Pin Loom Snowman

Pin Loom Snowman (Tutorial posted with permission of designer)

Design by Deborah Bagley (see “Christmas Pin Loom Pattern Set” in YarnovationsShop on Etsy)

Materials

• Worsted weight white yarn, 8 yards, for body (wool yarn recommended).
• Contrast worsted weight yarn, 8 yards, for hat. Optional: you can use a triangle loom. (Wool yarn recommended.)
• Optional: fingering, sock, or sport weight yarn for scarf (or you can twist the white and contrast color together, then fray the ends, to make the scarf)
• Optional small crochet hook for scarf (size D or E 3.25/3.5 mm)
• Black felt for eyes, mouth, and buttons; orange felt for nose
• Optional: black yarn or embroidery thread for eyes, etc.
• Glue
• Sticks for arms (could use wire or possibly thin chenille stems)
• Optional: 10 mm jingle bell or pompon for hat
• Polyfil and white beans for filling
• Weaving kit (4” loom, weaving needle, packing fork, scissors, sewing needle)
  

Instructions

BODY

1. Weave one white 4” square. Leave a few inches for the beginning tail (to be used later for sewing) and wrap 5 times around pins + 1 or 2 inches to measure yarn.
2. Fold square in half (corner 3 to Cr4, Cr1 to Cr2). Use weaving tail to sew a double running stitch (or whipstitch) seam to create a rectangular tube. Gather/cinch bottom of tube tightly closed by sewing through scallop loops; secure stitches. Turn right side out.
   

   Snowman body, sewn and turned

3. Fill lower 2/3 of tube with beans and Polyfil. (Wrap beans in Polyfil to keep beans from showing through; stuff into snowman.) Fill upper 1/3 with only Polyfil. (The beans give the snowman some weight, so they’re optional.) DON’T FILL TOO FULL: head and neck will be cinched which takes up some room.
4. Gather/cinch head closed.
   

   Tube stuffed and ready to close

HAT

1. Weave one 4” square in contrast color (5 pin wraps). (Optional: use 4” triangle loom to make hat. This allows you to have a floppier hat. You will not need to fold the piece into a triangle.)
   

   I like to fold the triangle slightly not in half so the seam isn’t as thick. I use a running stitch of white or the scarf yarn to secure the brim.

2. Fold woven square in half, forming a triangle, then fold the triangle in half, right sides together. Sew a double running stitch (or whipstitch) seam along the scalloped edge. Turn right side out. (I fold the square nearly in half for the triangle which makes for a thinner seam and a little more of an opening for the head to fit in.)
3. Optional: add decorative stitch along lower edge of hat.
4. Attach bell to point of hat. If desired, pull yarn (and secure) to give the hat a little bit of a bend. (If using a triangle, the hat is more bendy and has a scalloped brim. See photo at the end of tutorial.)

SCARF

1. Use a small crochet hook and thin yarn to make the scarf. Crochet a chain about 7.5 inches.
2. Add extra fringe at the ends of the scarf and knot in place.
3. Optional: Use worsted weight yarn and twist the pieces individually, then ply them together. Knot ends and fray those bits of yarn to make fringe.

FACE AND BUTTONS, FINAL ASSEMBLY

1. Cut mouth, eyes, and buttons from black felt. Cut a small triangle from orange felt. (Optional: you can embroider the features or use real buttons. I sew the eyes with black yarn, but use felt for the rest.)
2. Try the features on his face with the hat to get a good placement. (A space of two white threads between the eyes works well for me.)
   

   I like to try everything on before cinching the neck and gluing the features. The needle marks where I’ll tie the knot around his neck—aaaack!

3. About 1” down from top, tie white yarn around the stuffed tube to form the neck. Tie in front and back. (These knots will be covered with the scarf.)
4. Glue the features and buttons on the snowman. Put a line of glue around the lower inside edge of hat and press into place on snowman head.
5. Tie scarf around his neck. (You may want to do this before gluing.)
6. Add twig arms on either side, by poking them into the body. (I recommend NOT gluing them. In case they break you can easily replace them.)
   

   Snowman with triangle for hat.

   

   4″ Snowman and 2″ snowman–I used wire for their arms