Good things come in small packages

I do like a pretty package, don't you? This one arrived from Weft Blown recently, complete with sheep badge. And inside was ...

... a tiny weaving loom

It's a two inch pin loom made by Hazel Rose Looms. This is one of their smallest looms (it fits in the palm of my hand) and I absolutely love it. For those of you who don't know about pin looms, they are a very simple way of weaving shapes, based on the old Weave-It Looms which were very popular in America in the second half of the twentieth century. I first read about them in this issue of Piecework Magazine in 2010.

My first Hazel Rose loom was a four inch square which I've had a lot of fun with; here it is with the new loom fitted inside it.

The yarn is woven round the nails on the loom to create the warp and half the weft before the last half of the weft is woven with a needle to complete the square. These little squares are a great use of variegated yarn which looks completely differently when woven rather than knitted. The four inch squares in the picture were woven with James C Brett's Marble Chunky and all come from the same ball of yarn.

Would you like to see what prompted me to order this new little loom?

Isn't this wonderful? It's a blanket made up completely of woven two inch squares. Even the black sashing is actually lots of little squares. A member of the Looms To Go group on Ravelry posted this picture of the blanket she'd found in a charity shop and she kindly gave me permission to use it here. It's rather sad that such a beautiful piece of work should have ended up in a charity shop but now it's found a good home where it will be treasured.

So, I've started on my own version. I think this one could take a while!