7 posts tagged “flower loom”
I just spotted this new tutorial on making flowers with ribbon on the Knifty Knitter Flower Loom:
http://radlinccrafts.blogspot.com/2009/08/cute-ribbon-flowers-made-with-flower.html
Here's another neat idea--embelish your cool crocheted purse with a flower:
http://yarnovermama.blogspot.com/2009/08/crochet-purse-with-knitting-loom-flower.html
Okay, here are a few pictures of my second super, amazing loom find. As it turns out, I wasn't dreaming--it was all real! Pictured below are the Lily Speed-O-Weave loom, which I'll post about later (it's not very speedy, IMO). Also there are my two "new" Weave-Its: a 4" and a 2". My favorite loom is there, the 5" Weave-It Rug Loom, which I'll also post about later (and you can meet Pillow Man). Finally, there were two small metal flower looms stuck in the rug loom box, and although it appears they can connect somehow, I can't quite figure them out, so if you have thoughts, please send them my way.
Missing from the photos is the second Crazy Daisy Winder, which went onto a good home with a young, crafting niece.
Can it be true? Did I really walk into a local antique store last week and less than 20 minutes later, leave with all these looms??? Most in the original boxes with the original instructions and needles and everything? Did it really happen?
- 5" Weave-It Rug Loom
- 4" Weave-it Loom
- 2" Weave-it Loom
- Lily Speed-O-Weave Loom
And then did I really wander into a second antique store and leave with a Crazy Daisy Winder?
And did I really spend just under $20 for the entire find? Really? Me?!
Or, did I dream it all?
Stay tuned to find out!
I've been busy making flowers, both with my Crazy Daisy Winder and my trusty Knifty Knitter flower loom. It's funny that I needed to find another flower loom--the Crazy Daisy--to realize I already owned one. So far, I'm doing fine with the wrapping, using yarn or embroidery floss (more on that later) but the stitching of the middle is a bit tough. I'm getting there, however, and have big plans for my flowers. You can see I'm using different wraps. On the Knifty Knitter loom, I wrap the pegs between two to four times, but the little Daisy loom only takes once or twice to make a full flower.
This week, I decided to buy some embroidery thread for the Daisy loom. The yarn I was using just wasn't fine enough, plus I thought the bright colors and smooth texture of floss would make for some pretty flowers. One night I stopped at the only store that's on the drive home--Walmart--and found they no longer carry floss! I was just a little shocked. The next night, we stopped to browse in a local thrift/discount store in town and I was thrilled to find a big tin of embroidery floss for about $9.00. Once I got home, I started looking through the stash and realized it was even more special than I first thought.
The floss is old, but the colors are still vivid. Many of them are marked two cents ($.02) but most are priced at eight cents ($.08). When was the last time embroidery floss sold for two cents?? I realized that this was a very old collection, put together by someone who really loved to embroider. Most of the collection was carefully stored in plastic bags, but there was a bunch tangled together. Somewhere from within that colorful nest I found a few needles, a strand of pefectly teeny tiny red beads (can you imagine the care it would take to embroider beads that size?!), and a big clue to the time/place of the collector: an ad from a Wisconsin newspaper with the date of 1932 on the bottom.
Many of the embroidery threads are marked from J.C. Penney, but most say France. I've been carefully selecting some accent colors from this tin to highlight my flowers. I have a feeling it will last a long time, and I'm so pleased to have found it.
This winter I ventured outside of loom knitting by first purchasing a cheap, plastic potholder loom and then, after a few disasterous attempts at making my own, a professionally-made 4" square loom. With the potholder loom, I made a potholder (gasp!) and also a scarf. With the Hazel Rose 4" multiloom, I made several squares with different yarns, but then became focused and made a hat from the 1936 Weave-It pattern book. I also made several dolls.
Along the way, I discovered this cool, retro plastic loom in a thrift store, the 4" Wonder Weave! I liked it so much that B and I made a video, which is nearing 6,000 hits on Youtube. I know that isn't a huge number, but considering I didn't think it would have 100 hits, it's pretty remarkable.
The idea of looms got me dreaming enough that my Christmas present was a 2' triloom from Hideaway Homestead. It's lovely, and it works like a charm. Within just a few days, I made a shawl!
So, that all led into my new interest--flower looms. The first time I saw flower looms, I yawned and turned away. But then... I just became interested, all at once. Much to my surprise I realized I owned one--the small flower loom Knifty Knitter. (So that's why the pegs come out!) And then, while walking through an antique store yesterday, I saw this interesting little box marked Crazy Daisy Winder. It was $.10. Yes, that's ten cents... a dime. The small, round brass disc has a knob in the center that, when twisted, makes 12 tiny metal rods come out. Those little spikes hold your yarn/thread/metal while you wind on your "petals." Then, you secure the center with a series of clever stitches (the backstitch), and viola! You have a flower. A second twist of the knob, the metal spikes disappear, and the flower comes off the loom. Pretty nifty. From what I can find out, these tiny flower looms were made in the 1940's.
Because my box and loom were missing instructions, my first attempts are pretty sad, so I'll share them with you another day. In the meantime, I've I discovered many wonderful sites dedicated to flower looms. Here are a few:
- Knitting-and-com: http://www.knitting-and.com/small-looms/index.html . (NOTE: This page has a nice variety of flowers and looms.)
- The Daisy Looming Flickr Group: http://www.flickr.com/groups/crazydaisies/
- Cathy of California (focuses on vintage looms): http://www.cathyofcalifornia.typepad.com/ . (NOTE: Cathy was recently on the Martha Stewart show.)
- Hana Ami loom video: http://www.clover.co.jp/cgi-bin/link_cnt/link_cnt.cgi?cnt=139 . (NOTE: This is in Japanese, and yet it demonstrates the flower loom so beautifully, that you probably don't need a translation.)
Coming soon: A Winter Recap (those felted mittens, a really floppy hat, a real picture of my shawl, and a slanted cupcake.)
I knitted this doll using the same pattern as Loofah, only on the large end (8 peg) spool Knifty Knitter instead of the flower loom. She's very tiny, about 4". I think if I were going to make these dolls to give away, I'd have to find a way to keep the stuffing in place. As it is, you can tell the gaps between each row are so large you can see the polyfill. One idea I had is to use a child's sock as a way to stuff the doll. I can also use a tighter stitch like I do for the head.
One more problem I'm having is with the hair. Right now, it looks okay, but it's not durable and wouldn't stand up to much playing. I separated strands of Lion Wool Ease but as they come apart, it's easy to tear off sections. I need to research a way to make decent hair.
When we were visiting family over Thanksgiving, I knitted this ball with the flower loom. My plan was to make three of them, print out a "How to Juggle" tutorial, and give them as a gift. However, the little dog of the household got one look at this ball and decided it was hers. How could I refuse that face??
Meet Loofah!
I made this loomed dolly on the smaller (12 peg) flower Knifty Knitter. The pattern is Lulu the Loomed Dolly, and it's Bev's from Cottage Garden. She loom knits Lulu Dolls for charity.
When I saw her dolls, and I saw the Lulu that American Girl in Italy made, I had to give it a try. I used Lion brand wool (worsted weight) for the head and some left-over medium-weight wool for the body.
I didn't have the 18 peg loom that Bev uses, so I used my brand-new flower loom. Compared to the smallest loom in the KK round loom kit, this one has 12 pegs vs. the 24 peg blue loom; however, it's still large gauge.
It took me awhile to decide what stitch to use, because I knew I wanted the head to look different than the body. After starting four times, I ended up using a 1-over-3 wrapping and just the basic knit stitch. How I do this is I single wrap each peg, and I go completely around four times total. I then knit the bottom loop over the three remaining loops, and I do this for each peg. I then wrap just one strand around all pegs and continue.
I made the head this way by knitting 24 rounds. (If I was using thicker yarn it would have been many fewer times around.) I then switched colors and started the body. I used two strands here, plus I choose the garter stitch. I knitted Loofah's body to be twice as long as her head.
When I neared the end of the body, I decreased by putting one existing loop on the neighboring peg and knitting off. I did this all around so I was left with six loops. I then gathered them all together just like a hat. I stuffed the doll with polyfill, and gathered the head.
When Loofah was at this stage, I decided the garter stitch wasn't exactly attractive. It was, in fact, sorta odd looking. Although I had played around with some cutsie names like Magnolia, in the end, she most resembles a loofah gourd, so that's her name: Loofah.
I knitted a little scarf on my other new KK loom: the spool loom. It makes two different sizes of i-cords. I used the smallest side, and I even added some tiny tassels. I then knitted Loofah a hat, so I went back to the flower loom and knitted about two inches. I decreased the top of the hat and gathered it off. The brim curled up on its own.
Finally, I decided Loofah needed some personality, so I had a try at stitching a face. She has a tiny pink mouth, two blue eyes, and some wild hair. You may notice one of her eyes is crooked--looks like I need some practice!
Because she's wool, I wonder if she'd felt at all if I washed her. I'd have to de-stuff her first, but it may be a cool look. At this point, though, I'm a little attached to her, and I'd hate it if something bad happened to my lil' Loofah.
I think Loofah was a great first doll. She's pretty much a tube with a scarf and hat. Now that I have these smaller looms, it'll be fun to knit her new things once and awhile like a blankie, shawl, and maybe even a couple of snazzy tube dresses!
By the way, it's sure nice to have the kitties nearby. Whenever I need help choosing a color, they're right there to lend a helping paw.
