Handmade Gift Giving at The Woolery

You probably already know this, but we have some talented people working here at The Woolery. Not only are they talented, they’re generous too! So many of our team members have made beautiful handmade gifts this holiday season, that we felt we had to share them with you. Theses gifts span all sorts of different fiber arts including; needle felting, weaving, knitting, and crochet.

Some absolutely beautiful woven gifts have been floating around the shop. Our Customer Service Manager, Dani, has been weaving some plaid scarves on our floor model Schacht Wolf Pup.

We love the color schemes Dani is working with for these scarves! Also, the plaid patterns all all Dani’s own unique designs. How lucky are the members of Dani’s gift list?

Then, of course, our own Weaver Nancy has her own woven gift to show off! This beautifully textured towel was made on her Schacht Mighty Wolf using Maurice Brassard Cottolin Yarn in the Natural Lave color. The texture is a 5-thread huck lace 4 shaft pattern. The final effect is so stunning.

We don’t just weave here, Business Manager Mistene made a whole collection of incredibly intricate crochet doilies as a present for her mom and sister. The detail work on these is fantastic. They are so tiny and lacy!

Debbie, our Shipping Manager, has also been crocheting up some gifts. How adorable are these little canine inspired cup cozies? Debbie makes all sorts of different custom styles based off of different dog breeds. We are obsessed with the fuzzy eyebrows on the Yorkie one in the photo to the left. Too cute.

 

Our knitters are not to be outdone, they have been working on some gift projects of their own. Annie, our newest Customer Service Representative, knit up a cozy shawl and cowl for some lucky recipients. Annie is going to be teaching some beginning knitting classes next year at the shop so if you’re wanting to make some gifts like Annie’s check out our class schedule!

Socks are one of our favorite gifts this time of year and David, who is also a Customer Service Representative, has been knitting up some fabulous socks for his daughter. What an awesome dad! They aren’t quite done yet, but we’re confident he’ll finish in time for Christmas.

Emily, who works on our Creative Marketing (including writing this blog) has also been knitting away to finish some gifts in time for Christmas! The shawl to the left is for her grandma and if you’re curious, the pattern is Shaelyn on Ravelry.

Emily also has branched out into weaving since starting working at The Woolery (you can’t work here without wanting to try ALL the fiber arts)! And even wove up a scarf or two on her new Schacht Cricket Loom.

And finally, our Customer Service Representative Anna, worked some needle felting magic to create gnomes for some of her Customer Service co-workers! They are one big happy gnome family!

Have you already made some gifts this year, or did any of our projects inspire you? We would love to hear about any handmade gifts you have been working on this season! Share your projects below or in our Raverly Group! We can’t wait to see your creations!

Make Your Own Zoom Loom Pumpkin

Fall is here and that means, Pumpkin Spice everything! We’re adding some pumpkin to our weaving with this Pumpkin Zoom Loom project! The Schacht Zoom Loom is a great way to get started with weaving. If you don’t know how to weave on a zoom loom, no worries, we have this YouTube video that will tell you everything you need to know:

Now that you know how to weave on the Zoom Loom, here are all the materials you’ll need to make your pumpkin:

• Schacht Zoom Loom
• Orange Yarn (We used Brown Sheep Nature Spun Sport Weight in “Orange You Glad”)
• Green Yarn (you only need about 5g so utilize those stash scraps!)
• Scissors 
• Stuffing material (fiber fill, wool, cottons balls, your choice!)
• Darning needle

First we need to weave up our squares using the Zoom Loom, so get weaving! We will use the ends to sew up our pumpkin, so skip weaving in your ends.

Weave up a total of 6 orange squares and 1 green square. Remember, don’t weave in or snip your ends.

It’s time to start sewing our pumpkin together. Place two orange squares on top of each other with one end at each corner, sew one side of the squares together using a Backstitch. Make sure you are sewing one warp thread in from the outside so your stitches stay put.

Continue sewing orange squares together in the shape below. You are basically attaching a new square to every side of one middle square. Be sure to keep all of your seams on the Right Side (outside of the pumpkin). If you run out of yarn because your end is to short, just attach more yarn and keep sewing.

Next we are going to make our pumpkin 3D by sewing up the sides. Line up the sides of your “cross” above and stitch them together so you have an open cube. The square that is in the middle in the photo above will become the bottom of your cube.

You can now sew your last remaining square to close the top. Just line up your edges and start sewing. Leave one side open so you can stuff your pumpkin.

Once your pumpkin is stuffed you can close up your last edge. Pull any remaining yarn tails to the inside of the pumpkin to hide them.

We pretty much just have an orange cube, now we need to make it a leaf so it actually looks more pumpkinish. Grab your one green Zoom Loom square and pinch a bit of one of the sides towards the back. Make a stitch along the backside to make the fold stay put.

Now do the same thing to the side to the the left of the side you just folded.

Flip your leaf over so the back side is facing you, then fold the top corner down to the middle and stitch it there so it stays.

Trim all the ends  on your leaf and flip it back over and it’s all finished.

Our leaf needs a vine to connect it to the pumpkin. You can make a vine however seems best to you, you could make a crochet chain, braid, or tie knots like a friendship bracelet. We chose to do a knitted I-cord, our I-cord is 3 stitches on US Size 3 needles and is 3.5″ long.

Sew one end of your vine to the very middle on the top side of your pumpkin.

Then sew the other end of your vine to the top middle of your leaf.

Give your vine a little twist to make it curly and your pumpkin is ready for Fall! Folks around The Woolery have been calling our pumpkin the “squmpkin” because it’s a square pumpkin. Happy squmpkin making to everyone! If you have ideas for future Zoom Loom tutorials you’d like to see, please let us know in the comments!

 

Guest Post: 5 Easy & Decorative Techniques for Seaming Zoom Loom Squares

You’ve woven dozens of squares, and the seemingly daunting task of seaming has confronted you. Fear not! Here are five great tips and tricks for seaming Zoom Loom squares together, all with their own unique applications.

If you know which method that you want to use in seaming your squares together at the beginning of your project, this will make your life easier in the long run. Another pre-seaming tip is to not wash or full your squares before sewing your squares together. If you are creating larger pieces of fabric with your zoom loom squares, it helps to sew squares into long strips, then sew those together in one run.

Whip it Good

First we start with what may be thought of as the easiest technique, sewing them together with a needle and a thread using the whip stitch. Leave a long tail after you have finished weaving the square, then take a tapestry needle and thread your long tail through the needle. Lay your squares flat on the table in front of you, then sew from the right side to the left side along the same. Start by sewing into the first loop of the adjoining square. Go back and forth between the squares making sure the squares stay aligned. This keeps the fabric pretty flat as the whole, and makes fewer puckers.

If you find that first technique a little difficult, you can hold the squares with their “right” sides together and whip stitch along the edge to secure them. This method doesn’t alway lay flat, but it will still give you a practically invisible seam.

 

Hook, Line, and Seamer

The next few techniques involve nothing more than a crochet hook (a US size E hook should do) and some extra yarn.

The first method utilizes a simple slip stitch. Start by holding your squares right sides together, then insert your hook through both layers and pull a loop of your extra yarn through the layers, then insert hook a little bit to the side of where you made your first insertion, and pull another loop through the layers, and the loop on your hook.

This method creates a strong join, bulkier than the whip stitch, but good for dense blankets and outer garments.

This next method also uses a crochet hook, and adds some length and width to your square. Start in one corner of the square, and single crochet around the square, putting 3 single crochets in each of the corners.

Then after your squares have the single crochet border, sew them together using the whip stitch method. Having extra fabric to sew into creates a stronger join, and if you use a contrasting color, this can add another level of design to your project.

Another common technique is more decorative than structural, but the added lace makes an airy fabric, perfect for shawls (like the citrus squared shawl), scarves and other light-weight garments. Start in one corner of a square, and slip stitch into the fabric, then chain 3 stitches and slip stitch into the bottom corner of the adjacent square. 

Chain 3 and slip stitch back into the original square, moving up the side of the square as you go along. Repeat this process going back forth between the squares until the whole side is seamed.

These techniques are just a few that you can add to your toolbox, and can be used in seaming larger pieces of handwoven fabric. Each technique is good for different purposes, and different types of yarn. Experiment with different seaming techniques in your projects, and see what you like best!

Benjamin Krudwig is a crochet and knitwear designer from Colorado who also spends much of his time spinning and weaving. Benjamin is the founder and co-owner of Benjamin Krudwig Fiber Arts and Design, along with his wife who sews project bags for knitting and crochet. Benjamin spends his time during the week running the social media program at Schacht Spindle Company.