Pin Loom Weaving To Go — book review

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About a year ago I received a request from Margaret Stump, author of Pin Loom Weaving, and her newest book, Pin Loom Weaving To Go. She wanted to write a blog post about my blog! She kindly let me review the post before she made it public. I made a couple of minor corrections and she published it.

Now I’m wondering if I need to do the same for her—I was asked by her publisher if I would review her new book.

Margaret Stump’s new release: Pin Loom Weaving To Go

It seems to me a book review is supposed to be my honest opinion. Right? If Meg (I hope she doesn’t mind if I call her that instead of Margaret which takes a lot longer to type) has suggestions, I welcome them. And if I’ve made mistakes, I’ll happily correct them. But I think I’ll write this review without adult supervision.

That said, I have to confess, I don’t feel entirely free to write my opinion. First of all, Meg will likely read this, and I wouldn’t for the world hurt her feelings. Second, her publisher will read it, the same publisher who asked me if I’m still interested in writing a book (though that’s looking kind of cloudy at the moment). I mean, can you see my position?

Nevertheless, while I’ll sincerely attempt to not trample feelings, I will express my opinion. (Caveat: it feels a little like I’m promoting my own stuff in this review. I don’t mean to; I’m the kind of person who likes to have links to things that are mentioned instead of making people go look it up for themselves.) Read More →

Hey, remember me?

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If there’s anyone out there still reading my blog (stats tell me I get the occasional visitor)—just want to let you know I’m still here, still weaving, knitting, crocheting, and occasionally sewing.

I have an idea about my pin loom patterns and “book.” If you’ve read the assorted blurbs on the Sue’s Book tab of this blog, you’ll see I vacillate. My original intention was to write and publish a children’s book, but after many years of serious effort I’ve abandoned the idea (maybe temporarily, maybe permanently). Lately I’ve toyed with the idea of writing a pin loom weaving book—well, more than toyed—I’ve put in some serious effort and had significant assistance from my friend, Tanja in the Netherlands, who is a typing wizard. She transcribed all the notes I sent her and paired them with the photos I sent her.

Here’s what part of it looks like (in miniature):

a glimpse of the Library of Patterns

Obviously Tanja couldn’t type up the stuff I didn’t send her . . . and haven’t sent her. I’ve been whipping up more patterns in the last week, and playing around with color combinations and pattern variations. I still write everything out by hand, but I’m slightly more organized about it now—I write on note cards and keep each card with its square in a Ziploc bag.

Old way . . .

New way

You might have noticed the photos are blurry. I did that on purpose for a couple of reasons. One is to protect the patterns’ privacy. The other is that we’re having a swap on the Facebook Pin Loom Weaving Support Group and I don’t want to give away any surprises (because I might be using some of these squares in the swap).

So, my idea is to give up on the idea of a book—my heart isn’t in it; I just like making up the patterns—and instead, release the patterns here under their own tab. That way we can all have access to my patterns instead of waiting for a day that likely will never arrive (if it’s up to me it isn’t to be—unfortunately).

Any comments?

Adventures in Pin Loom Weaving—Scarecrow Weave-Along (Part 5–Finale + Bonus)

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I have never known myself to get to the end of a first-time project and remember to photograph the end processes. So, I have no photos of the final assembly of the scarecrow. However, if you purchased the pattern, you have the same instructions I followed.

I tried a couple of different techniques:

  1. I sewed the raffia to the scarecrow’s head (remember I don’t like glue) before assembling the hat.
  2. I sewed the hat to the head (I don’t know if that was part of the instructions or not; by the end I was doing whatever I thought needed to be done to complete the project).
  3. Got the idea to add a crow from Bee Sroe on the Facebook Pin Loom Weaving Support Group.
  4. I added the Mini Pumpkin from the Halloween Pin Loom Set by Deborah Bagley.

    Ta da!

    Ta da!

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Adventures in Pin Loom Weaving—Houndstooth Check Re-re-re-revisited

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I’m obsessed with the houndstooth check pattern of weaving.

Houndstooth check requires a different warping and weaving style. It’s not the three layer warp method. It’s definitely not bias weaving. It isn’t exactly two-layer warping though it most closely resembles that style. Because of its roguish nature, you can play around with it a lot while warping, and even a bit while weaving. It produces this fascinating geometric design. I’m not all that crazy about the end result; it’s the process that grips me.

5" and 4" Houndstooth Check squares

5″ and 4″ Houndstooth Check squares

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