Shopping with a Weaver’s Eye

I love to browse in unlikely weaving stores. Since Vegas has only one weaving store and I work in it, that’s really not too hard to do. But I don’t mean “touching and feeling” in the local yarn shop, that would be too easy. As I like to build small looms the obvious place to roam is in the aisles at Home Depot or Lowe’s. However last Saturday I was on my way to Office Depot to buy some dividers for my binders. I‘ve been in the midst of reorganizing my old knitting magazine patterns and had this great mental plan of new categories all worked out. But right next door to Office Depot was World Market with big SALE posters in their windows just beckoning to me.

Of course I didn’t “need” anything from World Market, but that never stopped me from checking out the bins before. The end results are shown in the photo on the left. Some people have a weakness for shoes, mine is totes. Right there on the floor was an end of the summer straw basket for under $5! Perfect for the next knitting project; and it was just right for carrying around anything else I might find interesting.

How about those metal hoop earrings? Much too big a statement as earrings for me, but what about the possibilities as links between purse handles and the bag…or as the ends on belts. They might also work as the ends on finger weaving or inkle belts.

The wooden letter openers were a repeat purchase. They must have gotten a fresh supply, as I had already used some as tapestry forks after making some cuts with a scroll saw. The dark wood is really pretty, and although they are a bit light weight they are a bit unusual looking.

The last weaving type purchase was a hand towel. I liked the weaving and the color pattern, and thought it might be fun to try and duplicate it on the loom. I finally did make it to Office Depot, but that visit wasn’t nearly as much fun.