Hello out there in the land of yarn, I am going to tell you a short story of my weaving. First of all, I am the old lady on the right in the picture. Doreen, my daughter with whom I own the shop in Powell, Ohio, is on the left, and our friend in the middle is Janet Szabo whom many of you know as the guru of cable knitting. She has led classes in our shop on two occasions and written books on the subject. Really, this story is more about me and my passion for weaving, not the table or glued -to -the -floor type of loom but the the small, hand-held looms. It all started back in the 1950's when my mother-in-law and I were making afghans using the four by four Weave-It looms. Now, with the passage of time and owning a yarn shop I have become fascinated once again with the possibilities of weaving these small pieces of cloth and creating all kind of things from them. Unfortunately, there are not many people or places where one can go to get new and interesting ideas and patterns for their uses. In the past year I have put my love for geometry into my designs and the purpose of this blog is to share these with other small loom weavers and answer your questions on using your pieces. Though I am not an expert on the subject, I feel that those of you who have bought your looms from us and have requested help can get it from this blog. My hope is that we can support one another in this way. My wish is that those of you who can, will still visit us in the shop and those of you who are led to the "dark side" of yarn usage will come in also to see for yourself what it is all about. We carry the five sizes of looms now available to us. The rectangular ones are new and of sizes that work well with the original square ones. These square looms are found only on ebay and we have to acquire them there. A word of caution, if you go this route be aware that often the pins on the looms are rusted. This is more apt to be the case with the wood looms than the molded plastic ones. I try to weed out any that are not fit to be used but this has become an expensive source of these looms. The new rectangular looms are very well done and fun to use. I was fortunate to get an old Bakelite framed loom off of ebay and it is the greatest. I suppose this comment will now raise the cost of any of these higher than they already are, oh well. If you should desire to purchase any of the looms they are available from us here at the shop or by calling. I personally use all five sizes and have created some designs that are of interest because they are allowing more possibilities of color and arrangement. I will be posting pictures of many of these as time goes on and offering patterns for you to create your own items. Some of my favorite ones are handbags, some of which are felted. Scarves are fun also and in one I used four of my looms to create a very interesting design. I am always asked about what yarn is best to use. Hey, if you have a stash sitting there in front of you, use some of it to find out what you like and maybe make some small purses or coasters. If you need to buy yarn, and who doesn't enjoy that, then come in and I will suggest that if you wish to use wool then go with the Taos by Crystal Palace for lovely multi or get some Shepherds by Westminister that comes in many, many beautiful colors. The square to the left used both of these yarns and four sizes of the looms, plus the yarns felt very well if you want to do that. The time has come for me to get back to my weaving, I am working on a baby jacket with a cotton chenille yarn by Crystal Palace and it is cute. Stop in again and let us visit for a bit. Elaine