Pop’s 90th went well. Here he is shaking hands with Randy’s grandmother who will be 100 next August. As usual I forgot my camera until we were all getting ready to leave. It was a happy and festive occasion, anyway, and several old friends came by, as well as all family within reach.

This is the new knitting loom. It has nails with 1/4″ centers and the gap spacing adjusts from 3/8″ to 1″. There are some knitted samples so you can see the fabric on the next page. I am having fun with this new knitter. It makes very nice fabric!
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I tied the warp strings with a overhand knot. If the string are too short or your fingers to big, you can use your crochet hook to help. If you have used a large tray, your piece can now be folded and made into a purse or a marble bag or stuffed and used as a pin cushion. You can make a lot of them, and sew them together and make a scarf the hard way! 😛
Have fun!

You can take it home and hang it on the wall, or you can turn it over and cut the warp string at the center of the tray. Be sure your ends are woven in and treat it gently once it’s off the loom. You will now tie the warp ends.
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When I got to the end where the rulers wouldn’t work any more I folded the yarn into a small “skein” and used the hook to pull it though. Remember to weave in your ends.

I had a couple of rulers handy so used one as a shuttle and the other as a warp stick. You can make a shuttle out of a piece of cardboard. When I wove with the kids we used short pieces of yarn or the mylar bag strips or some ribbon, etc. So did not really need a shuttle and they used their fingers to open the warp. A crochet hook or bent wire would also work to open the shed and pull the yarn though. Be imaginative!

This is the back of the loom. I just tied the ends of the warp in a bow to keep them out of the way.

I’ve use a light worsted weight yarn to warp the loom. I cut a slot in the cormer of the tray and caught a long tail of the yarn in it to start. The warp is wrapped all the way around the tray and fitted into the slots in order. I cut another slot in the bottom to catch the tail of the yarn.

Lay the tray ‘face’ down on a counter and, holding the fork up-right, press the tines of a fork into the edge of the tray. You’ll probably have to wiggle it a bit. It does not make deep indentations. Place the first tine into the last indentation to space the next set and continue across the tray. Turn the tray over and repress the indentations. Be careful… too much pressure will break the tray. Don’t get too far into the corner curve as the warps will just fall off there.

Wash a meat tray very well with soap and hot water. Any foam tray will work. Your bakery may use them, too.