Something completely different this week! Odd size rectangles. So what if you need a ¾ piece for a neckline? Or a ¼ piece for a border? It can be done with the square or rectangular loom that you already have. Warning— it’s kind of fiddly and counterintuitive, so approach this when you’re in an inquisitive frame of mind and have a high tolerance for frustration. It gets easier, but the first one can be tricky.

In addition to your loom and needle, you’ll need a thin double pointed knitting needle, or extra weaving needle that’s several inches longer than your loom, a crochet hook and a rubber band. Cut a length of yarn from the source, allowing more than you think necessary. Write down the length and when finished you can subtract what’s leftover to know what you’ll require for subsequent rectangles of the same size.

Secure yarn and wrap the first layer of warp as usual, ending at the bottom right corner of the width you want to weave. Place the knitting needle across the loom, between teeth, parallel to the last row of yarn you laid in.

At the bottom right edge closest to you, you’ll see: PIN—yarn—PIN—extra needle—PIN—space. The upper right hand corner will have: yarn—extra needle in the big space—PIN.

Secure the extra needle with a rubber band stretched around its ends, spanning the back of the loom. (Keep the rubber band out of your weaving.)

Wrap yarn under the extra needle, around pin and back to the left, around two pins and back to the extra needle. Wrap yarn UNDER and OVER the extra needle and back to the left to wrap around the first two pins (counting from the bottom) of each group of three. A crochet hook can be helpful to pull yarn under the extra needle. During this wrap, you’ll see long V’s pointing at the extra needle.

At the upper end of the second wrap, go under the extra needle, around the pin to its left and back down between first and second pins(counting from left) of the 3-pin group at the right bottom corner. Throughout this third and final wrap, you’ll be wrapping around PIN—space—PIN. End at the bottom left corner where you began. Thread the needle, turn the loom and begin to weave.

The first weaving row is the trickiest. Be certain that you are weaving next to the pins. It looks different from what you’re used to. Go under the first thread, weave and end under the last thread and extra needle. Bring the needle point up between the extra needle and the thread that wraps around it. Go over the needle and weave the second row, ending over the outside loop. And so forth…

Be vigilant about stroking all of the threads into place before popping off the woven piece. When you remove the extra needle, you’ll see that the right side is just like it would have been if you were weaving around pins. Amazing!

I wouldn’t want to weave many pieces this way, but it’s nice to know that you CAN, especially if you only need a few odd sizes to fill a specific need.