This winter I ventured outside of loom knitting by first purchasing a cheap, plastic potholder loom and then, after a few disasterous attempts at making my own, a professionally-made 4" square loom from Hazel Rose. With the potholder loom, I made a potholder (gasp!) and also a scarf. With the Hazel Rose 4" multiloom, I made several squares with different yarns, but then became focused and made a hat from the 1936 Weave-It pattern book. I also made several dolls.

Along the way, I discovered this cool, retro plastic loom in a thrift store, the 4" Wonder Weave! I liked it so much that my  husband and I made a video, which is nearing 6,000 hits on Youtube. I know that isn't a huge number, but considering I didn't think it would have 100 hits, it's pretty remarkable.

The idea of looms got me dreaming enough that my Christmas present was a 2' triloom from Hideaway Homestead. It's lovely, and it works like a charm. Within just a few days, I made a shawl!

So, that all led into my new interest–flower looms. The first time I saw flower looms, I yawned and turned away. But then… I just became interested, all at once. Much to my surprise I realized I owned one–the small flower loom Knifty Knitter. (So that's why the pegs come out!) And then, while walking through an antique store yesterday, I saw this interesting little box marked Crazy Daisy Winder. It was $.10. Yes, that's ten cents… a dime. The small, round brass disc has a knob in the center that, when twisted, makes 12 tiny metal rods come out. Those little spikes hold your yarn/thread/metal while you wind on your "petals." Then, you secure the center with a series of clever stitches (the backstitch), and viola! You have a flower. A second twist of the knob, the metal spikes disappear, and the flower comes off the loom. Pretty nifty. From what I can find out, these tiny flower looms were made in the 1940's.

Because my box and loom were missing instructions, my first attempts are pretty sad, so I'll share them with you another day. In the meantime, I've I discovered many wonderful sites dedicated to flower looms. Here are a few:

• Knitting-and-com: http://www.knitting-and.com/small-looms/index.html . (NOTE: This page has a nice variety of flowers and looms.)
• The Daisy Looming Flickr Group: http://www.flickr.com/groups/crazydaisies/
• Cathy of California (focuses on vintage looms): http://www.cathyofcalifornia.typepad.com/ . (NOTE: Cathy was recently on the Martha Stewart show.)
• Hana Ami loom video: http://www.clover.co.jp/cgi-bin/link_cnt/link_cnt.cgi?cnt=139 . (NOTE: This is in Japanese, and yet it demonstrates the flower loom so beautifully, that you probably don't need a translation.)

Coming soon: A Winter Recap (those felted mittens, a really floppy hat, a real picture of my shawl, and a slanted cupcake.)