How long can it take to make a 10 minute video? LOL…. all day!
copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay
First of all…. you need to plot out how many looms you need to have on the go, and then get them set up so they can be grabbed quick like a bunny to keep the video flowing.
This means that each stage of the video has to be figured out, and just ‘that much’ weaving done on each of the looms.
I had a total of 6 looms on the go for this video.
copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay
So… let the taping begin….
Takes 1, 2 and 3 all were about 42 seconds long as I went… flubbadubba dubba…. cut…
Take 4 :
I bang into the camera stand and send it for a spiral dance, and drop everything as it goes ‘ga-doy-yoi- yoi-yoing’…
Delete.
Start over… (which does indeed mean, starting over! Unweave whatever I did in the video, and get all the looms back to their proper starting point…. EACH TIME – for EVERY TAKE!!!!)
Take 5 went really well, until I was baffled at why the weaving suddenly just seized up.
Oh… duh… I was standing on the yarn. sigh.
Takes 6 and 7 each had unique little moments….
I snipped the yarn on one of the squares,…… that earned me a re-start.
I BROKE the weaving hook in Take 7…. I have NEVER broken a weaving hook before, and Clever Clogs, I managed to do it in the middle of a video take. Throw that for a lark.
Delete.
Go out to workshop and carve a new hook.
Start over….
Take 8: The greyhound sees deer in the yard.
He yodels at deer.
He barks at deer.
He rushes to the door and pounds on it to take his barking and yelping outside.
He knocks me sideways….
Delete.
Start Over….
Take 9: Small dog decides to join the fray….
Delete.
Start Over…..
Take 10…. Brain locks up and tongue does a tap dance.
Delete.
Start Over…..
Take 11…
By this point, the light is fading and I am clenching my jaw in grim determination-
I AM GOING TO GET THIS VIDEO DONE! and that is that…..
Take a deep breath…. forget about Takes 1 – 10…. oh please oh please, may my brain stay in motion, may my hands go where they are meant to, may my feet stay off the yarn, may the dogs puhleeeeeeeeze not go daft again….
And then, it’s done…. take a deep breath… and attempt to upload the video! Fingers crossed… and…. yes! it’s a go!
Here is the link to the video: LINK
Please note: Everything on this blog is Noreen Crone-Findlay’s original, design, concept and work, and is copyright. Please do not copy without Noreen Crone-Findlay’s permission. Thank you!
Tottie Talks Crafts Blog 
What fond childhood memories this summons. Thank you for keeping this wonderful craft alive!
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I love your new video! You mention two other helpful hints that I did not notice in the woven bag book: (1)Warp loosely. (2) When chaining off, chain through on the right side at the starting corner loop again before drawing the yarn tail through the last loop. Thanks for a very clear video despite the mishaps while producing the video. Your perseverance surely has inspired me!
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Hurray! I found you, Noreen and Tottie! Love my potholder loom! Can’t believe I never tried using regular yarns instead of craft loops.
Your video is great! So glad you didn’t give up. (I would have thrown in the towel at “second dog joins the fray,” hee hee!
FYI–I had a talk with the content editor at Bliss Tree when I couldn’t find your Hankering for Yarn blog on their site. They wouldn’t come right out and say one way or the other if you were still blogging for them. I told them that your blog was the only reason I came to their web site. Just wanted you to know.
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Hi IsDihara
Oh thank you so much, you have no idea how much I appreciate this!!!
And, yep, the answer is that ALL my blogging is here at Tottie talks crafts.
😀
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Hi Jan
Needing to warp the loom loosely is so important that I asked my editor to emphasize it. She placed that bit of information in a small loom on page 21, and it shows up in the text for weaving a rectangle on page 27. Sadly, it seems to have been edited out of the other instructions….
On page 24, in step 4, I show how the big loop at the lower left hand corner of the loom is chained twice.
I forgot to mention that the batteries died in one of the takes for the video! LOL…. it was just one of ~those~ days! There was just no way I was going to give up after putting all that time into it! VBG!!!
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Aw, thanks so much, Aleksa! I never had a potholder loom when I was a child. I think that this actually worked to my advantage, as I discovered it as an adult weaver- and fell madly in love with it’s design potential. It’s been decades of deliciousness and I keep on finding more and more that I can do with this marvelous little loom!
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Ever since I found your video, I have been plugging away making my squares, and the family is now all sporting new scarfs. I’ve just been sewing them together in a strip, but that seems limiting for larger projects.
I’ve tried crocheting them together, but since my crocheting skills are limited to finishing the edge of my woven square, that has not been pretty.
I’ve heard about a mattress stitch but been unable to find a good explanation. Any other suggestions for how to attach them?
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Hello Kelly,
There are many ways to join the squares, depending on what effect you wish to create. My favorite choice is to use the baseball stitch. This means that you work in the space between the 2 squares, gradually pulling them together with the stitches. You will alternately take a stitch from each square, going back and forth and pulling up on the thread. It gives a ‘V’ shaped final stitch that becomes almost invisible. Happy Weaving!
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Hi, I love the idea of using the potholder loom for several reasons. The major reason is it seems easy and that is great for me since I have arthritis and carpel tunnel syndrome, but most of all no talent in the field. Can you tell me how many squares you can get out of a skein of sport weight yarn?
THANKS
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Hi Joan
There are a lot of variables in how many squares you can get from a ball of yarn, as the yardage in different balls of yarn varies so much. Also, thinner yarns will need to have more than one strand held together, but thicker yarns can be used alone. I give the yardages required in different projects in the patterns.
Potholder looms may be simple, but wowsa, can you ever do fabulous things with them! Wheeee!
Happy Weaving!
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