Wednesday, May 16, 2018

Weaving sticks

 Awhile back I came across some weaving sticks in an outlet store.. while they looked neat, I couldn't see parting with the $12.00 ... on clearance..
I walked away with some nicely priced beads and didn't give it another thought.. well sort of... after getting home I told hubby about them.. he said go back and get them...

 sure why not..... at least look again....
    after all it is right next to Joann's craft store, so at some point I would be right there ;) .. came home with a stunning rose quartz piece that was begging to come home... along with the beautiful Amethyst I couldn't set down..

Third trip some time after that....same out come.. the stones were still calling..

Went back one last time and yep you guessed it... still came home with more stones instead of stick's..
what can I say they really wanted to come home with me... and felt so nice...
     and were way less than the sticks to boot ... altogether ...
by then the sticks were sold out... after that trip so were the stones ;) .. they are all quite happy here


 Fast forward a few weeks... I am working on the tapestry loom my guys made for me to practice embroidery on yarn and or with yarn.. 
faster than knitting a pair of fingerless gloves with more space.. not as easy to mess up etc.....

btw those gloves are still in the works, my skills are getting closer to what I want,
however now is not glove weather, well maybe driving gloves.. steering wheel getting a tad warm these days..  oh wait that's another story........
                            anyhow they are on the back burner for now..

                at that point I recalled those sticks.. I needed to make a set.. why didn't I think of that ages ago lol

 I had been given a packet of these bamboo sticks along with some craft supplies years ago.. they looked useful but had no clue what to do with them..
 



They are smaller than the ones I had seen and much more to my liking in price lol... now to make a set..

The points are not needed.. these are just what I had on hand
6 inch dowel sticks work great ( or cut longer ones to size wanted, I found this size easy to hold on to )



 got my tools together ...
 
be mindful to place in secure holding before attempting to drill..
 
 safety glasses are a must also.. take my word on this.. oh and watch out for smoke.. no clue they could light up so fast...
the holes are 1/2 inch from the bottom of the sticks, I wanted a bit of length to help guide the weaving over the yarn that goes through the sticks..
 
 side note ... I have seen some sticks with little eyelet screws on the bottom but felt the possibility for the weaving to stick would rise, I'm sure they would work with some thought put into the works.. but I wanted mindlessly easy here.. something that could be done while chatting or walking along 
 
 
 
these are the finished product ... after a good sanding of course 
 
 
 
 
 

   After giving them a try I added a few more
 

And a few more..
 
These are so much fun, super easy..
 
to start to weave a length of yarn twice the length need, plus about 6-8 inches for tying off ( longer for fringe ), through each stick,
 you can put a loose knot at the end of each or tie them loosely together to keep things in place..
 put a slip knot around the first stick and start weaving up the sticks..
as they fill up side them down on to the yarn threaded through the sticks ( this is call your warp yarn )
 
be careful to keep a bit of weaving on the sticks to keep things looking smooth..
when you get to the size wanted slide all the weaving down even out among the warp yarn..  
 tie off.. you can weave the ends in or leave as fringe
 
 
I am going to use the pieces I made to hang earrings on at market.. come cooler weather I plan on making scarfs.. and such..