On and Off the Loom

 November is here, and that means time to get the gifts finished (or in my case, started.) I have a few things just off the loom, and the patterns are almost ready. In the first photo, a sweet tasseled beret.

 The second photo shows a shawl using two colors of natural alpaca yarn. This was such a pleasure to loom! The shawl has an eyelet edging that will have a ribbon woven through it once the blocking is finished.

The last photo shows a ruffled cuff also made from a soft, undyed alpaca yarn. The cuff may be worn under a jacket, or on your ankle topping a pretty shoe.
What is on your loom?

 Loom Knit Shawls: From Simple to Sublime $12.00

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

Tea on Tuesday

$12.00 US

Tea on Tuesday

Little Lemon Ginger Cookies

A sweet little gem of a cookie, my girls can not get enough of these. The cookies may be made a few days ahead of serving and stored in a sealed container between waxed paper or parchment paper. For an extra treat, sprinkle the tops with a little lemon sugar.

1 stick (8 TBSP.) unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

1 large egg

zest of 1 lemon, finely grated

1/4 tsp. lemon extract

1 and 1/3 cups flour

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 cup candied ginger, finely diced

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicon baking mats or parchment paper. In bowl of a mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Scrape the sides of the bowl. Add the egg and beat to combine. Add the zest and lemon extract and beat in.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, ground ginger, baking soda, salt and candied ginger. On low speed, add dry ingredients to the creamed mixture until just combined. Drop teaspoons of batter onto the baking sheets (a small sized cookie scoop or melon ball scoop works well for this and gives you very even, round little cookies.) Sprinkle tops with a little sugar or lemon sugar. Bake 7 - 9 minutes, until bottoms have browned. Centers will be a little soft.

Makes 3 dozen cookies.

Copyright 2000-2011 by Invisible Loom and Craft, Renee Van Hoy. All Rights Reserved.

Loom Knit Shawls: From Simple to Sublime

Finished!  I hope you all will enjoy "Loom Knit Shawls: From Simple to Sublime".

   $12.00 US  ebook

Five loom knit shawl patterns and their variations will take you from a simple small shawlette on a large gauge loom, to a delicate lace weight yarn confection made on a ½ inch gauge loom. All the patterns may be made on a single 60 peg ½ inch gauge hat loom.

Variations include yarn weights of lace, fingering, DK, worsted or bulky. Designs vary from simple garter rows to beautiful flowers and geometric treasures. Shape your shawls in a classic full V-back, a long ruffed crescent, a Faroese half circle, or a petite shawlette.

$12.00 PDF download includes multiple files: a 52 page, large print version; 20 page, 12 point paper saver; and a separate photo gallery file, to let you print the patterns the way you like to use them.

The Patterns

1. “Sweet on Ruffles”
This sweet little shawlette is a great way to loom knit a shawl if you are not quite ready to work with finer weight yarns, or want a fast, simple project. The shaping techniques used for a larger V-back shawl are the similar to the shaping used for this shawlette, but you are working with bulky or worsted weight wool, depending on your loom size. This pattern is perfect for learning short row ruffles, practicing blocking, and enjoying working with a pretty variegated yarn. The shawlette may be worn with the point in the front, tucked into a jacket, or with the point in the back, showing off your ruffles. The “simple” version of the pattern omit’s the ruffle.


2. “Peaceful Day Shawl”
Peaceful is a large, one piece V-back shawl made on a 60 peg, ½ inch gauge knitting loom. After blocking, a small crochet edging may be added to the shawl. The lace rows may be placed any where you please within the shawl pattern, or omitted entirely in the “simple” version.


3. “Diamonds in the Ruff(les)”
Diamonds is a long, crescent shaped shawl that wraps around, and around your shoulders. It is made on a ½ inch gauge loom with 59 pegs. Diamonds may be loomed “simply” without the diamond lace panel. With the lace panel, a beautiful design is centered across your back, topped by gentle ruffles. Without the lace panel, softly shaped crescent shawl with a gentle ruffled edge is created.

4. “Hydrangea Petal Lace”
Light as air, Hydrangea may be made in lace weight yarn using 58 pegs on a ½ inch gauge loom. Hydrangea is a full V shaped shawl that will fold delicately into a lovely neckerchief or wrap around all the way around your shoulders and back. If you are not ready to work with lace weight yarn, make a “simple” version of the Hydrangea with fingering weight yarn and use the 50 peg option given in the pattern.

5. “My Fair Faroese”

My Fair Faroese is a half-circle shape made in 5 sections. To create a Faroese on a knitting loom, the shawl is loomed from one corner to the other, using 4 triangles and a straight center section. My Fair Faroese createsDK weight yarn.

Photos are in the previous post, "Almost".
Copyright 2011 by Invisible Loom and Craft, Renee Van Hoy. All Rights Reserved.

Almost

Diamonds in the Ruff(le) crescent shawl

 Hydrangea Petal Lace Shawl

 Sweet on Ruffles Shawlette

 Peaceful Days Shawl

My Fair Faroese

The patterns are almost ready. All will have some variation, to make them a little more simple or fancy, lighter weight or heavier weight yarn, smaller or larger size. One loom will make all of the shawls - a 1/2 inch gauge with about 66 pegs. I hope you like the photos. PS to Kathie: I used my CinDwood 66 peg, 1/2 inch gauge, hat loom to make the shawls. The Shawlette was made on both the CinDwood and the Purple KK hat loom. Any 1/2 inch gauge loom will work, including the Markman half size and the DA regular sett.  And all are made in one piece.

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

Looming on the Net

 October will be a wonderful month for looming! The first photo shows what the loom class group at yahoogroups will be featuring; two beautiful new patterns from the Loom Lady, Brenda Meyers. The first  is a lovely "Falling Leaves Scarf", and the second project will be sweet pumpkin "loom"iaries. Brenda is a wonderful teacher, and it will be a treat to have her patterns for the class.
Over at Ravelry, the Loom-a-long for October will be a beautiful Fall themed table runner. The pattern is from Bethany Daily of Gettin' It Pegged, who will also be hosting the loom-a-long. Bethany's sweet new book, "Loom Knitting for Little People" has just been published, another treat for October loomers.

Just off of my loom, a faroese shawl in a pretty half circle shape. The photo shows the shawl being blocked.
Happy Looming!
Copyright 2011 by Invisible Loom and Craft, Renee Van Hoy, all rights reserved.

Tea on Tuesday

 No time for tea today! We have a holiday dinner tomorrow night, and a very large chocolate mocha honey cake is in the oven, a pizza on the way home with my husband. I do have a few more shawl photos to share with you. The first photo shows the Peaceful Day shawl blocking. After it blocked, I added a little crocheted ruffle to it in a contrasting purple.

The second photo shows the Fareose shaped shawl on the loom. It is coming along very nicely, although I banged my head on the wall pretty well over this one. I think it will be a lovely shawl now, and it is the last pattern to be written for the shawl project. A little more testing on the small ruffled shawl, and then editing and photos - and finally patterns! 
Thank you to all of you who have sent me such wonderful, encouraging notes about the shawls. It keeps me working hard ☺
Copyright 2011 by Invisible Loom and Craft, Renee Van Hoy, all rights reserved.

On and Off the Loom

I have more photos of "the shawl project" to share with you today. The first photo shows the pink Hydrangea Petal Lace Shawl being blocked. It was made from 50 pegs, and blocked to 64 inches by 28 inches.

The second photo is shows a large V-back shawl on my 66 peg 1/2 inch gauge CinDwood loom. The center point of the shawl is at the bottom right of the photo. The yarn is Knit Picks City Tweed in Plum Wine, a soft blend of merino and alpaca in a DK weight. The shawl has simple lace rows that will follow the "V" shape when it is blocked out. I'm planning to add a little crochet edging in a contrasting color.

The last photo shows the Diamonds in the Ruff(les) shawl being blocked. This shawl was made on 58 pegs, and blocked out to over 75 inches. It wraps around and around for a wonderful effect, with the lace displayed nicely across the back.

I'm about to cast on the last of the "shawl project" shawls. I've made the doll size model, and I just have to decide on the yarn.

What's on your loom? Copyright 2011 by Invisible Loom and Craft, Renee Van Hoy. All Rights Reserved.