For Christmas last year, my mom gave me a loom. Actually, it was from both of my parents, but everyone knew my mom was the chief gift-giver in our family. In fact, giving gifts was something she was especially good at and took great pleasure in. As the grateful recipient of many of her gifts, I took great pleasure in her gift-giving ability, too!

A few years ago, my husband gave me a Schacht Cricket loom for Christmas. I still love that little loom (though it has seen precious little action), but I eventually wanted something bigger. Since I adore everything else I have by Schacht (two wheels, a lazy kate, and the little loom), I decided to go for a Schacht Flip (the 20″). My husband gave me a stand to go with it.

I absolutely love it, and I got to weaving on it, at my parents’ house, right away. If you’ve ever knit a scarf and then you decide to weave a scarf, it almost takes your breath away how fast it goes.

Before I knew it, I had this squishy handspun scarf all done.

As you can see, my selvages left something to be desired. But the scarf was really just for practice, and for the sheer enjoyment of weaving. The warp is my own handspun Hello Yarn Shetland in “Minerals,” and the weft is, I think, some white Stonehedge Shepherd’s Wool worsted.

I love the fringe, with that party of colors. I bought a fringe twister but didn’t actually start trying to twist the fringe until a few days ago (and I’m still not done). That’s how I do – make something and then drag my feet on the last little detail for … awhile.

Maybe once I get the fringe all twisted, I’ll manage some better pictures.

At any rate, the process of making this scarf was so enjoyable that I couldn’t help but get started on another one immediately.

Love me some pink and brown! For this scarf, I paired two different handspun yarns, both from fiber I got years ago from Funky Carolina. The warp is “Little Lady” on Shetland; the weft is “Scutterbotch” from batts. The Scutterbotch was one of my very first yarns (I think the third one I’d ever made, and my first from batts), and it is very much a beginner yarn. When I sampled it, it didn’t look great knit up, but it worked perfectly as weft; it’s nice and skinny and neutral and allows the colors of the warp to shine through (bonus: I still have a bunch left, for more weft).

For this scarf, I tried hemstitching for the first time, and I really liked the effect. I did better on my selvages, too, though there’s still some unevenness here and there. I also haven’t twisted the fringe yet (of course). But who cares, I love it.

I made both of these scarves in January, marveling all the while at how fun it was and how fast, and thinking that I’d maybe weave a scarf each month. And one thing I espiecially wanted to do was to weave a shawl for my mom, for this Christmas. But none of that was to be. The year slid sideways, especially this second half, and since the end of January, I have woven precisely … nothing.

For awhile after my mom’s death, the loom just made me sad. Partly because it was her last Christmas gift to me, and partly because I never got to make her anything on it. But I’m trying hard to embrace the ongoing nature of the many gifts she gave me, and the loom is certainly a gift that, in the using of it, will keep being given to me, if I let it. And I’ve realized, too, that when I use it to make gifts, my mom’s giving is even further extended. She would like that.

So that’s what I’m doing now. And it feels really good, and really right.