Tuesday, May 19, 2020

Surprise!

Years ago, I had a vintage pin loom. I had fun learning how to use it and then experimenting until it broke. One or two of the pins came off and there was no way to get them back on securely enough to use the loom properly. So that was that. Through the years I'd sometimes think about the loom and wish I still had it. A few weeks ago, this came up in conversation because Bill read a blog post about someone using hers.

This morning I'd just sat down with my porridge when the postman knocked on the door. Bill jumped up and went downstairs. When he came back, he was carrying a box. He'd gotten me a pin loom! Not only that, he bought a handmade one from a small business. They make the looms and sell them through a few different small fibre art businesses. He got this loom from one of them I love it that he supported a maker and two small businesses.
It's 4 inches square. They have other sizes, but this is the size I would have picked for myself, so I'm thrilled about that, too. It came with instructions for warping and basic weaving, a scarf pattern, and a weaving needle.

I will have so much fun playing with this and trying various ideas, which started bouncing around in my mind as soon as I saw it. I don't know what I will try first, but probably something with a smooth, untextured yarn so I can easily see what I am doing. This will be perfect for scraps. I can't wait to get started. But first, laundry. I'll be good and get my chores done before I play!

This is such a happy surprise. What a great gift from a great guy--not that I'm biased or anything  😁

7 comments:

Vicki said...

That was so thoughtful of him! I'm sure you are just as good to him too though. I tried my hand at a pin loom before and enjoyed it. I made a few pot holders. I hope you share a photo of what you make!

Brenda said...

Love this. Sweet husband. Everytime I try to comment on my Ipad or my phone, I am sent to Google to register-let's try this on my laptop. Love your hobbies.

Lowcarb team member said...

This is lovely, so thoughtful of Bill.
I would agree with you! "What a great gift from a great guy"

Wishing you a happy weekend

All the best Jan

JFM said...

You have a wonderful hubby to be so thoughtful.
Please share with us what you make.

Joy said...

Years ago I had one of those plastic deals that you used the 'loops' that you got with the kit to make various things. I've seen them now and then at the craft store and walmart. This looks a thousand times better because you can use up your yarn stash to make things. Is it possible to make something longer than the item working off one end like a loom or is it best to stick with the size/shape of the unit itself? My biggest regret in Scandinavia was not buying the lap loom I saw while I was leaving the country at a dept store. I've never seen anything like it ever since. It's fun that he thought of this and it has some variations you can do with it! The scarf you made on another post looks nice too. =)

Shari Burke said...

This one makes squares. They make triangle, rectangle, and hexagon looms, too, and also larger and even smaller ones. This one makes 4 inch squares. It works differently than a regular loom that gets a long warp. For this one, you warp around certain pegs, then turn the loom on its side and warp it tht way (so it's the same direction as the weft), then turn it back again and warp around different pegs than you did on the first go. Then you weave with the needle. So you get a self-contained square at the end. Uses less yarn than a granny square would and is pretty cool in novelty yarns! :-)

Joy said...

Oh thank you for that description. I've heard that some people somehow manage to elongate or expand work on looms that appear to be 'a single size' but I don't know how they do it? Maybe they move the work up to the top few pins? Or maybe I just misunderstood what i was seeing? LOL