10 Small-Loom Weaving Things I’d Rather Do Than Stand in Line on Black Friday

A while back I wrote a post for Handwoven's website about everything I’d rather do than go Black Friday shopping. Most of the items on the list were floor-loom related, so I thought it would be fun to update it for my new small-loom weaving lifestyle. I hope it makes you smile! —Christina

There was a time when I would very happily wake up at 4 a.m. on the Friday after Thanksgiving, grab a to-go cup of coffee, and head out to the mall with my mom to see what deals we could find. As I’ve gotten older, the allure of Black Friday has dimmed. No longer will I wait in line in the freezing cold just to get one of a limited number of mystery coupons or a free commemorative snow globe. I can think of many other things I’d rather be doing with my time. In fact, here’s a list of ten things I’d much rather do than stand in line on Black Friday.

1.) Warp my pin loom with a novelty yarn so fuzzy and fluffy it puts Cookie Monster’s fur to shame and makes it so I can’t see anything as I attempt to weave.

2.) Get distracted while halfway through a tablet weaving with a and then have to figure out how to turn the cards to unweave the cards until you find where you made the error.

3.) Finish using crochet to piece together a king-sized blanket only to realize I kept switching which side was the “right” side so the crochet doesn’t look the same along all the joins, and I have to frog out half the crochet and do it again.

4.) Full an entire king-sized wool blanket by hand.

5.) Forget to tie my warp on the apron rod of my rigid-heddle loom so I end up accidentally pulling the whole thing out of the heddle as I “tighten” the warp before weaving.

6.) Weave on an inkle loom with a 10" stick shuttle.

Christina would much rather use an extra-long stick shuttle on a narrow inkle warp than try to score a deal before the sun is up. Photo from the video Weave Turned Krokbragd.

7.) Have my 7-year-hold loudly explain the Minecraft vidoe game to me while I’m trying to thread a particularly complicated rigid-heddle setup that involves 2 heddles, a pick-up stick, and a heddle rod.

8.) Twist or braid a lot of slippery fringe by hand and then notice that I missed 3 threads in the middle so I have to undo everything and start all over again.

9.) Find out that the wool I thought was superwash is actually just regular old wool—after I ran it through the washer.

10.) Find out I mixed up the superwash and regular wool in my differential shrinkage project after I started fulling it in the washer.

There you have it! Even fixing a time-consuming weaving mistake sounds more fun than waiting in line or fighting crowds at the mall. I think I’d much rather skip the crowds focus on what really matters: weaving.

Happy Weaving!

Christina

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Keep the Fun Going

If you enjoyed this article, check out our other holiday-inspired posts. Hop on over to our sister sites and let the fun continue:

• Enjoy 12 fiber jokes to get a good laugh this holiday season at Handwoven.

• Make memories with handmade potholders.

• Take a trip to a winter wonderland with our special winter wishes guide at PieceWork.

• Explore four reasons why you’ll love our Black Friday features at Spin Off. (Hint: They’re free!)

Originally published 11/22/2023; updated 22/28/24