4th of July Shadow Box

Posted on by texasgabi

It is not too late to craft something special for this year’s 4th of July. Here is a no-sew, last-minute, pin-loom way to make a decorative shadow box!

The idea was sparked by fellow pin-loom weaver and artist Sam Hammer, who has been sharing weaving inspiration all throughout the month of June with pin-loom weavers on Facebook.

I wanted to make “something” for the 250th birthday of the United States, and when Sam posted one of his art pieces in a shadow box, the lights went on: I could make a shadow box and put some hexagons in it! And fairy lights …

Before I share more details of my project below I’d like to encourage ALL of you to consider making your own shadow box. It’s easy and so much fun! And most likely you already have what you need or can make/get it quickly.

You will need:

  • A shadow box (the one I used measures 8″ x 10″). Make sure that your shadow box has a cushioned backboard so that you can easily pin items to it.
  • Pins, to pin the pieces into place.
  • ANY weavies! Go through your stash of woven pin-loom pieces and look for something red/white/blue. If you can’t find enough, just grab some yarn and your favorite loom(s) and weave a few pieces.
  • (Optional) Fairy lights.
  • (Optional) A 2026 charm. You could also embroider the numbers or use fabric paint.

Assembly:

  • Layout the weavies on the backboard until you like what you see and pin the pieces down.
  • Add anything else you’d like.
  • Close your shadow box and enjoy!

Here are a few details about the shadow box that I made:

I found a great 8″ x 10″ shadow box at Hobby Lobby, also the fairy lights and a variety of red/white/blue yarns.

Note: The links were valid at the time of writing but may change over time. These products are suggestions and can be easily substituted with items of your choice.

A few weeks ago I ordered some Red Heart Super Saver Bitty Stripes online, because I was curious how the color development would look like when woven. The short answer is: Awesome!

I have not used this yarn a lot, but it weaves well on all TURTLE R-regular sett looms., shown here on the Original TURTLE hexagon and jewel looms.

Red Heart super saver is often referred to as America’s most popular yarn, so using it for the 250th birthday celebration seemed very appropriate.

Weaving the heart on the Square 4″ R loom was a pleasant opportunity to use the new instructions for pick-up pattern weaving on continuous-strand squares.

I also enjoyed weaving the log cabin pattern on the same loom, particularly after fellow pin-loom weaver Leigh Root on Facebook shared a source for speedy warping instructions.

Link to Leigh’s post (you need to be a member of the Pin Loom Weaving Support Group to read Leigh’s message).

Using these pieces of recent discoveries make my shadow box even more memorable. Maybe you have some weavies in your stash that have a special meaning.

The 2026 charm is optional.

I plan to reuse the display in years to come, and it will be special to remember that I made this project in 2026 for the 250th birthday of the United States.

To enhance the 3D effect inside the shadow box I decided to add “beaded curtain”-style strings made of PennyTURTLE hexagons.

Keeping it simple, I wove in the end tails while the hexagons were still on the loom.

I used the starting tails (after securing the threads) to tie the hexagons together.

The hexagon strings are taped with a small strip of Duck tape to the inside top frame of the shadow box.

The fairy lights are optional, and if you don’t feel comfortable with the idea of having lights inside the frame, the display will look great without it as well.

I laid out the fairy lights randomly and pinned them into place.

Be careful to not pierce the wire and leave a little space along the edges so that the wire will not be harmed when reassembling the shadow box.

The wire is thin enough (and the backboard of my box is flexible enough) to transfer it to the outside to the battery unit.

After putting the box together, the project is ready to enjoy. Almost not necessary to mention, but this project idea is great to make shadow boxes for all kinds of occasions, right?

Pin-loom weaving is even more enjoyable when done in company. There are two great communities online where you can ask questions, get advice and trouble shooting ideas, and brag about what you have accomplished. Check out the Pin Loom Weaving Support group on Facebook and/or the Looms to Go group on Ravelry. Hope to see you there!

Happy birthday, US America!

Podcast Highlight: Handspun Hope

Posted on by texasgabi

I first discovered Handspun Hope eight years ago (see Yarn from Rwanda?) and always have a project with their yarns on my needles and looms.

It is a privilege to co-sponsor the new Long Thread Podcast episode featuring an interview with Handspun Hope’s Diana Wiley.

I can certainly say without hesitation that all of Handspun Hope’s yarns weave very well.

A project example for the Madagascan silk yarn is the Rhinebeck Headscarf.

For my current pin-loom weaving project I am modifying the Ditta Vest pattern to weave a jungle scene. The story behind it? I recently saw a knitted vest with a pocket to hold a small matching stuffed animal.

Handspun Hope has the most adorable felted ornaments.

I decided that a vest with pockets would be a great way to enjoy those ornaments beyond displaying them on my Christmas tree.

Stuffed animal Hector snug into the picture to guard the loom.

I chose several different colors of Handspun Hope’s Organic Merino in worsted weight for the design to make a tree for the gorillas, and a meadow for the giraffe.

All will be woven on the Original TURTLE Loom™, R-regular sett for worsted weight yarn.

Allow me a quick note … if you look closely at the following picture, you will see that the purple yarn is slightly thicker than the others. This showcases another benefit of pin-loom weaving handspun yarns (more in the recent Spin Off podcast post):

The loom determines the shape and size of your weaving.

Even if you weave with yarns that vary in thickness, the pieces will all work together in your project just fine!

I will post photos of the finished vest here on the blog … I hope you’ll come back to see it!

While I don’t have a woven showcase for the Ethiopian cotton (I will have to fix that!) I do have some beautiful Umutuku on my knitting needles to make the Butte Meadow Top, the winner of the recent Farm & Fiber Knits Summer Bracket Challenge.

I am also using Handspun Hope’s Organic Merino DK for the Ripple Vest from the cover of the Farm & Fiber Summer 2026 issue.

You can’t just craft one project, right?

No matter which fiber craft you prefer, I hope that you will check out Handspun Hope while listening to the Handspun Hope podcast episode to get inspired by their yarns and products.

A Color Gamp Bandana

Posted on by texasgabi

As a weaver, at some point during your weaving journey you most likely have encountered color gamps, the systematic use of color combinations within a project.

It has been a great privilege for me to write about special aspects of color gamp weaving on pin looms for the Little Looms magazine, and you can read about it in the new Little Looms Summer 2025 issue that has been released today.

For the Weave Together 2025 retreat, I designed a sample project that allows pin-loom weavers to explore color-gamp weaving in a practical project: A Color Gamp Bandana.

Louët’s Venne Eco Jeans (available at Louët dealers like the Lone Star Loom Room) proved to be an excellent yarn choice for such a project. I used it double-stranded on our TinyTURTLE F-fine sett hexagon pin loom .

Colors from left to right:

  • 19-5056 Olive
  • 19-3005 Deep Red
  • 19-4038 Slate Blue
  • 19-1021 Cornsilk
  • 19-4060 Steam
  • 19-3034 Pelican Pink
  • 19-6005 Sahara.

For the gamp, I combined these colors with themselves (see diagonal) and then with each other, and arranged them in a gamp with slanted columns (read about that construction in the Little Looms article).

Using seven colors and the TinyTURTLE loom makes a project large enough for a bandana that can be worn with a bandana clasp clip or ring (I used a faux leather clip).

If you would like to make a larger bandana, consider adding more colors or use the same colors on a larger loom!

While this project concludes our Weave Together 2025 miniseries I hope that you enjoyed it and will stick around, because there’s always more … alligator Mardy is right around the corner, and I saw a bunny hopping across the lawn recently, and then there is a long list of pin-loom tips and tricks that want to be shared …

Simply sign up to the turtleloom blog to be notified so that you don’t miss anything:

Take a moment and share what you thought about this miniseries
in the comments below!

Let’s Have a Countryside Brunch

Posted on by texasgabi

Weave Together 2025 location: York, Pennsylvania. Theme: Traveling. Retreat focus: Weaving immersion, yarn, good food.

There is no escape … this is inspiration for an outdoor brunch with a country table setting! I grabbed some looms, yarn from the Marketplace, and designed a Countryside Brunch Table Topper, which is our third Weave Together 2025 project.

The Yarns

Lofty Fiber’s LoftyCotton Pillow Soft yarn is a beautiful thick/thin cotton that weaves up great on our F – fine sett looms, but for this project I used it double-stranded on the R – regular sett which allowed me to blend colors.

I also discovered Circulo Natural Multicolor 4/6 at Lofty Fiber, a variegated thick cotton that weaves up into a sturdy fabric on the R – regular sett looms.

Looms and Instructions

To make the project, weave:
– 6 jewel shapes on the Original Jewel Loom, R, in Circulo Natural, I used multicolor 9392
– 12 hexagon shapes on the Original TURTLE Loom™, R, holding two strands of Pillow Soft together (I used colors Gold and Cayenne)

Joining pieces that are not organized in rows and columns is not always easy (ask any quilter), so here are a few “best practices” tips that you may find helpful when assembling your table topper:

To assemble the center circle, layout the jewels with the end tails pointing together and the start tails pointing into the same direction, for example “all to the right”.

Join the jewel pieces along the long sides first. Secure the first stitch (splice the yarn tail with the first stitch as shown), then whip stitch along the side, skipping about every fourth stitch.

Before joining the last two sides, use the following method to make a nice center … no ugly hole, and the jewel shapes don’t pull together and pucker.

Tip: This method works for joining other shapes, too!

  • Start with a securing stitch at the top of the current jewel (make one stitch around the last warp and split the working yarn ), to make sure that the yarn stays in place.
  • Gather one stitch at the tip of each jewel shape …
  • Continue all around.
  • Pull in the circle enough to reduce the opening without pulling in the jewels too much.

Next, add the hexagons all around the jewel circle, like a ring or border.

For a neat border, first attach hexagons to the bottom sides of the jewels as shown.

Finally, “insert” a hexagon each into the remaining spaces.

Tip: If you use the hexagon tails facing towards the jewel circle as shown, you can use those tails for the sewing and you will have no tails left after that … which makes a really neat edging for the table topper with no more tails to weave in.

There you have it! All done!
Serve with bread and cheese and a beverage of your choice …

A Very Lofty Headscarf

Posted on by texasgabi

The stunning Cherry Blossom Scarf by Yvonne Ellsworth on the title of Handwoven Spring 2025 instantly captured my attention … yours, too?

Reading up on the project details I noticed that the scarf uses one of my favorite mohair yarns, Berroco Aerial.

One thought lead to the next, and I wondered if I could use any leftovers from such a project to make something nice with pin looms.

For my second Weave Together 2025 project I settled on the idea of making a headscarf, light enough to keep the wind from messing up one’s hair, but without being too warm … perfect for traveling.

The Rhinebeck Headscarf pattern that was released last fall already includes a chart for such a headscarf, made of hexagons (and half hexagons) only.

Based on my calculation there should be enough Aerial left after making the Cherry Blossom scarf to pin-loom weave a headscarf. I randomly wove up hexagons in both colors and arranged those into stripes. Feel free to create your own color distribution!

To give the head row a little bit more strength, I wove the pieces for this row by holding a strand of Aerial and the very soft LoftyCotton 8/4 from Lofty Fiber together.

This approach on its own would make a great sweatband, too.

Instead of knitting an i-cord to tie the headscarf I came up with the idea of using a mitten clip as closure (I found some on Amazon).

With just the mitten clip, the headscarf will fit a small adult head, and you can add a trapezoid on each end of the head row to make the closure easily adjustable for larger head circumferences.

To make the headscarf you will need:

Happy Leftover Weaving!