Sunday, December 20, 2009

15 inches of snow- Look's like I'm crafting today!

The storm that hit eastern USA yesterday is gone but left 15 inches of snow here. I had a husband and 2 grown sons armed with a snow blower and snow shovels so I decided there was really nothing for me to do... but craft. In my defense- I did 3 loads of laundry and made lasagne to make up for not leaving the house all day.

While cleaning up some craft supplies recently I found the plastic loom frame and bag of fabric loops I bought many years ago for Chris (my oldest son) to make potholders for Christmas gifts for both his grandmothers. He made one set and refused to make any more. I got the potholders that year. I love to cook and they have been used daily for MANY years (after a family discussion we came up with between 12-15 years). But they are worn out and I didn't think they would survive another washing.

I decided to spend part of the snowy afternoon making myself another set. I couldn't find the directions but it I figured it couldn't be too hard since this is designed for children. Wrong! My first one took 3 hours. It came with a plastic hook that kept bending and was almost impossible to use. I decided a large crochet hook would work better but by that time Chris was napping in the room where I keep all my craft supplies and the door was locked. I remembered a piece of heavy copper wire with a hook on one end that I retrieved from the garage trash this summer thinking it might be interesting to use sometime. It was a crude crochet hook but it worked. I wove the loops a different way and the second potholder only took 30 minutes. I wasn't planning on spending most of the afternoon making 2 pot holders but I was determined to finish since all 3 guys were making fun of me.




Here are my new potholders as well as the original set. The one on the left is the one that took 3 hours.







This is the equipment I used. It's hard to see the plastic hook but that's OK since it was pretty useless anyway. I have lots of loops left so I've promised both Chris and Eric a set of potholders as a house warming gift when they finally move out of the house :)

5 comments:

Live, Love, Laugh, Write! said...

Oh wow - I haven't seen one of those in years! I remember making potholders for my Mom and my grandparents though :D

Marlaine said...

LOL...I bet the promise of pot holders has them ready to get out of the nest! Amazing how long your pair lasted.

beadsandblooms said...

Oh my, I made potholders like that as a child in the 50's and gave them to my grandma and mother. My little loom was made of metal, though. Thanks for bringing back a fun memory!

Dawn N said...

I do a LOT of cooking and they survived many years. They were even singed over the gas flame a few times. Chris is 23 now so you can judge their age. I remember making him use every slot so they were super tight.

Patricia C Vener said...

I did those potholders when I was a little girl. I didn't use the hook so much as my little fingers. LOL