One of the prompts for the Nerd Games- Summer Camp 2025 was to craft an item inspired by a traditional camp song. I decided to combine two- Ants Go Marching and On Top of Spaghetti. I figured that I get in touch with my childhood craft roots and make a potholder.
I had to make it twice- when I attempted to remove it from the loom, the loops on the last side started popping off, and then the first woven loop fell out and it was after 11 PM and when the second woven loop started to fall out of the weave, I had no patience left so I ripped it all apart.
I did restart it by putting the vertical loops on, and then the first 5 or 6 horizontal loops. But, it was nearly midnight, so I had to put it aside and get to bed. But, I couldn’t sleep so I found a video to explain how to remove the potholder from the loom and I realized:
- The pegs on my loom are pretty short, and the cotton loops were pretty thick.
- I needed to put the loom on a solid surface instead of my lap so I could press down on the potholder while I was removing the loops.
- Keeping the working edge facing away from me allowed me to apply even pressure to the potholder and keep the loops from popping off.
- I was using a crochet hook, and I was unintentionally lifting it up to loop the loops through. So, instead of using it to pull the second loop through the first, I used it to hold the loops only and used my fingers to pull the first loop over the second.
- Since I reused the loops, they were more stretched out, making them a little thinner, so, in the future, I think I will only use this loom for thinner, polyester loops.
I have already ordered more loops to make some more, and if I can find my Klutz potholder book, I can try some “fancy” patterns 
Because, even though it was aggravating to make this one, the actual weaving part was quite relaxing. And, now that I have identified the trouble spots with removing the loops, I think that will go more smoothly the next time!
