Pin Woven Pillow

In my previous posts on pin weaving I explained how to make a pin weaving board and showed a weaving project in process. To finish your new ‘fabric’ when you have filled your pin weaving board with your weavings, it is time to steam and remove it from the board.

As all the yarns I used are wool I want to shrink them into a mat with a hot iron and steaming while the weaving is still on the pins. Spray with water and press – straight up and down – and let cool and spray and press again. Leave it to cool and dry on the pins before pulling the pins out of the board. I used glass headed silk pins which are very thin. Most of them bent beyond reuse so I recommend sturdy pins without plastic tops. Though the chances of melting a pin head while pressing is low if your pins extend from the weaving board surface, you don’t want to deal with plastic stuck to your iron sole plate in the middle of pressing.

Turn the weaving over and repeat the spraying and pressing then let it cool and dry flat. I used a silk Organza pressing cloth to reduce the chance of burning the wool.

Cut a piece of iron-on interfacing slightly smaller than the weaving. I used a black interfacing used for needlework backing from the local JoAnn’s. I can’t find it on their website. Iron on the interfacing on the backside of your weaving. Make sure to let it cool flat before continuing.

Cut the weaving into a square. Save the longer cuttings for another project. I used a serger to cut and finish the edges at the same time.

I decided to use my woven fabric for a pillow cover. I made the solid wool backing from recycling a wool woman’s blazer that I cut apart and felted. Sewing three of the sides I attached large snaps to the fourth side so I could remove it from the pillow insert for cleaning. When putting this much time and effort into a pillow cover, spend a little more and get a quality pillow form.

The ironing of the wool does change the fuzziness of the yarns which I like. Before constructing the pillow cover I use a battery powered WAHL  pet shaver to remove the fuzzy surface. This tool is also perfect for shaving accumulating fuzz, but be careful to use the guard and keep the shaver parallel to the surface to not cut into the fabric.

Sew the pillow together at three sides and attach the fourth side as you desire. I use this pillow daily and it holds up very well though it deserves to be treated as an heirloom.

How To Make A Pin Weaving Board

In an earlier post I spoke of Pin Weaving with hand spun and dyed wool. In detail…

Continue Reading…

Pin Weaving With Hand Spun and Hand Dyed Wool Yarns

The Wood Stove Collection of hand spun wools which I dyed last winter were the basis for this Pin Weaving project… Continue Reading…

Weaving serenity from the cold.

The overwhelming urge to hibernate through the winter is lessening with the daily increase of sunlight.

I’ve been by the woodstove dyeing, spinning and pin weaving as well as knitting Alpaca hats through the last few months.

I can smell spring in the air and the perennials are poking their heads through the ground. This year I will garden…beginning with cleaning up the debris from last fall once the snow and  mud have cleared away and the warming winds of spring kiss my face.

Sock knitting gone bad

The first time I ever tried knitting socks, I finished the first one and never got fired up about knitting the matching sock. I always make a mistake in my knitting that I turn into a positive, and I think I will remember what I did to personalize the pattern. I usually write it down…on a post-it, or on the pattern, but never written in a way that I will understand when I need the directions again.

I now knit socks as a pair, at the same time, on two sets of double pointed needles. I still make mistakes, but I keep on going back and forth between the two stockings. I have a bad habit of leaving my knitting project on the back of the couch where I spend my knitting time.

Yes, the double pointed knitting needle in my sweet poodles’ hair came out of an active row of knitting on one of the socks. I now face my worst knitting fear…I quiver with apprehension whenever looking to replace a knitting needle in a dropped stitch, much less a whole row of dropped stitches.

In the past I have been known to rip out an entire project to start over rather than try to decipher how to undo the damage. I don’t have that kind of time or patience anymore, and I now am only held back by trying to find a suitably small crochet hook to replace the stitches onto the knitting needle. I still have a hard time keeping the knits and purls going in the correct direction…

Pain day down

 It’s one of those days when the pain meds don’t help and my mind is unable to escape it.

I’m watching Top Chef Masters and knitting these socks in bed today.

Yarns of many distinctions

Last winter’s spinning and dyeing ready for a project or two…

Alpaca at the door.

Winter is around the corner, and now is the time to plan for the cold weather by knitting a luxurious Alpaca sweater or shawl.