LOOM!

Leona LOVES taking things and weaving and tying them to something else. String and pipe cleaners onto the back of chairs, on bags, basically anything that can be tied anywhere, she's on it like white on rice.

Yesterday, inspired by this post, I googled "DIY giant loom" for ideas, then stuck out to our back shed. This is one of the many, many benefits of living in the house my grandparents built some 25-30 years ago. That, and the fact that my grandpa was a realy handy man. The back shed is huge, and full of wood scraps...main purpose of which is for feeding the wood stove.

Looking around I found one perfect for the two planned feet, and one perfect for the top and bottom, then stumbled upon three rungs from the child-proofing gate that I had sawed off to fit at the top of the stairs, and realized they would be perfect for the sides. Found a saw, went to the annex above the garage where there is a work bench, and put my woodworking skills gained from helping my dad out at his shop over the years growing up to good use.

Found sandpaper in the basement, put in some good ol' elbow grease, hammer, nails, and screws, got some thick string, and the result was this beauty:

Ok, so on the very last step before completion (securing the right-hand foot) I successfully put my signature mark on it...meaning it is obvious it is home-made (it's a bit at an angle), but I can live with that.

Next morning I took an old, worn out pillow case that had a big tear in it, ripped it into rags, piled them by the loom as an invitation to explore. At first I wove two pices in as a starter, but Eliana got them out fast as fast can be, and I realized I liked that idea better - to let her discover it on her own and do it however she likes. In the future we can weave together, but for now, she is super keen on weaving and tying as it is, that I'm sure she will find a way that she is intent about.

When she came down she saw the loom and was quite excited. She layed it down and got two cars out and tried to let them run down the string...the cars fell straight through though, so she realized that wasn't going to work. She then started using it to build a 'house'. I realized it may take a while for her to discover the rags and then to think to weave and tie them, so I head up to bed for my morning nap (wake up way too early with Eliana).

When I came downstairs later, I found this:

She had found the rags and gleefully tossed them about (my mom had shared with me), and then found some wet-wipes and spent a long, concentrated while meticulously tying them onto the loom. I love it!

I'm going to make some more rags from different colored material, and have it in a felt 'basket' by the loom, and just have it available to her - I can't wait to see where it takes her, or where she takes it, I guess I should say.



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