On and Off the Loom

 We finally have Winter here in Northern California, which means dreary rainy days. I am craving color, and my loom reflects it. I have decided to put together another e-book of patterns, this one to be focused on texture and color. The first photo shows a large shawl pattern for the new e-book, called "American Paris."

 In the second photo, the "Steamer Shawl" pattern is shown. I finished this some time ago, but had to go through quite a few ribbons before deciding on a simple, wide satin ribbon to contrast with the somewhat rustic yarn. The yarn is Beaverslide fingering, a wool and mohair blend, in "Chokecherry Heather." The photographs do not do the  rich purple - red color justice.

 The third photo shows my "Sweet on Ruffles", unblocked, made for the Ravelry Loom-a-long. I used Wool of the Andes worsted weight in "Nevermore", on the purple KK hat loom. The loom-a-long is running through March, so please come and join in.

 On my loom, the fourth photo shows a Deco themed colorwork cape, for the new e-book. This has been a lot of fun to work on ... after the first 5 tries. Now that the pattern is settled, I am enjoying it very much.

 The fifth photo shows my 90 peg baby afghan loom with a little asymmetrical lace shawlette called "Venetian Lace." The yarn is a fingering weight Zauerball in a perfect-for-February color combination of pink, white and mint green.
What is on your loom?

Loom Knit Shawls: From Simple to Sublime
$10.00 e-book with 5 patterns, and variations. 
Copyright 2012 by Invisible Loom, Renee Van Hoy. All Rights Reserved.

Wingspan for Loom Knitters

 A few weeks ago, designer maylin debuted on Ravelry with a stunning needle knit pattern called "Wingspan". She has been gracious enough to encourage alternate versions of her pattern, so I have written "Wingspan for Loom Knitterns" for you to enjoy.

The photo shows Wingspan on a 1/2 inch gauge 90 peg loom, using worsted weight yarn. If you want to use a large gauge loom, you may increase your yarn to bulky, or stay with worsted. The garter stitch is very forgiving, and you will love the clever shaping of this scarf. If you have more pegs on your loom, you may make a large size scarf, or even a shawlette. Please let me know how you like this pattern. Wingspan for Loom knitters: download now   free pattern
Remember to come and join the "Sweet on Ruffles" loom-a-long on Ravelry, too. (See prior post.)
Copyright 2012 by Invisible Loom, Renee Van Hoy. All Rights Reserved.

Sweet on Ruffles loom-a-long

The Ravelry Loom-a-long group has chosen my pattern for "Sweet on Ruffles" for the purchased pattern loom-a-long, taking place all February and March. I always enjoy the loom-a-longs. It is great to see how everyone interprets the patterns, and I love seeing all the different yarns and color selections. For the loom-a-long, I've  made the pattern available as a single pattern, or in the e-book "Loom Knit Shawls: From Simple to Sublime".
The shawlette is made in either bulky or worsted weight blockable yarn, on either a purple KK round loom or a 1/2 inch gauge loom. I hope you will be able to join the loom-a-long and make this sweet little shawlette with me ♥
Copyright 2012 by Invisible Loom, Renee Van Hoy. All Rights Reserved.

Looming Inspirations

 I wanted to share some wonderful projects that are inspiring my own looming. Color and texture are two areas I hope to improve this year, and both are a challenge for me. My first inspirational loomer is Sarah of Dye Your  Yarn. Sarah is a fabulous loom knitter who makes the most creative, beautiful hats I have ever seen. But, that is nothing compared to her wonderful blog - and blog is a poor word for it. Sarah has created an amazing encyclopedia of fiber dying. Everything you could ever want to know she has tested and tried, written out and shared. The first photo is a little taste of the yarn color guides you will find at Sarah's blog.

 Brenda, the loom lady, at Loom Lore is always inspiring my loom knitting, with beautiful projects, and creative new techniques. The second photo is a collage of Brenda's 2011 projects, and I am just overwhelmed with the creativity and beauty of each and every one.

Helen at My Heart Exposed and her lovely daughter Angelica, created this wonderful Mario-themed blanket - a loom knitting masterpiece. Helen individually loom knit each of the mitered squares, and Angelica seamed them together, a nearly 1 year long project. Sarah, Helen and Brenda inspire me to loom knit in ways I never even dreamed of, and I hope they will inspire you as well.
Copyright 2012 by Invisible Loom, Renee Van Hoy. All Rights Reserved.

Looming for the New Year

 I'm not sure how it happened, but my looms are full, so first on my to-do list will be to finish these projects. The first photo shows a shawl made from Beaverslide wool in a fingering weight. It is a rustic feeling and looking shawl, with a purl eyelet detail. It is off the loom and blocking, so almost done.

 The second shawl is a little change for me, made from Jojoland Rhythm worsted weight yarn. I'm on the third skein, and still enjoying new color combinations. The shawl itself is a loose variation of textural stitches, including the wave stitch and linen stitch. I'm about 1/3  of the way through this project.

This third photo shows a needle design I converted for the loom so I could be part of a knit-a-long in the Small Shawls Group in Ravelry. I'm using a 90 peg 1/2 inch gauge loom with a pretty variegated fingering yarn from Shibui.
There are also some great January group knits happening. The Loom-a-long group at Ravelry is working on the "Bee Bopper Bag", a cute tote bag. The Loom Class at yahoo groups is making a darling sweater for an 18 inch doll. And the Markman Looms group at yahoo groups has its annual beginning loomers course, a great class for learning stitches and reviewing basics.

Loom Knit Shawls: From Simple to Sublime $10.00 ebook, 5 patterns with variations 
Copyright 2012 by Invisible Loom and Craft, Renee Van Hoy. All Rights Reserved.

Travel by Rail Shawl Pattern

 The Travel by Rail Shawl is a shawl for every loomer. It may be loomed on a large, regular, or small gauge loom, with worsted, DK, or fingering weight yarn. And if you want, you may even use lace weight on your Martha Stewart 3/8 inch setting. The pattern includes peg numbers and yardage for four looms sizes, including the new Martha Stewart looms.

 The shawl itself is a mid-sized shawl, worked in two colors of yarn, and trimmed with ribbon around the edges.  It sits nicely on the shoulders without slipping, and does not need a shawl pin.

 There are a few new, very simple techniques in the pattern for colorworking the rows while increasing and decreasing to create an eyelet edge. The basic fabric of the shawl is garter stitch, using the ewrap knit to create the proper ease for blocking.

 The shawls in the photos were made on my favorite CinDwood 1/2 inch gauge loom, using 48 and 50 pegs, but a 40 peg large gauge loom, or 48 peg purple hat loom, or Martha Stewart small peg configuration of 75 pegs will all work with this pattern. Best of all, the shawl is loomed entirely in one piece, with no seams.

As always, the pattern is in a large print format. I hope you all enjoy this pattern. Please let me know what you think, and whether you have liked the "Travel by" collection.
Travel by Rail Shawl $4.00 US

Loom Knit Shawls: From Simple to Sublime

$10.00 US ebook

Copyright 2011 by Invisible Loom and Craft, Renee Van Hoy. All Rights Reserved.

Wrapping up a Year of Looming

I saw a topic on Ravelry this week for planning knitting goals for 2012. Instead, I've taken stock of 2011, which was a pretty busy loom year for me.
The year started with an ocean-inspired pattern collection that included:
Coral Reef Cap - January
Sea Glass Wrap - February
Abalone Lace Shawlette -  March
Leafy Sea Dragon Scarf - April
Pink Pearl Wrap - May
April was a very special month, with the publication of Jane's Shawl for the Loom, and with the help of my friend Helen Jacobs-Grant, Jane's Shawl for Needles, both designed from photos of a shawl in the Jane Eyre movie, and seen in the photo at the top of  this post.
The next few months were spent putting together the shawl booklet with 5 patterns, plus variations:
Sweet on Ruffles Shawl
Hydrangea Petal Lace Shawl
Peaceful Days Shawl
Diamonds in the Ruff(les)
My Fair Faroese
The end of the year brought the "Travel by" collection:
Travel by Rail Beret
Travel by Rail Cuffs
and later this week, the Travel by Rail Shawl.

I'm happy to say that 8 of these patterns were free, and I hope you have enjoyed all the patterns as much as I have enjoyed sharing them with you. Check back this week for the last pattern of 2011, "The Travel by Rail Shawl," seen in the second photo.
Copyright 2011 by Invisible Loom and Craft, Renee Van Hoy. All Rights Reserved.