One of my Ravelry buddies just shared photos of a lovely little tapestry loom that he’s built.
He then commented that Noreen would probably say that you can weave tapestries on her beloved potholder looms.
And, of course, I chirrupped up: “Funny you should mention that, but Y E S you can! ”
Last year, after the devastation of the earthquakes and tsunami in Japan, I was very upset, and sat down with my sketchbook.
I did a little drawing that made me sit up and say: “I could weave that!”
copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay
So, I whipped out my Harrisville potholder loom (Link to Harrisville) and cut a square of cardboard to fit inside it.
I made a cartoon of the basic elements of the drawing: A circle inside a square, and taped it to the cardboard.
I decided to use all Harrisville yarns and fibers in this piece, so I warped up with warp yarn from Harrisville.
copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay
I used a table fork to beat the weft strands:
copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay
copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay
copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay
When I was finished, I wove an inkle border on my Schacht Inkle loom
copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay
I saw how the circle could become a face, so I warped up, again, and wove this:
copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay
And, this face made me think of the sun, so of course, I had to weave a companion,
‘Song to the Moon’: woven with yarn from my stash
copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay
Normally, I dislike fringes, but this piece demanded them, so I faithfully added them.
I was intrigued by weaving the expressive little faces (remember, the potholder loom yields a woven piece that is 6 inches square)
so…. with handspun yarn and stash yarn, I wove this little tapestry:
copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay
I have been meaning to block these little tapestries, but have been busy with so many other things that I haven’t gotten around to it.
But, when Misha joked about me weaving tapestries on the potholder loom, I thought…
“Well, they’re not blocked, but so what! I’ll post a note about them anyhow!”
So, when my ‘to do’ list calms down a little, I will, um…. I might get them blocked!
Until then, keep on weaving! I am…. 😀
And, don’t forget to check out my other potholder loom weaving on my website: LINK
Please remember that this post is copyright protected, so please don’t copy the images etc! Thanks so much~!
Tottie Talks Crafts Blog 
The faces are absolutely beautiful! I will definitely be trying a little tapestry on my little potholder loom!
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Thanks, Bren! Hope you have fun weaving little tapestries! 😀
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Fantastic job. You are a wonderful artist besides a weaver.
I’ve been teaching classes using the Harrisville potholder loom and the Harriville peg loom for several years now. I’m a dollmaker and have been weaving the clothing for some of my dolls on these fantastic looms.
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Thanks, Maurine. I really love the Harrisville peg loom, too- it’s a lovely little loom, and have used it in several different books. And, I dearly love the Harrisville potholder loom 🙂
I have written several books on woven dolls and doll clothing. A couple of them have sold out, so it’s on my list of things to do to get ebooks made of them.
I am working on fun new woven dolls right now and will be releasing a series of new patterns VERY soon! 🙂
Happy weaving and happy dollmaking! 😀
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Hi Noreen – I own your books- “Soul Mate Dolls” and “Woven Bag”. They are fantastic.
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Hi Maurine
Thank you so much! 🙂
I am focused on publishing through my own imprint now.
People have asked me to publish ebooks and individual patterns electronically, so I have listened to that and that is where my heart is now.
They have also let me know that they prefer individual patterns over books, as they get more choice that way, so I am, as much as possible, working on individual patterns (although the individual patterns sometimes have a slew of variations in them). I am constantly designing new projects and patterns.
But, when I did the Lily Speed-o-Weave loom book, it felt essential to have that be a book, so it’s the exception to my current way of working with individual patterns.
As I post new patterns to my website, I put up a notice on my ‘what’s new’ page on my website: http://www.crone-findlay.com
😀 Happy Weaving!
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You truly are amazing, Noreen.
Thanks for taking the time to put these up – they are an inspiration technically.
misha
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Thanks so much, Misha! It was your cheerful nudge on Ravelry that inspired me to finally get the photos up, even though the little tapestries still need blocking 😀
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Hi Noreen,
Lovely, lovely little tapestries. I’ve done a little tapestry weaving on odd little looms including one that I made out of foam board.
I think I would lose patience with the pegs on the sides of a pot holder loom getting in my way at the selvedges. But here’s a thought: do you think that a potholder loom could turned over and warped from the backside? In other words, when warping the yarn with each pass would go around a peg, over the top, down the back, under the bottom, around a peg, under the bottom, up the back, etc. I’m intrigued.
Diane
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Hi Diane
I thought that it might be neat to try using the back of the loom. So, I tried weaving one like that, even though the side pegs weren’t a bother, but it felt clumsy to me, so I went, ‘pffffffttttttttt’, frogged it and went back to weaving the way I’ve shown in the post.
It’s actually very pleasant to weave tapestry on the potholder loom!
Happy weaving! 😀
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I am in the beginning stages of learning how to weave. I wondered how you do a pattern…now I know! Thanks for the excellent tutorial! Am I allowed to pin to Pinterest with credit?
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Hi Marci
I don’t do Pinterest… my understanding is that the pin is linked, right? I just didn’t want the images being usurped without being credited and linked to me, so if they are linked and credited, then I am happy to have them pinned 🙂
And, I am glad that the step by steps made sense of the process 🙂 That’s why I included them in the post, so other people can be experimenting and delighting in the joy of weaving – so Pin away, Marci! and happy weaving! 🙂
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Wow! And wow again! As I look at the simple tools with which you work (the photo with the fork pushing the yarn down particularly struck me), and the beauty you create out of that simplicity I was floored! The Song To The Moon tapestry, especially, stunned me with the detail you could put into such a small piece. Wow a thid time!
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Thank you so much, Aleksa 🙂
There are master weavers out there who work with even more simple tools than I do, and achieve levels of complexity and awesomeness that blow me totally out of the water! 🙂
Weaving is such an engaging passion that I am constantly in a state of inspiration and delicious excitement and anticipation with and about it! 🙂
Weaving is also deeply contemplative and meditative, so it is a very soulful and heartfelt experience 🙂
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Great post, Noreen! Very timely, as I’ve been gearing up for setting myself down to work on small loom weaving in the coming weeks.
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Thank you so much, Zann! I am so pleased that it was a nice bit of synchronicity…. funny how things work out that way! 🙂 Looking forward to seeing your weavings! 😀
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Hallo again, Zann…
After I went to your blog, I had another insight about why small looms are such a wonderful thing….
Seeing your post about needing your looms to be empty right now made me think again, about how inviting and enticing a small loom can be…. so un-intimidating, so free from ‘shoulds’ and ‘oughts’….
Yes……….small loom weaving is so healing and such a balm for the soul! 🙂
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I like the idea of weaving a tapestry on a potholder loom. I found that I do have a nice metal one (also a plastic one with one of the pegs broken).
What grid of graph paper you used? Is it 4×4, 5×5 or 10×10?
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Hi Cookie
It’s 4 squares to the inch. Your metal loom is great for tapestry, but the plastic loom will work fine, too, as long as you turn the side with the broken peg to the side. Happy weaving! 😀
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So inspiring! Last year I did weaving w/my 3rd graders & some took to tapestry weaving. I have a half/class set of metal potholder looms & will show them your work this year before we start weaving. Hope they like weaving as much as the last class.
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Wonderful! I hope that they love weaving, too!
Happy weaving 🙂
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Noreen, I knew you’d come through… again! A search for “potholder loom tapestry” showed me this. Of course, I already suspected you’d have something brilliant to share! I don’t like the traditional potholder loom weave for some projects, but do love the pure simplicity of the loom! So I thought about making some tapestry bags. Well, I’m going to make them now – thanks for your inspiration, as always! ❤ Crystal
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Thank you so much, Crystal- I agree…. I love the simplicity of the looms, too, and have found that there is so much more that can be done with them!
Have you been to my website? Check out: http://www.crone-findlay.com/Crone-FindlayCreationsPotholderLoomWeaving.html
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Great faces! Thanks for following my weaving nomadry 🙂
Eloïse
theseisles.co
facebook.com/theseisles
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pinterest.com/weavetheseisles
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Thank you so much, Eloise 🙂 I love your blog- it delights me that you are creating such beauty while living a life of perambulation! May joy await you in each step of the journey. 🙂
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Thank you for posting! I love your little faces. I am going to try this on a little 4 inch loomette frame I found at a thrift store.
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I hope you have fun with it! Happy weaving!
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