finished this awesome scarf, where the beautiful yarn provides instant eye candy. Lisa wove the light worsted yarn on her Original TURTLE F-fine sett in plain weave to achieve a dense fabric. She worked half hexagons and triangles (method adopted) to accomplish the smooth edgings along the sides and the pleasant curving of the scarf ends.

Today, March 9th, is the third anniversary of the first Covid shutdown in the United States. Data analyst Kristin Briney (Instagram, Ravelry) used the TinyTURTLE F-fine sett to capture the Covid experience with visual representations of Covid fatalities in the United States in 2020 and 2021 … Impressive pieces that make you stop and think.

Let pin-loom weaving carry you through good and bad times!

I hope you find these projects and activities inspiring. Feel free to add your thoughts in the comments section below, and if you have a project that you’d like to see featured in a future customer story post, please contact us!

(Photo credits: All photos are by their respective project owners. Used with permission. All rights reserved.)

Customer Projects Showcase – February 2023

Posted on by texasgabi

There’s just not enough time in the day, in the month … to write everything I want to write about, but here are some new and awesome customer projects for you to enjoy …

New TURTLE loom enthusiast Shereen decided to make a pin-loom temperature blanket and joined us in the Pin-Loom Temperature Blanket Weave-Along Facebook group! She is using the TinyTURTLE™ loom (R-regular sett) and tracks high and low temperatures for each day. You can follow her and other weavers’ progress in the Facebook group – and also join any time to make your own temperature blanket!

Long-time customer Suzanne E. is a true yarn gourmet. Look at her beautiful heart, worked on the TinyTURTLE™ loom (F-fine sett) and appreciate the delicate combination of unusual color shades … Use such a heart as wall hanging, pillow cover, or table topper year round to decorate for a home.

Kathryn O. has been a TURTLE customer since the first loom release. Kathryn always surprises me with her new ideas tinkering around … her Tinker Shawl (as I call it), woven on the TinyTURTLE™ loom (F-fine sett), is a great project to study! Be inspired not only by the shape of the shawl, but also by the colors that she is using, and her playful placements of hearts and flowers.

Designer Greta Holmstrom released a new pattern for a Team Spirit Skirt, woven on the TexaTURTLE™ R loom. The pattern is very versatile and can be easily adjusted to accommodate different sizes and lengths.

This is also a great pattern idea for our Pin-Loom Garment Challenge 2023! You can follow and participate in the Pin-loom Garment Challenge on the TexasGabi blog.

Bee inspired!

I hope you find these projects and activities inspiring. Feel free to add your thoughts in the comments section below, and if you have a project that you’d like to see featured in a future customer story post, please contact us!

(Photo credits: All photos are by their respective project owners. Used with permission. All rights reserved.)

Customer Projects Showcase – January 2023

Posted on by texasgabi

New year, new ideas! Frequently, customers share pictures of their projects on social media or contact me directly, and this year we would like to start showcasing some of them here on the turtleloom blog. The goal is to post 3-5 projects in a blog on the first of each month. Sounds like a New Year’s resolution? Here’s the start!

Ravelry pin-loom fellow Lynne just finished her Cathedral Window blanket from Little Looms Fall 2022 (project on Ravelry). It was exiting to follow her row-by-row progress in the “Looms to Go” group, and the result is second-to-none! Lynne plans to make another Cathedral Windows blanket in natural tones … we can hardly wait to see it. You can find more information about the Cathedral Windows blanket in this post.

Taking a break from blanket weaving, Lynne also made this Firth of Clyde cowl (project on Ravelry). We introduced the pattern for this cowl as a welcome project for our new retailer Weft Blown in Scotland. You can find the free instructions for this cowl in this post.

One of our Australian customers, Kaye, was inspired by our owl blanket. But she took the idea and some further online inspiration to a whole new level … this is her owl blanket, woven on the PennyTURTLE™ !!!

Greta has been a TURTLE loom customer from the beginning. By now she has not only published her designs in multiple Little Looms and Handwoven magazines, but she also offers amazing patterns in her Etsy store. Here is her “Forest Fairy Capelet”, for example. Add her store to your Etsy favorites for a growing resource of hexagon patterns that are out of the ordinary!

Did you enjoy seeing these customer projects? Leave a comment below and tell us what you think!

And if you have a project that you would like to see shared in an upcoming Customer Project Showcase, please contact us.

How it works:

  • All we need is a picture of your project and a brief description.
  • The project can be after a pattern or your own.
  • You grant us permission to use your photo in our blog; you will be credited by name and you will keep the photo copyrights.
  • Selecting projects for posting will be at our discretion.
  • We will not be able to reimburse you in any way, but there’s a good chance that you will have a lot of fun sharing your work this way!

(Photo credits: All photos are by their respective project owners. Used with permission. All rights reserved.)

TO A GRAND 2023!