And the Winners Are …

Deborah and I both think that it must have been a difficult task for the judges to pick the top three out of 15 amazing 2021 Pin Loom Cake-Off Challenge projects! The variety of ideas was simply stunning. However … here is what the judges have chosen …

1st PlaceBy Diane OConner, using Caron Cake FunfettiFlower Garden Scarf
By Diane OConner, using Caron Cake Funfetti
2nd PlaceBy Carol Dowell using Lion Brand Mandala (Gnome colorway) and Mandala Sparkle cake (Crux colorway)Stained Glass Table Runner
By Carol Dowell using Lion Brand Mandala (Gnome colorway) and Mandala Sparkle cake (Crux colorway)
3rd PlaceStarflower Table Runner
Anne Holmstrom … I used a DK Colors cake yarn. I wanted to do something that included quilting and pin loom weaving.

And wait, there is more! Here are the winners of the random drawing:
– Eleanor Chute
– Donna J. Farrell Brown
– Kathryn Olson

Congratulations to all! We will contact the winners to discuss the details.

If you missed the challenge, go ahead and get inspired by visiting the Pinterest board to see all entries.

A special thank you to all who participated. And a very special thank you to the judges for their time and effort.

Shall we do it again next year? Let us know!

Countdown for Cake-Off Contest!

The countdown for our 2021 Pin Loom Cake-Off contest has begun. There are 10 more days to enter your project(s)!

No need to wait to the last minute, you can see the current submissions already on the contest Pinterest board. If you don’t see your picture on the board, but have posted your submission, please contact us! We want to make sure that we get them all.

Haven’t started yet? It’s not too late … read what it takes to participate in the contest description blog.

Happy weaving, and good luck!

Launch Day!

It’s launch day for our 2021 Pin Loom Cake-Off Contest, and that means that you can now start posting pictures of your contest projects. Here are a few things to know:

WHAT TO DO

  • Post ONE picture of your project (but you can submit as many projects as you want).
  • Please include a brief note about which cake yarn you used, and if you used a pattern, it would be great if you mention which pattern you used or link to where you found it.

WHERE TO POST

Please post your project picture at any of the following places:

WHAT TO EXPECT

All submitted projects will be added to our “2021 Pin Loom Cake-Off Contest” Pinterest board unless you ask us to not post your picture on Pinterest. This Pinterest board will be the source that the judges use to determine the winners of the judged contest. All submissions will be entered into the random drawing.

WHEN TO SUBMIT

Any time from now on until March 10, 2021, midnight US CT. This means you have plenty of time to craft!

QUESTIONS?

Please feel free to post any questions that you may have in any of the groups, or contact Deborah or Gabi

2021 Pin Loom Cake-Off Contest — FAQ

Questions are a good thing! In this post we will continue to add questions that have been brought to our attention, with answers. And … if you have any further questions, please contact Deborah or Gabi!

Q: What is the 2021 Pin Loom Cake-Off Contest?
A: You can read about the contest in this post.

Q: Where can I get more info about the contest?
A: You can read about it on the blog, or you can download the info sheet.

Q: Can I only use cake yarn for my project?
A: While the majority of your project should be made of the cake yarn that you chose, you can combine your cake yarn with other yarns in your project.
Examples: You can use other yarns together with your cake yarns as needed for your design. You can use other yarns to crochet around your weavies and/or join your weavies together. You can add a border that is not cake yarn. You can make tassels, cords, or other embellishments using other yarn.
These are just examples, but we think that you get the idea. If you’re not sure … please ask!

Q: Which cake yarns can I use?
A: Any cake yarn that you can buy is fine: Any company, any quality, any colors (gradient cakes are fine, too).

Q: What project can I make?
A: You can make almost any project that you wish (see blog or info sheet for details): You can follow a pattern or make up your own. Take a look at this Pinterest board for inspiration.

Q: Can I use a potholder loom?
A: We decided that a potholder loom is ok, as long as you use cake yarn.

2021 Pin Loom Cake-Off Contest

Last year, the Yarnspirations company ran a Caron Cake Contest where people could post pictures of their projects and win … yarrrrrn!

Some of us participated, but honestly, there were so many submissions that it was pretty much impossible to even find one’s own submission photo! So … Deborah and I decided that we will do our own cake contest, just for pin loom weavers:
Welcome to the 2021 Pin Loom Cake-Off Contest!

Here is how it goes …

WHO

Pin loom weavers around the world.

WHAT

To participate (in a nutshell, more details below):

Make a pin loom project, using any cake yarn. Post a picture of the final project.

Our definition: “A yarn cake is a self-striping yarn that comes in a flat ‘cake’ shape.”

You can:

  • Use any loom or looms you want.
  • Make any item that you want. Your project(s) needs to consist of at least three weavies, but it can have as many as you wish.
  • Enter more than one project.
  • Use any pattern or no pattern.
  • Combine pin loom weaving with other crafts like crocheting, knitting, embroidery, … as long as the majority of the project is pin loom woven.
  • Use embellishments like buttons, ribbons, …
  • Submit past projects that you made for the Caron Cake Contest, or any other projects you made in the past, using cake yarns.

If you don’t have access to cake yarns, please contact Gabi. We have a limited supply of yarn that we can make available at a decent cost.

WHEN

January 21, 2021               Announcement. Take time to prepare.

February 1st, 2021             Kick-Off! Get weaving! Posting final project pictures is now allowed.

March 10, 2021                 Submission/Posting deadline is at midnight US Central, no excuses.

March 15, 2021                 The winners will be announced!

WHERE

Please post your final project picture at any of the following places. These are also good places to ask questions … and just chat!

We will add (unless you ask us to be excluded) all posted final project pictures to our “2021 Pin Loom Cake-Off Contest” Pinterest board. The judges will do their evaluations based on the pictures posted on that board.

PRIZES

This is a 2-part contest! We will have a judged contest, conducted by Deborah. She has lined up 5 judges who will determine 3 winners, based on the pictures on our Pinterest board.

Judging criteria:

  • Neatness
  • Construction
  • Use of color
  • Creativity
  • Overall appeal

Grand Prize: A set of 6 Caron Cakes in “Funfetti”.

2nd prize: A set of 3 Caron Cakes in “Pistachio”

3rd prize: A set of 2 Caron Cakes in “Rainbow Sprinkles”

There will also be 3 prizes drawn randomly from all participating projects: 2 matching Caron Cakes each, colors are our choice.

You can only win once.

QUESTIONS

If you have any questions, post in participating groups mentioned above or contact Deborah or Gabi

DOWNLOAD

The information in this blog is also available for download in this info sheet:

20200121-pinloomcakeoffcontest-v10Download

DISCLAIMER

This is a voluntary effort that Deborah and Gabi conduct as a courtesy to the pin loom community. We will do our best to make it fun. If you choose to participate you accept that the organizers cannot be held liable for anything related to this event. 

The event is open to pin loom weavers worldwide, but in case you win, we can only ship where legally possible, and you are responsible for any additional customs/tax/mail fees in your country. No substitutes.

2020 Pin Loom Mystery Weave-Along — Week 5

Welcome to Week 5!

We’re getting close! Watch our photo presentation on Pinterest grow, and look at some of the Mystery Guess contributions … bags of all sorts are a very popular pick, but we also had some very “interesting” ideas, from apron to walrus!

Goals for this week:

This week’s theme is to “getting things right”. Besides taking time to check our previous work, we will optionally explore the “right” and “wrong” side of a pin loom project. While the mystery project is designed in a way that it comes out “right” without paying much attention, this is a good opportunity to look at the basics of fabric sides, and we are using Saori-style weaving to help us easily identify what to call the “right” side.

Download the worksheet for more information: 2020MysteryWALWeek5   

If you have any questions, you may check the FAQ frequently asked questions , ask in the groups, and please don’t hesitate to contact me!

In this week’s video you will find the story of some Mystery Guess contributions, and also examples for how to weave-in the yarn snippets for our Saori-style weaving:

Let’s chat and discuss in the groups!

Here are the Week 5 samples … remember that yours don’t have to look exactly the same:

Enjoy and Weave On!

2020 Pin Loom Mystery Weave-Along — Week 4

Welcome to Week 4!

Can you believe it? We are half way through our weave-along! Our Pinterest board shows the progress in pictures, and if you want to see very long strips of beautiful colors and joins and even more very long ropes – a variety thereof – check out our Week 3 Pinterest Board for review.

Goals for this week:

This week’s theme is to “go over and up”. We’re starting to add weavies using horizontal joins, like joining rows to rows.  Optional, there’s a little bit silliness when I ask you to draw a picture of what you think the mystery will be!

Download the worksheet for more information: 2020MysteryWALWeek4

If you have any questions, you may check the FAQ frequently asked questions , ask in the groups, and please don’t hesitate to contact me!

For your enjoyment, there’s been a lot of show-and-tell worthy material from Week 3 that I’m sharing in this week’s video, along with a walk-through of Week 4 instructions (partly blurry … sorry):

Let’s chat and discuss in the groups!

Here are the Week 4 samples … remember that yours don’t have to look exactly the same:

Enjoy and Weave On!

2020 Pin Loom Mystery Weave-Along — Week 3

Welcome to Week 3!

By now, we have used each of our colors at least once. It was so interesting to see the different effects of all the weavies, sewn together, during Week 2! And then there are of course the optional 2020 squares and hexies …Take a look at our Week2 Pinterest Board.

Goals for this week:

This week’s theme is to “make long things”, we’re going to put all six weavies into one long row, and there’s an optional assignment to make … a rope.

Download the worksheet for more information: 2020MysteryWALWeek3   

If you have any questions, you may check the FAQ frequently asked questions , ask in the groups, and please don’t hesitate to contact me!

For your enjoyment, there’s been a lot of show-and-tell worthy material from Week 2 that I’m sharing in this week’s video, along with a walk-through of Week 3 instructions:

Let’s chat and discuss in the groups!

Here are the Week 3 samples … remember that yours don’t have to look exactly the same:

2020PLMWAL-Wk3-SquaresAndHexies

2020PLMWAL-Wk3-Optional2

Enjoy and Weave On!

Doors are Open!

I would like to invite all yarn lovers to our first Berroco “Virtual Yarn Tasting” for the new Spring/Summer 2019 yarns and patterns collection.

virtualyarntasting avatar 010519“Yarn tasting” means sampling new yarns and talk about them, discuss the new patterns for those yarns … and prepare for a great season of scrumptious warmer weather knitting and crocheting. Most importantly the goal is to have a good time together.

It is my honor to moderate this conversation in a Facebook group, co-hosted by Berroco’s Media Director Amy Palmer.

The group is now open. Over the next 2-3 weeks there will be videos and chats to introduce and explore the new yarns.

Please join in, and also feel free to share this invitation with anyone who loves yarn!

Click here to get to the Facebook “Virtual Yarn Tasting” group

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