How to Close a Loom & Hook Pot Holder
Weaving potholders on plastic or wooden looms has been a favorite craft project for decades, allowing kids to make an endless variety of colorful gifts for mom. The original looms, developed in the 1930s, made use of the circular loopers that resulted during the manufacture of socks and hosiery. While weaving potholders with the cotton loopers is the fun part, getting them off the loom sometimes gives one pause. Learning to successfully remove the potholders and finish the edge at the same time is the final step in creating these classic woven items.
Instructions
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1
Place the loom containing the potholder on the table in front of you. Insert the crochet hook into the first loop at the upper right-hand corner, passing the hook from right to left through the loop. Then insert the crochet hook through the second loop from right to left. There are now two loops on the hook.
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2
Pull the second loop back through the first loop, as in a single crochet, leaving the second loop as the only loop on the crochet hook. Keep this loop on the hook.
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3
Slide the third loop from the corner from its peg. With the loop still on the crochet hook from Step 4, insert the hook through the third loop, from right to left. Pull the newly removed third loop through the loop on the hook, again leaving one loop on the hook.
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4
Continue the process of removing one loop and inserting the crochet hook, with the loop from the previous step still on the hook, through the newly removed loop and drawing the new loop through the old. Continue around the entire loom until the last loop.
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Tips & Warnings
Don't pull the loops tightly as you pull them through the previous loop with the crochet hook or you may distort the weave of the potholder.
Working around the corners of the loom takes a bit of finesse. It may help to remove one additional loop from its peg past the loop being drawn through with the crochet hook. This relaxes the tension at the corner to make it easier to manipulate the loops.
