Adventures in Pin Loom Weaving — How to add colors and weave in ends as-you-go

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While some patterns might look best in only one color, far more of them look better with two or more. But what to do with all those pesky ends? If you’re not a knot fan, you’ll want to leave yarn tails, but wouldn’t it be better to work in as many as possible while you’re weaving instead of saving them all till the end?

Yarn tails everywhere!

Yarn tails everywhere!

In this post I’ll briefly discuss selecting colors that look good together (according to principles of art and my opinion). Then I’ll demonstrate how to use two colors and prepare the loom so you can work in some of the ends as you weave.

Hopefully everyone knows what complementary colors are (“A secondary color that, when combined with the primary color whose wavelength it does not contain, produces white light” Dictionary.com). One color completes the other, making a complement. So, complementary colors are a safe bet when choosing colors, right? Yes, sort of. You also have to take into account color temperature and value (the lightness or darkness of the hue). Read More →

Adventures in Pin Loom Weaving — Books, Schmooks

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for L. A.

One reason I don’t want to write a non-fiction book is because it’s like asking for a gob of mistakes to be printed and preserved practically for eternity. As I peruse Florencia Campos Correa’s book, 100 Pin Loom Squares (a book about which I have VERY mixed feelings) I can’t help thinking (again), “This could have been, should have been, a wonderful book. What makes me think I could do a better job?”

100 Pin Loom Squares book cover

100 Pin Loom Squares book cover

In the meantime, while I wrestle with my personal publishing commit-a-phobia, I shall devote some of my efforts to correcting extant mistakes. Today’s target: the two-layer warping (2LW) section of Florencia’s book (beginning p 38).

This is a sample page of my copy of the book. It prompted me to make one of my early blog post duos: to weave the houndstooth check patten on the Weave-it and Loomette, respectively.

This is a sample page of my copy of her book. The frustration I felt due to the lack of proper instructions prompted me to write one of my early blog post duos: how to weave the houndstooth check pattern–on the Weave-it and Loomette, respectively.

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Weave-Along, Week 7—Two-Layer Warping (Nothing to fear but fear itself)

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UPDATE (22 AUG 2019): For updated and better information on Two-layer Warping (2LW), please see the Topical Guide on Adventures in Pin Loom Weaving. Scroll down to the bottom for several links to instructions.

Two-Layer Warping (2LW) opens the door to a world of ultra-cool patterns. It’s a step closer to weaving on other looms. You’ll learn a bit more about how weaving works, and 2LW will help you understand the three-layer warping process more fully.

Three samples of two-layer warp patterns.

Samples of two-layer warp patterns.

This post covers 2LW on the Weave-it and comparable looms. Loomette offers a slightly different approach which will be covered in a subsequent post. Read More →

Adventures in Pin Loom Weaving—Using the Jiffy Loom

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For Sabrina, because she asked.

Some of my small collection of Jiffy Looms

Some of my small collection of Jiffy Looms

I don’t have a lot to say about this style of loom because I haven’t used it much. The fact that it has one more warp and weft strand than the Weave-it intrigues me with its pattern-designing possibilities. My brief experiences with it lead me to the opinion that though not impossible, it’s difficult compared to the Weave-it, to use. Jiffy Loom is certainly worth exploring–so I plan to persevere. Read More →