my latest crafting addiction

Two crafts that I won't even attempt: sewing and anything that involves yarn. Ever since an ill-fated home economics project back in 7th grade that involved sewing pillows in the shape of our initials, the sewing machine and I have never made amends. I always see beautiful quilts sprinkled throughout my Instagram feed. I'm envious. I wish I was blessed with that brand of crafty skills. Alas, I will have to settle for paying top dollar on Etsy if any quilts will be making their way into my house!

Another crafting medium that isn't my friend? Yarn arts. I even have an entire Pinterest board dedicated to it: "Holly Wishes She Knew How to Crochet." She does. There is no shortage of ADORABLE crocheting projects. But, knitting? Crocheting? Totally not my skill set. So, when I first saw the weaving trend emerging, I was skeptical. But, after skimming through a tutorial or two, I figured it seemed doable. And, it was!

I am super-proud of his wall-hanging! It was crafted as part of the package for my Crafty Valentine Swap partner. A few things about weaving... 

1. It's easy. Like REALLY easy. As I said... yarn crafts = not. my. thing. So, trust and believe... If I can do this, SO CAN YOU!

2. It's what I like to call a "mindless craft." One of those crafts that you can whittle away at while catching up with your DVR. Or, you know, in between endless feedings of a 4 week old little fella'. Kinda' like cross-stitching. Those kinds of crafts are my best friends right about now. And, when you're working with the simple over-under weave stitch all the way across the loom, using the shed and shuttle makes everything even MORE mindless.

3. It's fast. It only took me about a week to finish this. But, there was lots of laundry-doing, baby feeding, house cleaning, doctor visiting, and homework helping in that week. I'd say in total, this thing took me MAYBE 5 hours total. The most time-consuming was working on the heart, and figuring out the stitch-count for it.

4. It's more diverse than you think. You can take it way beyond just the simple over-and-under basic weaving. You can add shapes, and design elements (like the heart on mine). There are different stitches you can try. Fringe. Soumak Stitch. Rya knots. Those are just a few. Vary your yarns. That are some many different textures, and thicknesses that you can work with! There are more fun samples and idea on my weaving board on Pinterest.

I'm not going to give you a tutorial on it. Rachel does an excellent job of it here. There's also a great tutorial booklet that comes with the LapLoom. This is the one that my mom got me for Christmas. I recommend buying extra heavy warp thread. This is what you'll use to string up the base on you loom. And, I would suggest a Wonderwand. I don't have one. I just used my fingers to push the weft down as you move along on your woven piece. Or you could use a kitchen fork. But, I will be purchasing a Wonderwand when pay day rolls around. 

Oh, and I almost forgot!

5. It's SO addicting!

So, if one of your New Year's resolutions was to learn a new craft (or even if you already have a million crafting addictions, and really don't need to add another to your repertoire)... weaving just might be your next favorite thing!