You are about to see something that few people have ever seen—and the ones who have won’t/can’t talk about it. They’ve been struck dumb.

My stash. Or at least a portion of it. The sort of organized part. Usual excuses offered. I weave, spin, dye, knit (hand and machine), crochet, etc. My yarn is my palette. I got it at a killer sale. I really loved that yarn and it was being discontinued. We insulate with wool. Ad nauseum.

I love yarn. In all fairness, I must tell you that I got rid of a LOT of yarn right after Hurricane Katrina. Many nice knitters, crocheters, and weavers sent in donations and their stash and my stash went into dozens of craft kits (mostly afghans) for the Salvation Army and a Katrina Store that different relief agencies collaborated to open in our area. Even when they were officially no longer accepting donations, they were thrilled to get the kits. Very popular item, indeed. But that’s another story.

I bring up yarn because some of you WALers are wondering what to use. That question can’t be answered succinctly. I’ll tell you what I used, but then you’re on your own. Generally, I like to use DK weight wool for “solid” patterns. It’s easy to weave and I like the feel. Jo Sharp DK Wool, Dale Heilo, Rowan Yorkshire Tweed DK, and Rowan Scottish Tweed DK are favorites. I’m also a sucker for sport weight linen and linen blends, which is lovely for lacy patterns. Alpaca is a treat because it weaves up so easily, but its slipperiness makes finishing ends a real chore. Yarns that have a little bit of “grab” or “toothiness” are easier to deal with in the long run.

A bulkier yarn that worked surprisingly well was Rowan Cork. Yarns that are pretty thick for plain weave, such as Noro Kureyon and Silk Garden, can be perfect for patterned weaves. And as a spinner, I find that little looms are a great tool for displaying hard-won small bits. So the answer to the question is—it depends.

For the WAL samples, I have a vague notion to use Jo Sharp DK Wool whenever possible with an eye toward eventually setting the samples into an afghan, interspersed with crocheted granny squares in the same yarn, inspired by Kelly at Art for an Hour a Day. But I won’t totally restrict myself to that yarn. Part of the fun is to sample lots of different types of yarn.

I can hardly wait until Wednesday! But first, we need to get our looms ready. What? You thought they were perfect? Well, no. Unless you have an old plastic Weave-It, you don’t have numbered weaving-in rows. And they NEED to be numbered. If you neglect to do this you will be hopelessly lost on some of these patterns. At the very least, it’ll slow you down. I use a black fine-tip Sharpie to add row numbers on all of my wooden looms. (And on the back, I also add the number of wraps around the perimeter for weaving-in length. Different looms take different number here.) Don’t get stressed about this. Tools are made to work for you, not look pristine in the box, on the shelf.

Here are photos of both sides of the Weave-It standard loom, so you can see where those numbers go.

RIGHT SIDE, odd numbers from bottom to top, beginning with #1 between the first two pins and between the second and third pins of every group of three, all the way to top (#15).

LEFT SIDE, even numbers from bottom to top, beginning with #2, between the second and third pins of every group of three, all the way to top (#16 after the last pin).

If you aren’t sure that you’re doing it right, put in a few rows in pencil, then warp and start weaving to check yourself.

If you’re using a 4×6 or 6×6 rectangular Weavette, just keep numbering all the way up to 24. If you’re using a Loomette, remember that you have a pin where Weave-It has a space. That should help you in deciding where the numbers go. (Some Loomettes are already numbered, some not.)

The assumption here is that everyone is proficient at making plain weave squares and can do them in their sleep! If not— start practicing.

Orange you glad that it’s almost October? (Not sure what these will be, other than orange!)

I usually can’t stand to do more than one of any given project. Which means that the bag was very rewarding since I’ve now made two within two months. Enough for now.

The texture pattern is a modification of “Four Squares in One” from Weave It Weaves, the little booklet that came with many of the old Weave It Standard looms. In sampling, I’ve noticed a problem with many of the geometric design patterns. The motif pulls in, while plain weave spreads out—resulting in catawampous squares. My fudging with the pattern fixed that problem and gave me uniform squares. And there was a bonus! The squares are identically reversible. (Not that it matters in this project, but nice to know for the future.) More on this topic when we start the Square Deal Weave -Along…

Here’s another inspiring website: Lori Mason Designs . I’m linking you to her pillow page, but look at the quilts, too. Her work gives me lots of ideas.

Have you seen the What If? textile blog of quilter, Jude Hill? I’m bowled over by the creative possibilities she explores—ideas that we can often apply to our bits from small looms. CHECK IT OUT! And be sure you scroll through all of the archives. It’s amazing. I could spend the next month there.

Some of my weaving samples above. I think we need a name for the WAL and have decided to call it “Square Deal Weave-Along” for obvious reasons. OK, it’s sort of silly, but at least people might remember and distinguish it from any other WAL’s that may be going on out there.

Samples and swatches are my library. Pictures just don’t reveal the texture, drape, possibilities or problems of a yarn or weave pattern. Would any of you dear readers care to join me in a WAL of textured patterns? My idea is to work through the Weave-It, Loomette and Bucilla 4×4 weave patterns, one per week until they (or we) are exhausted. The patterns are already available on the other website as free PDF downloads, but I may repeat them here in text and/or graphics.

Patterns will be suitable for a 4×4 Weave-It, Weavette, Jiffy Loom, or Loomette. Bucilla Looms will also work, but be aware that they have an extra row. (Patterns could also be worked on a 4×6 Weavette with either a continuation of an allover pattern or a return to plain weave on the additional length.) I know that Weavette 4×4 looms are currently unavailable, but most of you reading this already have them. The new ones will supposedly be available again sometime this fall. In the meantime, haunt ebay for an old loom!

Sign up through Comments (along with your link) if you want to formalize your participation on a sign-up list, which I’ll post by the end of the week. Official kick-off will be October 3rd, with subsequent weekly WAL postings on Wednesdays. I’ll tell you a week in advance what the next pattern will be in case you over-achievers want to do it ahead of time.

The 70’s were a rockin’ decade for free-spirited needlework designs! These two garments are from EXOTIC NEEDLEWORK with Ethnic Patterns, Techniques, Inspirations by Dona Z. Meilach and Dee Menagh, published in 1978 by Crown Publishers. They were tucked into the crochet chapter, even though they are mostly woven. You may not be able to see it in the B&W scan, but the designer has incorporated peacock feathers in the skirt border. An old envelope purse (on the bench) was refashioned with extra squares and and fringe to complete the outfit.

Both designs are by Lillian Bryce. I haven’t been able to locate any information about her, but would love to know what else she designed for little looms.

I wasn’t sure going into it, but am REALLY pleased with the result. It’s functional and strong. This woven plastic bag should be with me for awhile. The seams are slip stitch crochet (overlapped blocks) with cheap cotton string. Big metal grommets are set into the top and the handle is braided plastic and cotton string. Woven material? Eighteen plastic Sunday newspaper bags or nine medium shopping bags, with lots of plastic yarn left over for other projects.

There’s a huge box in my garage that holds about ten years’ worth of colorful plastic newspaper bags and plastic shopping bags. So picture one of those people that they find dead, mummified under decades of old newspapers and telephone books. Actually I’m not THAT bad, but the plastic bags are starting to get out of hand. And the wine bottles—but that’s another story. This is the first project of many that I hope will make a big dent in the bags.

Loom Blooms are one project I thought I’d put to rest, but here they are again, soon to be on Etsy. If you need directions for making any size Loom Bloom, with any loom, see my article in Spin-Off Magazine’s Winter 2005 issue.

Sunshine at Sunshine’s Creations posted a Block of the Month on September 1st that sent me running to the loom collection. She calls this Disappearing Nine Patch because it starts as a simple nine patch that’s cut and reassembled as something totally different. It’s not quite that easy when you weave it, but the end result is quite similar, yes?

This little project was a lesson in seaming for me. I’ve always tried to have loops offset when doing an overcast seam, thinking it would avoid gaps and holes. Well, that’s just not always possible when you’re flipping around so many pieces. So I tried to be neat and not obsess over it. If you’re offended by any seaming irregularities, don’t tell me!

There are tons of quilt blocks that we can make with a collection of Weavette Looms, or a Loomette with “adjustabar”. Check out Buncha Squares (August 14th) at Mason Dixon. We can do that! And this free quilting block site, Quilting Arts Forum, has lots of candidates, too.

Cheryl in California just finished this linen placemat on her Loomette King. Isn’t it charming? She was trying to decide whether to add a crocheted border, but I think I like the looped edges. What do you think?

I make soap for family, friends and occasional sale. Sometimes the soap is just an excuse to enjoy the process of making the packaging. Like these linen/cotton soap sacks woven on the 4 x 6 Weavette loom. The linen is a coarse mill-end single (purchased many years ago from WEBS) and could function as a scrubber as well as package. The pattern on the left is “Corduroy” from the Weavette book and the one on the right is Bucilla pattern #9. The standing sack is plain weave. Louet Euroflax makes a nice sack and hemp would be good—gotta get some of that.

I wove a lot of squares during the past couple of weeks. Now to get them put together into various projects. Here’s the first one finished—a square round pillow. Or shall I call it a pinwheel pillow? Origami pillow? I first made this pillow shape for Michael’s Arts & Crafts Magazine, May/June 1997 . It was made of recycled pants legs and is still a great little project for re-using jeans or trousers. But anything with rectangular lines is fair game for Weave-It, right? It’s made of four same-size rectangles, each of which is twice as long as it is wide. Seam as a pinwheel, then seam all adjacent edges. It really helps to understand this when you make a paper model first. (Crafty Bits has posted a pincushion in the same shape, but starting with two squares instead of four rectangles.)

In retrospect, it would have been more effective to have slightly different colors for the alternate panels. Next time. The pillow will still be nice to have when I crash on the couch. Stitch patterns are Diagonal Stripes and Mirrored Diagonal Stripes, all turned to the reverse side. The “right” side is more subtle than what you see here.

Diagonal Stripes

Mirrored Diagonal Stripes

Abby at abmatic/k has a detailed tutorial on making the diagonal (twill) weave pattern on Weave-It type looms. This pattern is tricky to execute with a needle until you get into the groove. She has all kinds of useful tips to help us along. Thanks, Abby!

On her blog, Noreen Crone-Findlay has a great two-part video about on how to weave with yarn on potholder looms. She demonstrates very clearly and I expect there will be an immediate run on potholder looms! If you get the potholder looms with corner prongs, you can also weave a la Weave-It or Weavette with the three-layer wrap and then needle weave. Noreen has both a website and a blog, so check them both out.