Category Archives: Loom Knitting & Weaving

May Wreath

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02-IMG_0416For my Wreath of the Month for May, I decided not to do traditional flowers and fluff for this special month, I decided to give tribute to the creative side of Motherhood. Mom’s are the most creative people I know and I’m not talking just crafts either. As I’m the only Mom in this house, I chose some of my favorite stuff to put on my May wreath.

I sculpted the loom & loom hook and then made the little red toboggan on the loom (just to see if I could.)
My sister sort of stepped in the role of Mom after our Mother passed on. She’s spent alot of time and care on me and my family. She’s my Bff and responsible for introducing me to the addictive and enjoyable craft of looming.

I sculpted the crochet hook and it does work, but it’s close to an ‘I’ size, so I crocheted the little granny square with a metal size ‘G’ hook. The size ‘G’ hook was my Mom’s. I think of her every time I use it. I’m thankful she gifted me with the love of crochet.

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click to read big size

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I made the cell phone with plastic canvas. I hope it looks like a bit of Excessive Crafting like I really made a plastic canvas case for a cell phone. lol
I made the texting with my image program. The text advice is something I’ve shared many times with my family. Crafting to calm down is a pleasant and enjoyable way to relax.
My Bff has on more than one occasion echoed these words back at me when I get stressed.

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I sculpted the spoon and fork in honor of all the meals and cooking that goes into raising a family. (and also for us old folks after the little birdies have left the nest.)

My embroidered red-work heart is for sewing. It makes me smile remembering all the buttons, costumes, clothes, toys and stuff that I’ve mended or made over the years. I’m so thankful that my Mom gifted me with the skill of sewing. She spent many an hour and many a day happily sewing away on apparel or quilts or toys. She was an amazing lady.
I think my mason jar ring worked out nicely for a frame for my embroidered heart.

I crocheted the 3 daisies awhile back, but I wasn’t sure what I wanted to use them on. I needed another something for the wreath and happily they fit okay.
Plus my Mom never met a flower that she didn’t like and pretty much I’m the same way. Gardening is a wonderful gift she passed on to me too.

The wreath base is made of newspaper and covered in knitted yarn blocks made on a cardboard loom.

I’m sorry I’m running so late on posting this. I’ve had a bit of a goofy week and can’t seem to get organized.

Wishing you all a Happy May!

t6202

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Here’s why I’m making a ‘Wreath of the Month’ for every month of 2014.
~*~

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Martha Stewart Loom set

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4-msloomMy blogging buddy Renee inspired this post. She mentioned that she didn’t know that Martha made looms.
It occurred to me that she may not be alone on that. I figure I should post some photos of my Martha Stewart loom set to show what I talk about so much in looming.

2-msloomHere’s all the pieces parts straight out of the case.

Pros:
You can weave or knit oodles of stuff in a lot of different sizes.

It’s fun to put together. (Brings back nostalgic memories of tinker toys. 😉 )

Lion Brand web site has info and patterns for the Martha Stewart looms.
Lion Brand – Martha Stewart  has a lots of videos on youtube on how to knit and weave with the looms.
The cast on and the bind off was tricky for me to learn at first, so I was thankful for the videos.

Aggrivations:

5-msloomsetThe Martha Stewart loom hook isn’t good quality and bends/breaks easily.
I do like the handle of the MS loom hook. I wish they’d put a little more time in the actual quality of the hook part.
Fortunately, I had ordered a Knifty Knitter loom hook and didn’t have to use the MS one for long. The MS hook wire was getting weak and would’ve broken in no time.
I now use a super sturdy loom hook that came with my Kb Afghan Loom, so I am good to go.

loomtapeSome of the pegs fit loose and I use painter’s tape to hold them in and some of the pegs fit so tight I carefully hammer them in.

3-msloomThere’s not a comfortable way to store the pegs in the plastic case of the loom set, oh I could put the pegs in bags and stuff them stuff in the back, but I don’t like that at all. So I bought a 6 pack of little waters that my Grandson happily helped empty. I soaked off the labels and use them to store my pegs in. The little bottles work like a charm.

1-msloomI must confess that all-in-all I really enjoy the loom set. In fact I enjoy it so much that I bought a second set. Well, it was on sale and I thought if I had a second set I could put the parts together with my first set and knit or weave some really big stuff. lol Also I can have more than one project going at once. I haven’t used my second set yet, but I have it if I ever take a hankering to use it. 😉

This is all for me at the moment.

I hope you all have a fabulous Friday
and a wonderful weekend.
🙂

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Potholders on a Martha Stewart loom

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IMG_8531The other day I needed a potholder. I went to my dishcloth/potholder drawer and discovered that all my potholders were in the washing machine. It was then I realized that I had only 4 potholders and needed more.
I thought about sewing some up and I may yet, but I needed one sooner than I could pull my fabric and supplies together and make one.

I remembered that back in early winter my Bff had given me a bag of cotton craft loops. They’re sort of a teri-cloth type, but I figured they’d work. I needed a loom though. Thank goodness for my Martha Stewart loom set. I put together a loom that was a big as the loop would stretch and I began happily weaving.

IMG_8525I discovered early on that if I used the normal bind-off that the potholder would be too small. I decided to stitch the edge with cotton yarn and bind it off that way.

IMG_8518On the first potholder, I weaved cotton yarn throughout it and crocheted around the edge, but I really don’t like the way it looks, so the others I just stitched around the outside loops.

I like my new potholders, they’re not pretty and have wonky stitches, but they work and that’s the important thing.

I thanked my Bff for the loops. I enjoyed making several nice size heavy potholders with them and wished that she was here making some too.

Here’s wishing you all a good day with
quick resolutions to any issues that arise.
sewinggran

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Happy Spring!

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IMG_8368a
Happy Spring!

Well we made it, finally the first day of Spring.
~happy dance~

In my first post about my making a ‘Wreath of the Month‘, I mentioned that some months may have more than one wreath, this month is one of those months. I made this wreath for the first day of Spring.

The sun is shining, it’s 60° and the wind is quite calm. The flora and fauna are waking up and it looks like winter is officially over both season-wise and weather wise. Okay I know we have a few heavy frost to go and some quite chilly weather, however snow and ice isn’t as big of a worry as it was. 😉

Wishing you all a glorious Spring,
filled with sunshine and joy.
🙂
IMG_83730One more thing…
I thought I’d give you all a side view of how the middle of the daffodil & jonquil blooms trumpet out.

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Loom Knit Kitchen Scrubbies

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IMG_7454Last month my Bff called me to tell me a very helpful hint she discovered: use a scrubby to wash potatoes with.
I love this idea and have used it ever since.

IMG_8189Back in the winter my Bff gave me some nice size scrubbies. They’re bigger than the ones I make. So, she told how many pegs and which loom she used.
I’m so glad she helps me. We have so much fun discussing looming and sharing our projects and ideas with each other.

“Thanks so much my Dear Bff,
Your scrubbies are great and your idea to use them as vegetable scrubber is wonderful.
I’m happy to share your hints with my blogging buddies and readers.” 🙂

I thought I’d make a bit of a tutorial to show how I now make bigger scrubbies.
I use regular 4 ply acrylic yarn and tulle to make my kitchen scrubbies.

My terminology may be off. I can’t find the right words sometimes. 😉
Also, this tutorial doesn’t explain how to loom knit, but is written for folks who already know the basics of loom knitting.
If you’d like to take up loom knitting, here’s a link to a youtube.com search results for ‘How to Loom Knit’ It has oodles of videos of most anything you’d need to know to get started loom knitting.

And here we go…

Kitchen Scrubbies
knitting loom
knitting hook
Tulle (or some type netting)
Yarn (I use 2 strands of acrylic 4 ply yarn)
Large Darning Needle

Cut the netting in 1 1/2 inches wide strip about 12 to 15 yards long.
Wind the strip of tulle into a ball.

*Leave about a 12 inches yarn/netting strip to weave in to use as a drawstring when you’re finished.
Or use a drawstring cast-on.
Hold yarn and netting strip together and cast them on the loom in your favorite fashion.
*I use a regular e wrap cast on.

Using E wrap, knit 12 to 15 rows.
*I usually just knit until there’s about 12 inches of the yarn/netting strip left.

To bind off, thread a darning needle with the yarn/netting strip and feed it through the loops as you take them off the pegs. Continue until the scrubby is off the loom.

Pull the the yarn/netting strip drawstring tight and tie off

Weave the beginning 12 inch strip of yarn/netting strip in and out of the edge stitches making a drawstring.
Pull tight and tie off.

I generally thread the strip through the scrubby and tack it to the other side to secure it in place.

The 5 1/2 inch blue knifty knitter loom makes about a 4 inch scrubby.
scrubbet

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I make smaller scrubbies using a Martha Stwart square loom with 20 pegs.
mslm

A Scrubby is another handy item that can be made from left over yarn.

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Further Resources:
Here’s a link to a tutorial for Scrubbies.
There’s a few differences between it and mine. Go and check it out, it may be a more understandable and a better method for you if you’re interested in loom knitting a scrubby.

 

edited in 1-15-2019 – hopefully helpful info:
PVC Pipe Knitting Loom Stands

 

PVC Pipe Knitting Loom Stands – with lengths for various looms