I finally did it. After a lot of Googling (“weavette plans”) and YouTube viewing and soul searching on Saturday afternoon, I decided to just make my first loom as simple as possible. Bob built the stretcher (two dollars’ worth of art-supply store supplies) and I hammered the nails in at 1/4-inch intervals along an 8-inch square. And maybe a half an hour later, thanks to this Hazel Rose video, I had finished my first “weavie”! As they apparently call them.

Eventually I’ll take the time the time to mark out another one with “multi-loom” pin placements — as detailed here and evidenced in this video (with some reconciliation between the two). But I’ll be able to do pretty much all I want to do with this one in the near term. I think — I really don’t know. I’ve ordered a long needle and a locker hook, which I’ll need to try my hand at the sort of weaving I think I’m interested in, and then I’ll discover more about what I can and can’t do with this loom and those accessories. But until they arrive, I’m essentially limited to the diagonal method seen above, which only requires a long crochet hook. But even that simple technique is pretty satisfying.

Thanks again to Jaime Rugh for the inspiration.