There are two modern looms tucked in this collection—a10” square loom and a 4” Hazel Rose multi loom. All the rest are vintage. Yes, there were a few memorable years where I visited thrift and antique stores and my eyes were always scanning shelves, boxes, and corners looking for these little treasures.
This one is pretty!
I must say, weaving plaid scarves is the thing:
This cozy little scarf was completed yesterday. It’s another rectangle loom scarf using my Hideaway Homestead loom on the 10″ x 48″ setting. I’ve found they “shrink” in width about 2″ or more, but the length stays about the same. The yarn was Yarn Bee First Love, which is 100% polyester. It holds its shape very nicely off the loom:
I’ve struggled using a crochet hook as a continuous strand weaving tool. When you first start a project, it’s easiest to use your hands to weave, but after about twenty rows, it’s faster to use a crochet hook; however, there are times it works perfectly and there are times the yarn jumps off while pulling it through the shed or the hook itself snags the yarn and creates a mess. I’ve often thought there should be something better than a crochet hook for this type of weaving. Some weavers use a long, wooden hook that has what appears to be a deeper, sturdier looking hook, but I still thought there should be something that almost locks in the yarn but allows it to travel through the opening freely while pulling the working yarn through the shed.
Then I thought of using the humble kitchen skewer. If I could add a handle to this, it’d be a perfect tool for weaving this way. I’ve been using it without a handle, and it’s great. The yarn doesn’t snag, it only jumps out of place on occasion, and using the rounded end to weave over/under works really well. It’ll only be the last five rows or so where the size of this becomes an issue, and then… back to the crochet hook.
