Can you believe I’m thinking about Christmas already? It’s only six months away, folks! What’s that mean for us? It’s time for Bronwyn’s Handmade Christmas, of course!
As I was organizing the area around my end of the couch (a.k.a. my knitting nest), I came across my little Weave-It pin loom. Now, I’ll admit that I haven’t used it a lot, but it is fun to play around with. When I came across the loom again the other day, I remembered how these small woven squares would make great drink coasters — perfect Christmas gifts.
Following the (yellowed and fragile) instructions that came with my (third-, fourth-, fifth-hand?) loom, I started with a basic over-under pattern using some Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Tweed in Garnet Heather.
Next, I grabbed some orange Cascade 220 and followed the instructions for the diagonal weave. I love how this one turned out! Even though the wool yarn is matte, the light bounces off the switchback pattern beautifully. If you’re adventurous, there are lots of other weaving patterns available online.
Hmm…what else can I make with this? How about a bookmark? We can never have enough bookmarks in my house, so I always assume (correctly or not) that that’s the case for everyone. I used this video to set up my warp on the diagonal. I stopped wrapping once I had 15 strands. (After relaxing, my bookmark ended up being about 1.5″ wide and 5″ long without the tassel.) This technique naturally fills in the triangles in the corners. Once I had the width set up, I continued with a basic weave without wrapping the yarn around the pins. As I rounded each turn, I was just careful not to pull the edge in too much. I added a tassel for the finishing touch. After a steam block, all three were ready to give away. My son saw these and asked for his own bookmark in blue Peaches & Creme cotton. The cotton doesn’t stretch as much as the wool, which made it a bit harder to work with, but the bookmark still turned out well.
Since we have six whole months to craft our gifts, it would be easy to sit back and relax procrastinate. (Trust me. This is just as much a pep talk to myself as it is to you.) I can see a couple of ways to get these made over the next few months. Every time you finish a knitting or crochet project, use your leftover yarn to knock out a few squares or bookmarks. Or if you want to be more deliberate with your color choices, use traditional holiday colors or colors that will match the recipient’s decor. Then, weave a few gifts in between bigger projects.
Do you know of a fun project that I can highlight in my Bronwyn’s Handmade Christmas series? I’m always looking for new ideas. Shoot me a message or post in the comments below. Come back to find a new project on the 25th of each month through November!