I recently did a blog post pointing to the tiniest possible use for yarn leftovers, designed by my friend Anne Weil. Since then, Anne’s new book “Weaving Within Reach” has published, and I now have it in my hot little hands. (Thanks, Anne!) And I think it’s fair for me to describe it as a whole book of projects for using up yarn leftovers, from a little to a lot.
As weaving projects go, these are perfect for people like me who love the idea of weaving, but only for like an afternoon. I like a little weaving project, which is exactly what these are. But they also make use of more yarn than the earrings! I’m especially into the throw pillow and the storage bin, pictured here, both of which are designed for superchunky yarn but which would be magnificent (if possibly more fiddly) done with a bunch of strands of lighter yarns held together. Think of the possibilities of that.
The book is organized into three types of projects: those that require no loom (including the throw pillow); those using an improvised loom (the storage bin uses a cardboard box for a loom); and those that use a frame loom. So this is all beginner-level weaving — every project with full step-by-step instructions — but with lots of interesting and polished results. It’s beautifully photographed and quite inspiring. So you may see me dabbling soon!
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Weaving without a loom, what a great idea! Thanks for sharing this, looking forward to seeing your first project.
well this is just wonderful to know!
Weaving has been on my learn to do wishlist for quite some time…especially since I have tons of yarn left over from projects. Thanks for this post!
Definitely a great place to start!
Thanks for sharing Karen! I can’t wait to see you dabble. You always do it in such a lovely way. I’m off to Squam and wishing I would be seeing you on the docks!
xo Anne
I’ll be there in spirit!
Very cool! I love those pillows. Sarah Swett did an article some years back for Spin-Off that was about weaving a tote bag, using a box as a loom. I have that issue and have always wanted to do that. Looks like she has a zine for it in the shop on her blog. Here’s a link to the page on her blog that talks about it: https://www.afieldguidetoneedlework.com/blog/bag-on-a-box-redux
I came across, whilst down some fibre arts rabbit hole, someone weaving a lovely narrow (~2 inches wide?) band out of yarn scraps – – – the warp was wrapped around a rectangular carved-out shallow wood bowl, anchored on the bottom of the bowl with what looked like white duct tape – but I’ll be damned if I can find it now to link to you!
Mimi, I can help! That was @spiritcloth on Instagram (on 8/30/18). I was intrigued by that post, too, and have it saved in my likes in IG.
I was hoping that if I left that comment, someone would come up with the whereabouts.
I am an old-ish lady and semi-confirmed Luddite who doesn’t have an IG account. But I do know how to Google, and Bookmark on my laptop. And sift through my History, which can become crazy-making and prohibitive.
And here we are!
Thanks Amber!
Thanks so much for sharing! I’m always finding myself leaving my yarn ends laying around and my husband gets sooo annoyed… so maybe if I can leave them lying around in a pillow or purse form he won’t notice LOL! Awesome post.
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