Winter is always the season of weaving for me. With my overly large floor room, it’s the only time of year that I’m okay being tucked into my basement studio for hours shuttling back and forth.

I turn on the space heater, bring down a pot of tea and put it on my candle warmer.

Open the shed, throw the shuttle, and beat the yarn into place.
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Weaving is one of the best ways to use up buckets of yarn scraps. And, it turns out, cardboard boxes too! This is a super fun project to take up a few hours and end up with a mountable little tapestry at the end of the day. You can make it with your kids and have them take turns weaving. In my case, we are setting up a load of these at the Ames C.art art festival booth to have the passer-by’s take turns on them. We love exposing everyone to new ways to be creative, and to make it accessible as possible. What’s more accessible than a card board box and a pile of yarn? Don’t answer that, on to weaving!

{I ended up not needing the packaging tape, but it just seemed like a good thing to have around no matter what}

::Materials Needed::

• Sharpie Marker
• X-ACTO Knife and Cutting Mat
• Pencil
• Packaging Tape
• Yarn for the Warp (at least 5 yards, more if your box is bigger)
• Sturdy small box, like this Ziploc Bags box

I wanted to make two little looms from one box, so I cut this one exactly in half. It ended up being at the 4″ mark. Unfortunately, I only had the idea to measure, then mark, after I attempted to just freehand a line – it was off and squiggly. Good thing for rulers.

Now, it’s time to measure out the notches on each short edge of the box to hold the “warp”

Note: Warp is the yarn that runs vertically on your loom, weft is what you weave over and under the warps horizontally.

I measured out every 1/4″ and made a little 3/8″ notch, then I set the box aside for the time being.

I cut a rectangle from a scrap piece of cardboard so it was about 1/2″ smaller than my box is wide. The rectangle is about 3 1/4″ X 6 1/4″.

I measured out 1/8″ and 3/8″ along the top and bottom of the cardboard and then drew out the 1/8″ wide gaps to be cut out. Then I eyeballed little squares at the center point of each spacer.

Don’t worry about trying to cut through the cardboard in one go, make you initial cut, then cut again. Be patient. Use really sharp blades, I had to change mine out once with all the cardboard cutting I did.

Now you can warp your box loom a couple of different ways. I think the more standard way is to cut lengths of yarn about 6″ longer than the box, thread them through one at a time, put them into the notches, and tie bundles of say 4 on each side. But, my brain doesn’t always work, it works in a “how can I get the most out of a minimal amount of yarn” way. I just really didn’t like the idea of having to tie off all that yarn either. I know myself and I know I would manage to make it into a huge tangled mess. But that being said, if you have a bunch of shorter lengths of yarn vs 5 yards of just one, the first option would be the way to go.

First I simply threaded the yarn through the spaces and the holes. Then I teased out enough yarn to tie a slip not and secure it into the first notch.

Then I continued to tease more yarn off the larger spool and loop it around the notch at the other end. I kept teasing out the yarn and looping it around the notches.

Here’s a better picture showing how I would pull out the next loop of yarn so I can place it into the next notches.

And here it is when I’m on the last two loops of yarn and the last two sets of notches.

And placing it into a notch.

I cut the yarn so there was enough to tie off. Then I realized that instead of tying it off, it would actually hold the tension better if I woven it around the notches, so that’s what I did.

And now it’s time for the fun part: weaving!!!

Placing two pieces of cardboard into your warp as your first two “passes” helps to keep you from having to work right against the edge of the box. Plus it gives you a little ease so you can easily tie off the ends when you take it off the loom.

By twining the next two passes, you set your weaving up to have a nice evenly spaced set of warps.

Arching the weft and then beating it with a fork after you’ve closed the shed (the gap that’s created by pushing the card board harness down or lifting it up) helps it not pull at the sides (salvage) so much and have a more even tension.

Operate the harness (piece of cardboard with the yarn going through it) by pushing it down or pulling it up.

Have fun & happy crafting!

Kristin Roach

I’m not sure if you’ve ever heard of Pay With a Tweet before, but, read on and you will! This great service let’s you set up a tweet, a gift to download, and then generate the code for you (or in this case me). It allows us to swap nice and even steven. :) You tweet (or post on Facebook) about my holiday related eBook Card.Paper.Ribbon. and in exchange, I give you this sweet little tutorial for using greeting cards by making them into sturdy, woven coasters!

Have you seen the banner in the sidebar for Card.Paper.Ribbon, but aren’t really sure what it’s all about? Well, click here to get some preview shots of the inside and full description of tutorials and projects included! There are quite a few I must say. I really love the way this ebook turned out.

I wrote Card.Paper.Ribbon. because I was getting really frustrated with the garbage bags packed full of wrapping paper, that oh so pretty on the package curling ribbon, and all those greeting cards with just a signed name. I made paper, I collaged, I knit and crocheted, I bound books, and I even sewed. I wrote it all up so I could show all of you to as well!

Do you know someone who might like Card.Paper.Ribbon, but want to give them a physical present? Diane Gilleland of CraftyPod, who helped me put this ebook together, did a great collection of tutorials on making ebooks into physical gifts: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and Part 5!

Enjoy your holiday and have some happy crafting time in the mix! I’m waiting on my 5th batch of tasty baked goods to finish baking as I write this, love this time of year!

Merry Christmas!

Kristin

Part of stash busting is to finish all my WIPs. Instead of posting all my WIPs at once, I’ve opted to post about one at a time. Focusing on each one, finishing it, and moving on to the next. Each WIP has a story to tell. Some will end up frogged. Some will end up finished. They will all be added to the WIP flickr set as part of the Stash Collection. I’ll post WIP projects as they come up. Sometimes once a week, sometimes once a month. Just depends how quickly I can finish them.

While the flooding last month was bad, one good thing did come out of it. The garage flooded causing us to immediately move my loom into the house so it wouldn’t get water damage. The plan all along was to set it up in the basement, but I wasn’t expecting to motivate Jason to help me move it for a long time.

I’ve been really busy lately. One thing that has helped to keep me from being in a state of perpetual panic is to take an hour in the morning and do something with my hands. For awhile it was the chicken coop (pounding nails is excellent for stress). After that was finished I felt like something was missing from my daily routine. So last week, I started fussing around with the loom in the basement each morning.

My loom is pretty amazing. Not so much that it’s the “best” loom, more so because it’s my loom. And the way it came into my possession is a good story. I still can’t believe I got this 4 harness (can hold up to 10 harnesses) 60″ wide floor loom for free. I love it. Simply because it’s mine and allows me to weave.

I finished my first project pretty quickly, a nice little scarf. It was a mix of plain weave and a simple twill. I was energized, on to the next project. Rosemary, the owner of the Rose Tree Fiber shop, let me use her warping board to measure out my warps – a nice mix of green and gray wool that I had purchased from the sale table. I brought it home and started winding the warp. That’s when the trouble started,it was such a tangled mess.

I had never worked with wool for warps before and stupidly thought, “I’ve warped with freaking wire, I can warp with anything.” Well, as much as wire shredded my hands, tangled, and was in general a literal pain, it was not a 2-ply thin, old weak wool. I swear, this stuff breaks if you look at it wrong.

So on top of the usual wool grabbiness, it also snapped. A lot. I think I broke over 20 warps while just winding it on.

I thought, “I can deal with that. I’ll fix it when it gets around to the front. No big deal.” Beads of sweat were stippling my forehead at this point. I wanted to try a new drafting pattern so I could do the birds eye tweed set of patterns from the Handweaver’s Pattern Book, and I miss-threaded. But I didn’t realize I had messed it up until I had started threading the reed. That’s when I stopped working on the project. While I kept saying “I’ll sort it out” I was relieved when we moved the loom to the garage to make room for a dining room table. It took the pressure off.

I kept saying, “I’ll get back to it.” At one point, discouraged by my lack of use, I almost donated the whole thing to a local art center. But I kept thinking about the story of my loom and how even when she was giving me the loom, after 30 years of not using it, she was still sad to let it go. I don’t want to be that way. I love weaving. I’ve missed weaving. I was so excited to get a loom.

I realized what was holding me up was that mess of warp. I decided to give sorting it out a try, just a try. If it becomes a huge source of frustration, I have given myself permission to cut the warps off, buy some new warp, and reset.  That was a freeing decision. And Jason fully endorsed it which helped. In fact, seeing me struggle with it, he was like, “Do you want me to buy you some new warp? You don’t have to be so stressed about something you usually enjoy.” He’s pretty smart like that.

First, I had to sort out where I was in the mess. Heck, I had to figure out what my intentions were for the project. I couldn’t even remember what set of twill patterns I was attempting to draft for. After a quick look through past sketchbooks, I found my notes. I opted to transfer it to a new sketchbook so I can keep my weaving notes with the loom. And as it happened, my sister gave me a little sketch book when she came by on Monday, perfect.

And after just a couple of days working on it for an hour each morning, I sorted it.

Look at that. Lovely warp. Lovely not tangled warp.

And this. I first tied the warp onto the back beam in November of 2008! Almost two years! Hooray! Take that! I will weave. I will weave a lot. I will put my loom to good use just like I promised.

I can’t wait to tie up the shafts in the right order and get started on my sampler scarf… that’s been a work in progress for two years.

I feel like finishing my WIPs is important for three reasons. One, I enjoy the process. Two, I enjoy the space it frees up. Three, it makes room for new crafty adventures!

What’s the longest WIP in your craft closet? Why do you think you’ve let it sit there unfinished?

Happy crafting!
Kristin

March and all its dreary weather has flown by with the help of some plushy goodness. Now April is just around the corner and Craft Leftovers Monthly is here to help usher in the spring season!

:: Bike riding
:: Basket making is the prominent theme (recycled paper and reed weaving projects)
:: A great spring bunny pattern from Absolutely Small
:: Easter Egg lore and painting
:: A great interview with SewDanish!
:: And of course a few other fun things too :)

I write, design, print, cut, staple and fold every single issue. I support other indie crafters by comissioning 2-3 guest articles each month. The Crafty Life Comic by Fanie Gregorie is regularly featured each month. Its delightful humor and wonderful illustrations always bring a smile to my face.

Pick up the April issue.

A Year Subscription or Half Year Subscription

Interested in selling Craft Leftovers Monthly in your shop? Email me for details: info [at] craftleftovers [dot] com.

Craft Leftovers Monthly is superb handmade craft zine filled with projects, recipes, tips, stories, puzzles, and original ideas.  It is 36 pages of crafty goodness printed on recycled paper.

This beautiful tiny zine is, literally, the size of a match box. The introduction and then the history of the Borrowers with a cute little accompanying magnifying glass. You will need it.

This zine is all about post. I love getting mail and mail art is even better. The page above is an adventure in sending woven tapestry. A great story. Plus there are your own woven post card templates included right in the zine.

This little guy is a Zinalogue. I’m going to totally make up some Craft Leftovers Monthly zine stamps and send this on to another zine making friend of mine. :)

This is such a neat way to send a note. It’s so cute. It’s the same design as her art stamps and in fact, reminds me of a book of stamps.

And this is the newest zine I’ve received from Su. It’s a completely new format. In fact, it’s styled after a newspaper. It’s a fairy tale newspaper–Enchanted Times! I love it. Check out that cute little sewing kit.

And this beautiful chart is so tempting to make right now. It’s next on my cross stitch list for sure! So fun!

You can read more about Su on her blog. And you can pick up any of these great zines and more from her Etsy shop here.

Happy Monday!

Kristin

The couch totally needs a redress. I really want to make a slip cover, but wow that’s a huge project. I think I need a baby step first. I want to do something to jazz up this bag boy on bricks (literally, but that is a story for another day – too sum up the legs were unstable and we were worried about crushed ferrets so we took them off and replaced them with bricks — it was too short without the legs) so pillows it is. But what pillow? I do have 2 pillow forms that I can use to stuff them, so that’s will determine the size. Now for the pillow itself. 

When I was flipping through the 1000 Ideas for Reuse book I saw Diane’s scrap journals again and it hit me: Woven Fabric! That’s what I want to do.

{aren’t these great!}

But huge, pillow sized! How do I do that? Well, I’m not sure, but I have a few ideas. What do you think? Good idea? bad idea? How would you use fabric strips to make a pillow? Should I bind it to a base fabric? What about putting a zipper in it so I can change it out? All of the above? None of the above? What’s your favorite scrap pillow project?

Much to think on. Hopefully by next week I will have the first one made.

Happy crafting!
Kristin

Folklore is one of my favorite places to draw inspiration from, so when the Octagon Center for the Arts asked me to participate in a “Folk Lore Summer Art Camp” I jumped on it. I packed up my spinning wheel, tapestry loom, weaving and spinning samples, drop spindles, carding paddles, and printed out a few of my favorite stories dealing with Spinning and Weaving and the main themes.

The kids liked the stories and shouted out to fill in the parts they knew. And they really enjoyed seeing and playing with handspun yarn and handwoven fabrics. The more there is to feel and play with the better. I talked a bit about how yarn is spun, woven into cloth, and then sewn into the daily items we used. Read more →

Weaving is such a versatile craft. Yes, you can make throws and rugs and tapestries. But you can also make clutches and badges and, like in Weaving Unloomed by Diane Gilleland – patches and pillows and all sorts of other things. And that’s just with yarn.

There is so much more… outside!

For instance, you can weave fences with willow – tall ones or as little as you need to trim the edges of your garden beds.

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Last week, when I went to build some supports for the tomatoes last week, I forgot my hammer and screw driver. Well, no big deal, I’m resourceful.

I simply pounded the slats into the ground – 4 wide, 3 deep. Then I wove the horizontal slats in a plain weave fashion.

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This great new book by Diane Gilleland has 5 great projects for weaving without a loom. Each project is unique and interesting. It covers a lot of bases too, it’s not all one style or one type of project, each project uses a different method.

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It’s the perfect thing for anyone interested in weaving but feeling a bit nervous about looms, or for advanced weavers looking for a fresh way of approaching their craft of choice. And as always the instructions are clear and concise and friendly – a perfect combo!

I especially love this bag! Seeing how I have a blot of burlap around here somewhere it only makes sense that this will be the first project I make. The woven in ribbon adds just the right touch – and aren’t those handles great! I can imagine it packed full of my latest projects and showing it off at the next knit group already!

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She had really taken advantage of the digital format with this book by giving you printer friendly instruction sheets at the end of each project. And if you just want to get your toes wet, you can also get each project individually.

You can see pictures of all the projects, more information about the book and a free loomless weaving project to download here. And you can purchase the book, any of the projects from the book, or her other e-book Making a Great Blog here.

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Happy weaving and making!

Kristin