The Pin Loom Day

After talking about dishcloths and pin looms yesterday, I picked up the big pin loom and worked with it.  

I warped one cloth the the Zoom Loom way, which means it ought to be quick, because you warp three layers and only weave one layer.    The down side to this zippy method is that your fibre passes through strands many times.  By the time I made about two thirds of the cloth, one of the three plys of the cotton yarn gave up the ghost and broke.  

It left a bit of a mess in the middle and I had to break the yarn and start with a fresh bit so that the cloth would stand up to the punishment a dishcloth takes.  

It isn't pretty but it will do the job.  It took about 45 minutes but was otherwise remarkably quick as usual and the cloth will be fine.  It went off to the kitchen without me taking a photo of the finished cloth.  

I decided to do the second cloth in the more usual way to weave on a pin loom.  In it, your cloth is bias woven and I found the whole process really interesting.

Simple too.  You are working with one continuous strand of yarn but the benefit over the zoom loom way is that your yarn is only under wear for one lap ( I don't know what else to call it, but you go around the pins once) and you weave to fill up toward the center of the loom.

By the time I got to the center rows, the tension on the fibre was very, very tight, an error on my part,  I will go easier next time, but it all worked out well enough for a first time.

It is a dishcloth after all and a dishcloth is a great place to play around while learning something new.

And voila.  My first cloth using the standard technique for a pin loom.  I may enjoy it a bit more than the zoom loom technique and it really is much easier on the fibre. 

If you look online, there are all sorts of shapes that a pin loom can be made into. It wouldn't be hard for an enterprising person to make one of their own.  I particularly like the idea of a triangle loom to make a lovely triangle shawl.  I am not an enterprising person though and no, I am not going to buy another one. 

I am a confirmed knitter with a minor in spinning and that is enough for me. Dishcloths are different.  They are a tool I need in my house and I really like the way handmade ones perform.  I choose to do them woven because I want to only knit things I really love and dishcloths are not one. Pin Looms woven?  Yeah.  I can do that.