Flower looms, aka the Bloom Loom, Knit Wit, or Crazy Daisy Winder, seem to be making a comeback thanks to a lady in California and Martha Stewart. The problem I have with them is the same reason I didn't think much of them back in the 70's. While the flowers are very pretty, I'm a small person and they're just too big and clunky for my own taste. Although I do have to admire what people are doing with new yarns and ribbons and wire and beads and pretty much anything you can wind around the little pegs.I've spent some considerable time trying to track down my own vintage loom, I've discovered that they're harder to find than I thought. Doesn't help that I spend ALOT of time looking at vintage magazines and now I'm pretty sure what I thought I'd seen in a store a few months back was probably a vintage advertisement.
I did find something called a Bloom Loom at JoAnn's. It's about 4" in diameter with pegs on both sides so you can make a double sided flower. My flower ends up about 3.5" in diameter as I tend to pull the yarn pretty tight. The instructions specifically say not to, but I can't seem to keep the yarn on the pegs any other way. I also find the instructions a little confusing. Maybe it's the format; the lines tend to run together so it's hard to keep your place. Bear in mind I've got a 2-handed death grip on the loom so everything stays where it's supposed to be. It could also be a left-handed thing. I really want to go clockwise, not counter-clockwise! I did finally get it and then started thinking about how to make them smaller.My favorite of the vintage looms is the one called "Hazel's Loom" because it has more than 2 rounds of pegs so I can make 3-5 graduated layers of petals if I wanted. I drafted up plans for making my own since I can't find one of those at all and the nice lady in California has apparently bought up all of the old flower looms of any type out there.
As a test run, I put a double circle of really big pins in my pincushion and did the little flower. It turned out to be 1.5" in diameter, which is more like it. I'll crochet a couple of leaves and turn it into a barrette. The pincushion thing worked for testing, but the pins want to move as you're winding the yarn so I'll be making the wood version or maybe in metal since the pegs will have to be so small and I don't want it breaking. Hopefully it'll work out as well as I think.In closing, some of you may be wondering why so few new patterns have been put up lately. This picture explains it pretty well. This is Poki, who hears the sound of a printer or sewing machine and comes running to "help". It is very, very hard to work with a cat sitting in the middle of your project! Especially one who reaches out to grab stuff. She's named Poki for a reason, and not just because it's "cat" in Hawaiian.
