for MW

So, here’s what I was thinking as I constructed a 49 pins-per-side loom today: “Why don’t all the loommakers send me samples of their looms so I can promote them and extend their product’s usability?” (This is how I think while poking 192 holes and then placing 192 pins in a cardboard loom.) And then I realized, “Why should they? I’m plugging their products even though I don’t own any of them.”

(Apparently I need to clarify the above paragraph. It was meant as something of a joke. It’s probably selfish of me to wish my grunt work on others. I didn’t mean to solicit offers!)

Today’s ad features a 12″ x 12″ loom (what I’d call a bias loom) with 49-per-side equidistant pins.

12″ x 12″ loom — photo by Theresa Jewell. Used with permission.

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A member of the Facebook Pin Loom Weaving Support Group residing in the UK asked today about how to use a loom with equidistant pins (hereinafter referred to as “bias looms”). The only instructions she could find were for three-pin configured looms such as Weave-It and Zoom Loom. Someone asked her to post a photo of her loom—which was a wise thing to do. We all assumed she had a Loomette-type of loom (which I’ve written about before), but hers was different. The Loomette (which is not a bias loom) has 21 pins per side and no corner pins, for a total of 23 spaces. Our UK member’s loom has corner pins with 20 per side—for a total of 19 spaces.

Loom with 20 pins per side, all equally spaced

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A double row of leno followed by several rows of plain weave, then a single row of leno.

A double row of leno followed by several rows of plain weave, then a single row of leno.

I thought it would be interesting to try cropping a photo in a diamond shape. When photographing my bias leno squares, the openings didn’t show if the squares were laid flat, so I held this one up to the light. I confess I don’t really know what leno means (other than that it’s the former Tonight Show host’s last name), but I understand it’s a type of lace.

Oh, why not? Let’s look it up. So, leno is a type of weave wherein warp threads are twisted to give an open look. Read More →