FaveCrafts

1000s of free craft projects, home decor ideas and DIY tips

7 Rainbow Loom Patterns to Love

by 2 Comments

Owl Charm Rainbow Loom BraceletHave you heard about the Rainbow Loom craze? The crafting world has been taken by storm by this jewelry making phenomenon! Kids (and adults) have jumped on this new crafting trend. Rainbow Loom crafts are cool accessories (mostly bracelets) made out of tiny, colorful rubber bands that are usually found on the arms of kids and teens. Go to any craft or toy store, and you are sure to find them!

From necklaces to bracelets to rings, there are so many homemade jewelry making options when it comes to crafting these rubber band jewelry projects. You can even add little charms to your projects, like with this Owl Charm Rainbow Loom Bracelet. You’ll be amazed how stylish some of these rubber band jewelry pieces can be; we love this Chic Chain Rubber Band Jewelry and this Grown-Up Rainbow Loom Bracelet. We are so excited about the Rainbow Loom here at AllFreeJewelryMaking that we have compiled a list of some of our favorite rainbow loom patterns for you to enjoy. With a variety of looms to choose from, including the Rainbow Loom, FunLoom, Cra-Z-Loom, and Wonder Loom, you have so many options to choose from to be a part of this craze. Kids and adults alike will love making these colorful, fun DIY jewelry pieces.

Plus, if you or someone you know loves using a rubber band loom, you’re going to love our new giveaway!  AllFreeJewelryMaking is giving away a copy of Rubber Band Loom Crafts, a book from Leisure Arts, filled with amazing designs for DIY projects that you can make on any rubber band loom. Scroll on down to enter today!

 

7 Rubber Band Loom PatternsGrown Up Rainbow Loom Bracelet

 

More Rubber Band Loom Supplies

 

 Bonus!

Rubber Band Loom Crafts Book

Enter to win a Rubber Band Loom Crafts! If you’re a teacher, parent, or anyone who’s talked to a kid recently, you know that rubber band looms have taken the world by storm!  With this craze, you will need a helpful guide to navigate all the options you have to create with this fun product, and that is where Rubber Band Loom Crafts: Easy Jewelry & More for Girls and Guys! from Leisure Arts comes in. Use this book as a helpful guide for kid-friendly projects to make with this fun jewelry making product. Head on over to our giveaway page and enter to win! You only have until February 3rd, 2014 to enter!

 

 

Are you a fan of rainbow loom jewelry?

Meet Mikey, Tutorial Host for AllFreeCrochet and AllFreeKnitting

by Leave a Comment

Learn how to loom knit with Mikey

Free Workshops with Mikey

Mikey is back at Spinrite Factory Outlet on February 25th from 10am – 3pm.

This month he is concentrating on Loom Knitting. He will be showcasing looms by Crafting Essentials and Authentic Sock Knitting; this is a free workshop and there are several throughout the day.

The classes book quickly as Mikey takes only six students at one time. He finds having more than six at one time throws off the learning experience and people don’t learn as much. He prefer students to understand what they are doing by the end of the class instead of just getting a general idea.

There will be discount sales going on during this event. There is also desserts and coffee being served throughout the day. Store opens at 10 am and coming early ensures you can get coffee and dessert before they run out.

The show we are doing, “Coffee Talk”, is from noon – 1pm. This means Mikey is taking a break from teaching. He’s going to have a lunch break where anyone is invited to join; bring your lunch and sit with Mikey and gossip about creativity with him. Limited seating and space. Just show up, the store is not booking for this added experience.

Try this loom knitted scarf by Mikey called the Crystal Scarf. People are loving this quick little project and looking all fabulous with their scarves when they are done.

Rectangular Loom Knitting Course at Creativ Festival

by Leave a Comment

Mikey, host of AllFreeCrochet and The Crochet Crowd is back at Creativ Festival live on October 21 – 23, 2011. Mikey is teaching a series of three courses. Click each line for more details, course codes, and times of these seminars. These courses are arranged directly through Creativ Festival Class Registration.

Mikey from The Crochet Crowd is teaching how to use these looms.

Learn how to use Rectangular looms at Creativ Festival with Mikey in October 2011.

Creativ Festival – Toronto Ontario Canada

by 1 Comment

One of the largest crafting festivals is taking place October 22, 23, & 24th, 2010 at the Metro Convention Centre in Toronto Ontario Canada.

This is not a flea market… this is a festival of celebrating creativity. Expect to play with new ideas at the displays. Many hands on activities to participate in that are part of the entrance fee.

You will be able to meet Michael Sellick and Daniel Zondervan, known as Diva Dan and Mikey. They run a large how to crochet and loom knit channel on You Tube. Michael participates with AllFreeCrochet and FaveCrafts on a regular basis.

At Diva Dan and Mikey’s Display will be:

  • You be the star, film with the boys at 1pm and 4pm each day. They are running tapings of interviews of regular people who are at the festival. Looking for 3 minutes of fame, stop on by their booth. Mikey is bringing the studio to Creativ… so come on down and talk with us!
  • Mikey’s display is doing 1/2 workshops all day each day! Learn how to Loom Knit and Crochet using Mikey’s hooks and equipment. Donations of Yarn have been provided by Bernat and Coats & Clark for this festival.
  • Want to learn how to loom knit and do it for charity? Join us at the LOOM A THON at our display. We will have 6 workstations set up so they you can learn how to knit. With each successful length of knitting, we will cast off and throw the scarves into a pile for Charity.
  • Mikey and Diva Dan are donating VIEWER DONATIONS to children’s charity. The fabulous viewers of “The Crochet Crowd” have been mailing mikey samples to display. TRUST ME WHEN I SAY… the donations are a wonder for your eyes to view!
  • Mikey is doing several workshops on behalf of Creaiv Festival. If you want to learn under his direction and be guaranteed a spot… sign up through Creativ Festival to participate.
  • Finally, Mikey and Diva Dan take the main stage at 12 Noon each day… Expect to be inspired and laugh… We will be on the Fashion Arts stage near the entrance of the Festival.

You can purchase tickets online and use Mikey’s discount code to get a discount! http://thecrochetcrowd.com Using Promo Code 156MM you can get up to $4.00 off the price of admission. Also… Mikey has a weekend long pass for those who want to stay all weekend.

Hope to see you there…

How to Loom Knit and How to Convert

by 2 Comments

Dear Readers,You have been pleading for instructions on how to convert loom knitting patterns into hand knitting patterns. You love our loom knitting patterns but you do not own a loom! Since I am a beginner to the craft, I have been doing some research for you all. Unfortunately, research tells me that converting from loom to needles is not particularly easy. Loom knitting is always done on the right side (RS) of the fabric, while needle knitting switches between the right side (RS) and wrong side (WS) of the fabric. WS stitches on a hand knitting pattern can be converted to the opposite stitches for a loom knitting pattern, but different RS/WS stitches are not specified in a loom knitting pattern and cannot easily be deduced.

If you think you know of a way to convert loom knitting patterns to hand knitting patterns, let us know!

Small Gauge Knitting Board from Authentic Knitting Board

If you love the loom patterns at our website, I would recommend that you think about purchasing a knitting loom or a knitting board. Knitting looms come in many different shapes, but a common shape is the circular loom used for hats and socks. Knitting boards, like those sold by Authentic Knitting Board (example shown above), are a kind of loom which creates a double knit fabric, finished on both sides. The “purl” sides face inwards and cannot be seen.  Knitting boards come in large gauge (1/2 inch between pegs) to finer gauge (3/8 inch between pegs). With these boards, you can adjust the distance between the rows of pegs or different effects.

Alternatively, you can make your own simple loom with a large wood picture frame and nails. Hammer a line of nails into the top and bottom of the frame, evenly spaced. To give you an idea of how big a loom you want, think of the pegs as each of the cast-on stitches on your knitting needles. Twenty pegs spaced about 1/2 inch part is a good general rule. For a step-by-step project on weaving with a homemade loom, see How to Weave without Special Equipment. You can use a small picture frame to create a small woven piece of fabric, for a coin purse for example.

To convert from a hand knitting pattern to a loom pattern, make sure that your loom has enough pegs for the number of cast-on stitches. Patterns for knitting in the round will not require stitch conversion as they do not have WS rows. They are the easiest to convert to loom knitting. For flat knitting, covert WS row stitches to the opposite stitch. WS purl stitches will become knit stitches. WS knit stitches will become purl stitches. Find a complete table for converting stitches here. You will then need to chart your stitch pattern using comfortable software or an old-fashioned pencil and paper. Row 1 is charted at the bottom of your graph, working from right to left. Assign a symbol for knit, purl and decrease and keep a legend for your chart. Test your conversion with a swatch.

Crochet

Jewelry

Knitting

Paper

Sewing

Thrifty