Call For “Handspun Weavies” Photos

Posted on by texasgabi

The TURTLEs are currently co-sponsoring Long Thread Media’s podcasts, and the new episode is an interview with the editor of the Spin Off magazine, Pamela K. Schulz.

To make this occasion special, I’d like to invite you to contribute your photos of pin-loom woven pieces or projects using handspun yarn to a slideshow that I’d like to add to this post!

If you have a photo (or more) that shows some handspun pin-loom woven pieces or projects that you made, please contact me.

I plan to add selected contributions with a mention of your name. There is no monetary compensation, but I hope that we can make this a fun event!

Please contact me by June 20th.

Here are three reasons that make pin-loom weaving a great choice for handspun yarns:

  • Pin-loom weaving is an easy and quick method to try out what your hand-spun yarn will be like when woven. Weave a piece in no time to find out what it looks and feels like, and get a rough idea what sett might work best for your yarn. Those small pieces of fabric are also ideal sample swatches for testing wet-finishing.
  • Handspun fibers are precious, and preserving even the smallest amount matters … weave up your leftovers and yarn ends into little treasures.
  • Not all handspun yarns are suitable for all purposes … pin-loom weaving broadens the possibilities of projects to make.

Here are just a few ideas for using handspun yarn on your TURTLE looms:

Beautiful Handspun Yarn!

The Lilia Shrug

Little Forest Wall Hanging

Yarn from Rwanda?

“Cold Feet” Home Remedy – A Footstool

Share your handspun yarn pin-loom story, contact me!

Swatch Me!

Posted on by texasgabi

No matter which fiber craft you pursue, swatching is always a big topic. Why you should swatch … why people don’t swatch … and if you do swatch, what do you do with your swatch afterwards?

I’m a big swatching advocate. Simply speaking, I like to know before I spend hours and ours on crafting how a fiber will work and wash.

Pin-loom swatching results similar benefits as other fiber crafts. It takes just a few minutes to weave up a hexagon, and then you:

  • Know what it feels like to work with the yarn,
  • See if the sett is right or if you need to make adjustments or choose another loom,
  • Can quickly try different weaving methods and patterns, and
  • Get get a first glimpse of what the fabric will look like.

This is not only of interest for a pin-loom project but it may be useful for other weaving. Weaving up a little piece of fabric in no time may give a first impression of the fabric that you want to make on a rigid-heddle or multi-shaft loom. It will not replace sampling on that loom, but it may help with planning a project.

Recently I bought the Spring Taster Box 2026 from The Woolly Thistle.

I love sampling, and the collection of mostly European natural yarns sounded scrumptious.

You can watch what’s in the box in my unboxing reel on Instagram.

Using the Original TURTLE Loom in F-fine sett and R-regular sett I wove sample hexagons for each of the 13 skeins, sewed them together and blocked them.

I like to create a fabric instead of blocking pieces individually if I can, because that shows how the hexagons work together across seams.

All yarns wove up beautifully, and you can see the results in my swatching reel on Instagram.

But then I had this 13-piece, 3-row-something swatch and was wondering what to do with it. Swatches can always be part of a great patchwork blanket, but this swatch was big enough to become its own project … I decided to make a small project bag and here is what I did:

Fold the swatch fabric in half, right side facing in.

The red lines indicate where to sew the sides together. I used whip stitch.

For the handles I found some bamboo rings … they measure about 4.5″ in diameter. You could also use some rope or pretty ribbon!

Add a handle by folding the flap of the hexagon at the open edge over the bamboo ring and secure the folded hexagon along three sides as shown.

Turn the right side out, and you’re done!

The bag measures about 10″ wide at the widest point and is ideal for a pin-loom project or small (sock) knitting project. Lining is optional, but if you transport needles or small, thin items, you may want to keep them in a small Ziplock bag.

Make swatching fun!

Holiday Guide Giveaway – Second Chance!

Posted on by texasgabi

The Second Chance giveaway is now closed. Congratulation to our winner, Wendy Allen, who has been notified.

Long Thread Media’s Holiday Guide has been a huge success with thousands of people signing up for a chance to win one of the 17 prizes.

We decided to give all y’all a second chance and this time, you can enter to win a TURTLE loom of your choice! Visit the Loom Catalog to see all the looms we’re making.

For a chance to win, sign up to receive TURTLE blog updates with news about projects, looms, and events:

For an additional chance, leave a comment here on this post and share which TURTLE loom you’d like in case you win (no worries, you change your mind later if you win).

The giveaway will end on November 30th, 2025, midnight CDT. We will randomly draw a name from all subscribers (old and new) and the comments on this post. We will announce the name of the winner here on this post on December 1st (and contact the winner via email).

Good luck!

The Lilia Shrug

Posted on by texasgabi

Let’s ring in the cooler time of the year! Sometimes when I go for a walk I want a little bit more than a scarf or cowl but not a full sweater. The modular nature of hexagons let me design just what I needed: A shrug that covers shoulders and arms enough to break a cool breeze, while at the same time offering plenty of freedom to easily move around.

I used one of my favorite yarns, naturally dyed organic Merino wool by Handspun Hope, in warm colors, and the flowery design combined with the rustic nature of the yarn made the perfect boho experience!

Another “one loom” design … the shrug is made using only the Original TURTLE Loom™ in R-regular sett for worsted weight yarns.

Click here to buy the pattern!

You can get the pattern (and the loom if you don’t have it already) at our Etsy store.

The pattern provides step-by-step photo-guided instructions for the shrug. It also contains bonus charts so that you can try your own flower colors or even design your very own shrug.

Please enjoy the beautiful photography by Gale Zucker. I thank Gale and model Sarah Shourds for this second-to-none presentation of my design.

Lastly, people ask me occasionally how I come up with the names for my patterns. I don’t have one source or one plan, and sometimes names just happen, like in this case!

Recently my husband and I shared a bag of Julio’s corn tortilla chips …

I noticed a cute picture on the back of the bag of the company founders, Julio and Lilia Garcia. I loved the sound of the Lilia name and decided to use it for my current design in progress, the shrug.

Doesn’t the real Lilia look absolutely sweet? I want to imagine that she might have liked a Lilia shrug … maybe not boho style, but of a thinner, lacey yarn with a gorgeous drape … we can dream, can’t we?

I hope that you will enjoy making your Lilia shrug!

Cranberry Bog Table Set

Posted on by texasgabi

I had just finished writing about color gamps for pin looms (see Little Looms Summer 2025) when the call for submissions for the Little Looms fall ’25 issue came out. Oh, the theme! “A walk through the forest”. Thoughts of sunlight sparkling through the tree canopy and the many colors and textures came to mind. That seemed like a perfect invitation to put pin-loom color blending instantly to good use.

I searched for a natural yarn with a good color variety for a forest project and discovered Bio Shetland wool by Kelbourne Woolens.

It is a soft, fingering weight wool in beautiful, some heathered colors.

Blending some of the shades would look like berries.

The greens and naturals would blend in perfectly to mimic moss.

There! … The project idea of a cranberry bog framed by a mossy path was borne.

For my weaving I chose the TinyTURTLE™ hexagon pin loom in R-regular sett. The regular sett for worsted weight yarn allows to blend different colors as needed by holding two strands of the fingering weight yarn together. The smaller hexagon size is perfect to achieve a good color variety in a project, and it scales nicely for a table runner.

There was a good amount of yarn left over, and honestly, I wasn’t done weaving yet.

Great coaster ideas came up: “A handful of cranberries”, using color blends from the center of the table runner. Then, the natural colors would make “stepping stones”, and the different greens would make perfect little “moss patches”.

You can find the pattern for the Cranberry Bog Table Set in “Easy weaving with little looms”, Fall 2025. If you are a Little Looms or All Access subscriber, you can also find the project in the Little Looms library.

I hope that you will enjoy making the Cranberry Bog Table Set to decorate your autumn home … and maybe make an extra coaster or a few to give to a dear friend …