Mark Twain

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do ...
Explore. Dream. Discover." Mark Twain

Tuesday, March 8, 2022

Weaving - I’ll be back!

I wish it wasn’t so, but I occasionally have projects that are started, not completed and are either given away or frogged. 

One of these 'not completed' projects is a weave-it blanket.  I will say this project has “staying power” because it has survived multiple downsizing events.  Every time I came across the bag filled with woven squares I said “I’ll be back” ... It never occurred to me even once that maybe I should just give up on this project

Well, now I am back!  And here is the story.

Here are all the squares of this partially started blanket.
Yes, it is a lot of pieces,
and yes, it has a lot of ends to weave in! (Gobs and gobs of ends!)  And as you can see - some of the 
sewing has been done - but honestly, this has a ton of work left to do 
before it is complete.

But seen up close the woven squares are so appealing to me, and different yarns
produce different effects.  The plaid ones above are made with a single multi color skein of yarn.  
It is fun to watch it develop.  
Each plaid is different and there is no cutting the yarn to change colors.

This weave-it blanket was started around 2009 - 2010 soon after I learned to make these little squares from Karen, (Happy One) of the Life is Good blog.  Karen introduced me to this weaving technique that she learned from her grandmother. At the time it wasn’t all that common a technique but in the 1930s and 1940s it was very popular.  When I started with this project you could buy weave-it looms on the secondary market - and with a little searching - I found someone who would make them “new.”  As the interest in weaving grew over the years, these little looms were “rediscovered” and have gained popularity among weavers, knitters, crocheters alike.

The white loom is the Zoom Loom and the wooden loom is the one
I purchased off of Etsy. Both are weave-it style looms.

On weave-it looms, the pins are in groupings of 3.

At about the same time, I discovered the pin weaving looms made by Hazel Rose - looms where the pins are equally spaced and the weaving is done corner to corner. They come in various sizes (squares, rectangles, triangles, etc.) and fall under the umbrella term of continuous strand weaving - meaning that you create the warp of the project at the same time as you weave the project.  Very ingenious and half the work.



Here are 6 squares made on a 12” Hazel Rose pin loom using the 
continuous strand weaving method.  They are not yet sewn together and many more 
are needed to complete the project - but with 12” squares there are many fewer ends to
weave in and the sewing is much easier.  I am still experimenting with this project on patterns and
if I will introduce a 3rd color.  I have researched weaving patterns that can be done on this loom as well.  So this project is still in its infancy.

I once made a shawl for my mom using this 12 inch bias corner to corner loom.  It was pretty easy to sew 10-12 squares together and have a lovely shawl. A close up of that shawl can be seen in the center picture of the header of my blog. Unfortunately that shawl is no more and finding pictures of the shawl have proved unsuccessful.  My mom was in assisted living at that time and the shawl was snatched up by the center staff and put in the laundry - washed and dried in commercial sized washers and driers - and because it was 100% wool, it shrunk to the size of a placemat.  ☹️

Weaving and I parted company for a few years, but I held on to most of the equipment and yarn.  Then my thumb started giving me problems and I was searching around for things to do with yarn that didn’t aggravate my hands!  Weaving started to pull me in once again, but only for the smaller simplistic looms - like the weaving-it and the Hazel Rose looms - that didn’t involved tons of preplanning and warping as a precursor to the fun part - which was the actual weaving.

So weaving is back in my life again and it has been most gratifying to discover that these smaller pin looms have a dedicated following.  They can be found in Facebook groups, Ravelry groups, websites, and several dedicated blogs that focus on small hand held looms - and even books and patterns that are dedicated to wearable projects created using these cute little blocks.  In fact, it is very easy now to get a weave-it style loom that is not a 1930s antique.  The Zoom Loom has several wonderful little features that the antique style loom does not.

Returning to the weave-it loom blanket (that I am now calling The Patch Work Blanket) - here is the first photo once again followed by the most recent photo that shows the current progress.

Here are the squares that I found packed away in a bag from years ago.
Only the far left column of squares have been completely sewn together.  
Tons of strings still hang from all pieces of the work.
And, yes, all those strings are a bit overwhelming.  But I have
a plan for future weave-it projects to get passed the strings.  

Almost all the squares have been sewn together and the strings for 
most of it have been woven into the piece.  I suspect this blanket is more than half done,
but how much more needs to be done - I don’t know yet.

I will return to this blanket and the pluses and minuses of doing a project like this in a future post.  I will also share some of the books and patterns that I have discovered that use this technique.  




10 comments:

Leftycrafter said...

This is fascinating. The blanket is going to be gorgeous.

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

While it seems to be quite the project, the completed portion looks beautiful and sure you will complete it. It is indeed a very gOod thing that everything survived several downsizing, so it must be meant to be completed.

Marie Smith said...

This looks like so much work but it must be satisfying to see progress with it. It will be a beauty!

happyone said...

Your blanket is coming along nicely and is beautiful.
I've been making baby blankets so only use 70 squares. The regular size blankets that I've made (and the ones my gramma made) had just over 300 squares. The yellow gingham I'm working on will have over 500 when I finally get it done.
I sew the ends when I finish a square so don't have so many to do when done.
Thanks for the blog mention.

Linda said...

I can't tell you how excited I am that you're weaving again! Love how the blanket is coming out and so happy you're enjoying it.

Cat said...

It looks like it will be a nice blanket. I had one of the potholder weavers, but it was plastic, and broke. Never got interested in trying again, if for no other reason, I have more than enough "toys" now! ;)

Look forward to seeing the finished blanket!
Cat

A :-) said...

How fun! Of all the continuous strand looms that I had, the only one I kept is the one I weave dish rags on! And I have a small Weavette that did belong to my grandmother!! For years I didn't know what it was. Your blanket and possible shawl are looking great! I also have an old-fashioned potholder loom and I always spring for the Harrisville loops for it. They are the best!

Leigh said...

I love this. Variegated yarns make great plaids! You have great color sense and there are so many things you could make!

M.K. said...

That blanket is REALLY pretty. Looking so good! I remember Karen's doing those little weave-it squares :) I'm doing my second mitred square blanket, which is knitted on needles, and there's NO weaving in loose ends, which is nice. But it's not woven. You're right that it would be lovely to just do the weaving, and not the warping up! I might have to give that a thought! Right now I'm starting in on tapestry weaving, which is super fun!!! And I think somehow I ended up with one of the long needles that I see in your photos. I wondered what it was!

Becki said...

That was interesting to read about. Thank you for the pictures and all the explanation, Elaine. I think I can see why this project has not been forsaken. Such a variety of squares can be made from such a small and simple tool. Well, simple in concept, but it does look intricate in the doing of the weaving. Thinking I need to look this up on YouTube to see it being done. Oh boy... another rabbit hole. But a fun one! :)