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Category: Rainbow Looms

Triple Single Bracelets on the Rainbow Loom

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My rainbow loom arrived at last! Next time there’s a rainbow loom “drought” in Australia I’m just going to wait for shops to get stock in. Back ordering mine was a bit of a disaster since the shop didn’t keep customers up to date with the ever changing delivery times. But it’s here now (and Charlie has stopped asking how many sleeps until it arrives) and that’s all that counts.

Triple single rainbow loom bracelets

Charlie and I decided to start off with an easy style of bracelet since he likes stripes and I like to stop my brain from melting and leaking out my ears. We (and by “we” I mean “Charlie”) chose the triple single bracelet.

From left to right the photo above shows: a bracelet that Charlie (age 5) put on the loom himself. I finished it off for him but he really enjoys making the patterns with the bands on the loom. In the centre is a bracelet I made with two bands held together for the stripes,  and finally a bracelet with single bands in the stripes.

I used the following video, which takes you step by step through the process with clear and thorough instruction for both weaving the decorative part of the bracelet and making it longer for different sized wrists.

Charlie and I disagree with what to make next. I want to make myself a beaded bracelet but he wants me to make him a red Angry Bird charm. So I guess I’ll be doing both!

Don’t worry if you come here for free knitting patterns and other vintage crafts though. Knitting-and.com hasn’t turned into the all singing, all dancing rainbow loom show just yet. At the moment my partner is working on scanning book four of the Good Needlework Gift Book series, and I have some vintage knitting patterns ready to type up, which I’ll release one at a time over the next couple of, um, years (there are hundreds of them). I’m also still working on translating my vintage Latvian knitting book from 1956, which is going extremely well considering I don’t speak any Latvian!

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Rainbow Looms and a Band Brand Review

My son Charlie and I have finally succumbed to the Rainbow Loom craze! Yes, it took us a while but with friends on Ravelry telling me I should get one, people ending up on Knitting-and.com looking for information on them and then Charlie coming home from his best friend’s house with them all up his arms, I decided it was time to give in. Plus they’re, you know, kind of cool 🙂

Rainbow loom bracelets
Charlie’s rainbow loom bracelets

Our loom was on backorder so Charlie decided to get his Dad to buy a cheap pack from K-Mart, which came with a little plastic crochet hook. At first, we used the instructions that came with the bands. They’re basically the same as the instructions in this video, except you pinch the beginning bands between your fingers instead of using the mini loom. We made them with single bands, then two bands of different colours at a time (like the top bracelet on Charlie’s arm).

Our loom still hadn’t arrived so I bought a pack of proper Rainbow loom bands with a gift certificate from Spotlight (thanks Spotties!) and decided to try this technique, which is apparently called a fishtail bracelet.

I think we both love the fishtail bracelets and using double bands more than the others. They’re much more substantial and you can play with blending colours. When I say “we”, I mean I make the bracelets and Charlie wears them and runs away with the ones I made for myself 😉

I was very surprised at the difference in the quality of the bands. The K-mart bands started perishing within a couple of weeks of making the bracelets. When Charlie stretched them, they became pitted and weak, making many points along each band where they eventually broke. The real Rainbow loom brand bands however, have been treated to an equal amount of abuse and are holding up fine. I also found them to be easier to work with as they’re thicker and less likely to twist.

If you’d like to keep up with which projects Charlie is getting me to make for him on the loom (when it finally arrives), you can sign up to my blog over there in the right hand menu and be notified whenever I post. It’s a great way to find out when I post free patterns and booklets as well 🙂

Now I’m off to finish a crochet blanket. I’ll show you Charlie’s new hat tomorrow!

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