Adorable Beasts: 30 Pin Loom Animals + 4 Playscapes

By Margaret Stump

Think outside the square—and make thirty delightful animals from hedgehogs to hippos with easy pin loom weaving!
 
Though pin looms do make squares, there’s so much more you can do with the cloth you weave on your pin loom, starting with the adorable creatures in this book. Margaret Stump has once again outdone herself with this creative collection of thirty “how did she do that” animals made just from pin loom weaving. Would you ever guess you could make a giraffe, hedgehog, elephant, hippo, sea turtle, and so many more animals from these little woven squares? And it’s so easy, too! Step-by-step, illustrated instructions for every piece in the book ensure your success.
 
Once you’ve made the animals, give them someplace to play! Instructions for four playscapes are also included: an animal hospital with helicopter, emergency vehicle, and doctor; a baby and toddler play blanket with baby-safe animals; a medieval fort with lady, knight, and unicorn; and Noah’s ark with ark carrier, play mat, Noah and his wife, and of course two of each animal aboard.
 
All you need to get started are a 2" x 2" and 4" x 4" loom and some yarn. Detailed instructions of all aspects of weaving and joining are included so you can make these cute creatures even if you’ve never woven on a pin loom before.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Jun 14, 2023
• ISBN: 9780811768696

Margaret Stump

Margaret Stump is the author of the successful Pin Loom Weaving. She has been creating wonderful fabrics and projects with pin looms for more than forty years. Her work is creative, original, fun, and appealing to young and old alike. A longtime advocate for this vintage art, she is delighted to see so many artists and craftspeople rediscovering the joys of pin loom weaving. She lives in Mankato, Minnesota, and can be found online at www.pinloomweaving.com.

Book preview

Introduction

Welcome to the newest way to create adorable creatures with fast, fun, portable weaving. Pin looms shrink the weaving process down to a frame that fits in the palm of your hand. If you have ever wanted to work with fiber, but knitting and crochet have no appeal, portable weaving is easy and different. If you are a weaver and would like a small loom that you can carry anywhere, a pin loom makes a perfect complement to larger projects.

I am so happy to be writing this introduction to Adorable Beasts. These little creatures have been struggling for a number of years to be born. When I turned in all the information for the first book, Pin Loom Weaving, I said to myself, Well, that’s it. I have now told everyone everything I know about pin loom weaving. I’ll just go back to making blankets and scarves and things, and I’ll see the cool stuff that other people make, and it will be okay.

And then something odd happened. I kept thinking about the domestic animals that are in the last section of Pin Loom Weaving. And it suddenly dawned on me: If I can make a dog, I can make a tiger. I can’t tell you why my mind went from dog to tiger or why that seemed like such an essential step, but I found that I could not let it drop. I started making the animals and found that each animal led to further discovery. Each time I figured out how to make a little creature, I would be pretty sure that was it—that was the last one that I could make. And then there would be that tickle in the back of my mind, wondering how I might make a giraffe or a camel, an elephant or a rhino.

There have been a number of strange coincidences along the way. On two different occasions I have asked people what their favorite animal was, planning to give them one that I already had for a celebration or a bribe, and found out that their favorite animal was one that I had not yet made and one that I was convinced I could not make. So, with that extra impetus, the hippo was born and the chimpanzee came to life.

I am pretty certain that these little creatures are on a path of their own, going out into the world being created and re-created by many. They feel so much like small unique beings that it has been fun to share names and stories about them. I believe that with your help they will end up with many more names and stories. Please enjoy these adorable beasts!

Pin Loom Weaving Techniques

LOOMS AND MATERIALS

LOOMS

All of the adorable beasts are made from pin loom weaving. To make the animals you will need to have a 2 x 2 pin loom and a 4 x 4 pin loom. These two looms will allow you to make any of the creatures as well as all of the playscapes.

Because animals are not really square, there are also two rectangular shapes commonly called for. You can always weave on the square looms and join the squares to make the rectangle shapes you will need. But if you decide that you would like to make a number of animals and want to speed up the weaving process, or if you are one of those people who (like me) have to have all the looms, you may want to invest in a 2 x 4 pin loom and a 4 x 6 loom.

Pin looms are easily available from many sources. See Resources on page 126 for available sources to purchase looms. You can also make your own very simply. My first book, Pin Loom Weaving, includes templates and instructions to make all of the popular size pin looms. My second book, Pin Loom Weaving To Go, includes super simple directions to make a 2 x 2 loom.

TOOLS

Pin loom weaving calls for a few basic tools:

•Scissors for cutting yarn.

•Tapestry needles. These are most often found in sizes 16 and 20. Choose the size you feel comfortable with—the smaller the number, the larger the needle.

•Crochet hooks. You will only be doing very simple edging and joining techniques. For most projects, I recommend a size G-6 (4.0 mm) hook for use in joining or finishing items. The idea is that you want the size of the crochet loop to match the pin loom loops. You may find that you prefer to use a crochet hook that is a little larger or a little smaller. I also suggest that you keep a very small crochet hook on hand, something between 1.7 and 2.5 mm. The purpose for this little hook is to give you a tool to easily pull end yarns back into the cloth.

•A beater—a tool that assists in straightening the yarn as you weave on the pin loom. I suggest using a regular-size fork that has smooth, rounded points on the tines so it does not snag the yarn.

•Optional: Clover Hana-Ami Flower Loom Set. Two of the round looms from this set are used to make lovely little looped pom-poms, which are used for plants and bushes in the Medieval Castle Playscape. The flower looms work very well in conjunction with pin looms.

YARN

Pin looms are able to take advantage of a wide variety of yarns, from fine to chunky, wools, silks, acrylics, and more. For each project, I have listed the types of yarn I used and often the specific yarns. The yarn descriptions listed in these projects are my suggestions if you want to re-create the adorable beast or playscape as shown. However, because of their small size and lack of waste, pin looms offer an opportunity to weave with an incredible variety of exotic yarns and therefore make an incredible variety of exotic beasts! Be adventurous—create the next generation of adorable creatures.

WEAVING INSTRUCTIONS

In pin loom weaving, the yarn is wound through the pins of the loom in three layers, which creates both warp and part of the weft, so that the cloth takes less time to weave and comes off the loom with a finished selvedge all the way around.

These directions demonstrate the process of winding the yarn on a 2 x 2 loom. All pin looms use the same pattern of pins and create the same cloth. In addition to reviewing these instructions, for a demonstration of winding and weaving a 4 x 4 loom, look at Schacht Spindle Company’s YouTube Channel to view a video on weaving on the Schacht Zoom Loom, a new and clever iteration of the pin loom. You will find a number of other demonstrations for weaving on a pin loom on YouTube as well.

DIRECTIONS

1. Hold the loom with the side marked 1 to the bottom. Loop the yarn around the first two pins at the top and bottom, and either tie off in a double knot or tape this end to the back of the loom. You can weave this end into the cloth after you complete the weaving. Take the yarn around the second two pins at the bottom and run between the first and second of the cluster of three pins at the top. Continue to wind the yarn from top to bottom, always moving to the right, passing the yarn between the first and second pins in each cluster as shown below.

2. Follow the arrow by the number 2, indicating the second layer of threads. Turn the loom so that the 2 is on the lower edge and continue the same pattern of winding the yarn around two pins, passing the yarn between the first and second pin in each cluster until you come to number 3.

3. Turn the loom so that the number 1 side is down again. Follow the number 3 arrow to pass the yarn through the two pins as indicated and then down around the middle two pins in the cluster of four. Notice that this sets up a different pattern. Now, instead of passing the yarn between the first two pins in the clusters of three, you will wind it around the first two pins. This step offsets the yarn from the layer below so you will be able to weave the two layers together. Continue winding across the loom, bringing the yarn around the first two pins in each cluster, until you come back to the corner that has the W for weave. Now your loom is ready to weave.

4. To have enough yarn to weave the square, wind the yarn around the outside of the loom three times and cut. Each size of loom takes a different number of winds around the outside of the loom to measure off the yarn. See Yarns and Yardage below for complete information. Unwind the yarn from around the loom and thread the end of the yarn onto your weaving needle. Begin weaving as indicated, starting in the line with the W with the arrow to it.

Loop around last pin to tie off and weave back through cloth. Weave first line

The illustration points out where you begin each line of weaving. You always start to weave between the pins where the yarn loops out (indicated by the blue line). Be particularly careful with the first line of weaving and the last line of weaving. It is easy to miss them, but if you do, you will find that you have a loop of yarn that has not been woven in and falls away from the cloth.

After you weave through the last line, you will find that there is still one pin uncovered. Loop around that last pin to tie off, weave the yarn end into the cloth, and clip. After you have taken the cloth off the loom, weave in the beginning yarn end.

Yarns and Yardage

Each size loom takes a different length of yarn to complete the weave. This is measured by circling the yarn around the outside of the pin loom after you have completed winding the three layers on the pins.

Further Reading

For additional instruction on pin loom weaving and other projects to try, see Margaret’s other books:

Pin Loom Weaving and Pin Loom Weaving to Go

JOINING INSTRUCTIONS

Three-dimensional objects and woven play-spaces demand strong, easy joins. The joining techniques below are used throughout this book. For further information and demonstrations of these pin loom joining techniques, check out the video instructions at www.pinloomweaving.com.

SINGLE CROCHET WITH CROCHETED SLIP STITCH

Single crochet and slip stitch are my favorite joining methods for anything where (1) it’s okay to have a very noticeable or protruding seam (for example, dish cloths) or (2) the crochet join is going to be turned to the inside and will not show at all, such as with the stuffed animals in this book.

Stack the two pieces of cloth and crochet through the loops of both pieces. Single crochet is extremely fast and secure. If you make a mistake, the stitches pull out easily. When shaping a stuffed animal, you can use single crochet on the straight edges and then use a slip stitch through the material in order to round out a corner.

Regarding crochet hook size, I normally use an F-5 (3.75 mm) or a G-6 (4.0 mm) hook. It seems to match the weight and texture for pin loom weaving. You can see a demonstration of the single crochet join on the video page of www.pinloomweaving.com. You can find additional material on crochet techniques on page 8.

MATTRESS STITCH

The mattress stitch is a very practical joining technique. It’s quick and works very well for light yarns or small items, like baby blankets. The downside of this join is that it is dependent on one strand of yarn woven through the two pieces of fabric.

Take two squares, line them up as shown above, where the front and back loops are alternating, and weave through