Last summer, Syne Mitchel invited me to contribute some more designs to Weavezine. I suggested some Halloween dolls, and Syne said, “Yes!”
So, I had a
delightful time,
designing and
making these
charming and
somewhat  zany
dolls.
Here’s the link for  how to weave the Halloween Dolls on the potholder loom on Weavezine (which is an awesome online zine).
While I was looking for props for the photo shoot, I found the wonderful little cauldrons that I turned into pincushions.
Here’s the link for how to make a pumpkin pincushion from a miniature cauldron.
Can you see the pumpkin sitting on the chair next to the Pumpkin head doll in the …read more

Yesterday, I posted about how I spun paper streamers from a Blue Man show into yarn.
I promised to show what I have been doing with the upcycled paper yarn.
Well…
I’ve been working on a couple of things.
I knitted a little pocket doll with the yarn.
Myeh.  It wasn’t magical.
So I frogged it.
And, then, I followed my intuition. One of the b5 bloggers wrote recently that her little girl was saddened by being told that Unicorns are not real.
I thought…. hmmm…. why not show her that the realm of imagination is alive and well?
So, I got out my potholder loom, and started weaving …read more

For many years, I have been designing all kinds of fun dolls, toys, and fashion accessories with the potholder loom.
Potholder looms are a vastly under-rated tool for creating all manner of unique and engaging pieces.
But…. can you create art with the potholder loom?
Yes, indeed you can.
Recently, I contributed work
to a beautfiul book by a group
of international fiber artists:
The Four Seasons.
I wove the ‘frames’ for
‘Sophia in Summer’
and ‘Sophia in Autumn’
with wire on the potholder loom.
I also worked with crochet, tatting (yes, I tatted wire for the pieces), woodworking (I carved and burned Sophia’s face for both pieces, and carved the leaves …read more

Today has been one of those extraordinary days when a whole lot of projects suddenly just come to life in the most wonderful way!
Whee! I love it when I have been plugging away at an idea for months on end, and whooosh! all of a sudden, a floodgate opens and holyhonkinhaleuliah, not only one design dilemma resolves itself and bursts into bloom, but  then, wowsa! a whole bunch of  designs and concepts that have been logjammed just  ‘Archie Bunker’ their way through the door, jostling and strutting and saying, ‘Look at me, wouldja!’
And, to top it off, my darlin’ husband, …read more

One of my readers asked me a really good question:
‘What is your preferred potholder loom and why?’
First of all, let me dispell any thoughts that potholder looms are just for weaving potholders! (Although they do make excellent ones….) .
The potholder loom is a small loom that is vastly under-rated in it’s creative potential. I have been designing with and for it for years and keep coming up with more and more neat things to weave with it.   Nuff said on that point…. and on to the comparisons…..
There are  3 different kinds of potholder looms that are commonly and easily …read more

How do you store (and tote along) craft tools and treasures that are precious to you?
Last week, someone on the Tat-a-tat-tatting list on Ravelry asked how people store their shuttles.
That’s a good question, and it’s been fun to see how people have responded.
It’s been a wild and busy week for me, as I have been crazy busy launching  2 new pdf books….
1,2,3 Easy as Can Be Cute Critters To Weave on The Potholder Loom
and
Virtuoso Vests to weave on the potholder loom
(Note of explanation: 1,2,3 Easy as Can Be is actually a book that I wrote several years ago, but I …read more

As well as weaving with yarn on the potholder loom, you can weave with fabric strips, too.
This is a great way of upcycling old clothing and turning it into something new.
I cut up a sweatshirt  for this project….. the outside was lovely and soft, but the inside was like steel wool.
It just wasn’t wearable, so it was time to upcycle it.
First, clamp the garment to a desk or table, and use a sharp knife to release the lower band from the sweatshirt.
Then cut it into a continuous strip by cutting a narrow section, around and around the band….
And, then, use …read more

I am writing this reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally fast, as we are in the middle of a crazy thunderstorm and a thunderclap just made me jump an inch or two out of my chair! Yikes!
Anyhow…. in spite of the crazy storm, and fingers crossed that it doesn’t turn into a tornado (oh please oh please) (the clouds are VERY wild and ominous looking- eep)  um… where was I ? Oh yes, jumping out of my chair….
Well….. actually, I am ALSO jumping up and down with delight,
because I have been working for months and months on a new self published book:
Virtuoso Vests to Weave …read more

Yesterday, I embedded the first half of my ‘How to Weave with yarn on the potholder loom’.
Today, I am embedding the second half of the tutorial.
In this half of the tutorial, I give all kinds of helpful hints and tips that I have discovered over the years, as I have been weaving with yarn on the potholder loom.
One tip: What if you have a ‘plain jane’ kind of a yarn?
You can make it more of a designer yarn by combining it with strands of thinner yarns, and threads, which is what I did with the yarn in the photo to …read more

I’ve been posting all kinds of tutorials on weaving with yarn on the potholder loom, but haven’t put the links to  the basic ‘how to’ tutes up on Hankering for Yarn.
This is kind of inconvenient for some readers, who like to have things organized all together, so I’ll post the tutes to Hankering for Yarn.
The potholder loom is a wonderfully simple loom that has been under estimated for it’s creative potential.
I suspect that is because most people associate them with loops, which have -ahem- severe limitations (to say the least).
Yarn is so wonderful and colorful and textural and ubiquitous and …read more