Someone recently asked about the numbers of cotton potholder loops included in the various package sizes available from Friendly Loom.
I put together the reference list below based on the current prices as of June 2024. Each package size has a rated number of potholders it can make, which we can multiply to estimate the number of loops included, and the price per loop and per potholder.
| Package | Pieces | Loops | Price | $/Loop | $/Piece | Colors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional / 7″ | ||||||
| Mini | 2 | 72 | $9 | $0.13 | $4.50 | Multi, 34 Solids |
| Lotta | 6 | 216 | $20 | $0.09 | $3.33 | 4 Multiples, 2 Solids |
| Party | 18 | 648 | $48 | $0.07 | $2.66 | 4 Multiples |
| Studio | 36 | 1,296 | $70 | $0.05 | $1.94 | 4 Multiples |
| Pro / 10″ | ||||||
| Mini | 2 | 108 | $17 | $0.16 | $8.50 | Multi, 34 Solids |
| Lotta | 6 | 324 | $40 | $0.12 | $6.66 | 4 Multiples, 2 Solids |
| Party | 18 | 972 | $90 | $0.09 | $5.00 | 4 Multiples |
| Studio | 36 | 1,944 | $130 | $0.07 | $3.61 | 4 Multiples |
[Update, 30 Nov 2024:] I’ve updated the table based on the November changes to the “Studio” packages, which are now 25% smaller than they used to be, and at lower prices, for a net savings of 7% per traditional loop, or 13% per pro loop.
You’ll notice that there is a significant discount for volume purchases; the Studio packs are half the price-per-loop of the Mini packs, and the Party packs are close to that.
On the other hand, when buying the larger bags you’re limited to choosing from the four multi-color palettes they offer: rainbow (9 brights), botanical (7 pastels), earthtones (7 darks), and neutrals (8 beige/grays). And as they note, the multi-color bags don’t have perfectly even numbers of each color, and the proportion will vary from one bag to the next; in extreme cases you might get twice as many loops of one color than another.
Three colors are not included in any of the multi-color palettes and are thus only available in Mini packs: peacock, purple, and salmon.
Not shown on this chart art the “exclusive” colors: cayenne, sea glass, denim, skillet, lipstick, and lichen. These are sold in the “lotta loops” size (enough for 6 potholders) and cost an extra $1 (traditional) or $2 (pro) more than the other colors.
There are also “bundles” which contain 3 or 4 different solid-color “Mini” packs; these are mostly useful if you’re having trouble choosing color combinations, and most of them aren’t any cheaper than just buying the individual colors separately.
There’s also one “exclusive bundle,” called “spring thaw,” which includes two “lotta loops” bags, one of white loops and the other the botanical mix, which is discounted to a few dollars less than buying the two independently.
I hope this information helps folks make informed purchasing decisions!
Thank you so much for creating and posting this. It’s very helpful. (Yes, I’m the one who asked the question on FB.)
Thank you for breaking down the pricing! It does help to see this visually. Appreciate your time.
Dear Matthew,
Thank you! This chart is such a gift: “Inquiring minds want to know!” …right down to the cost of each loop in respective quantities. A few days ago I did a calculation on price per for a bag of Lotta PRO’s. Wowie Woo! You’ve provided info on the whole Shabang!
I am totally blown away by Piglet’s Portfolio of Priceless Potholder Patterns collection of free charts for weaving potholders from loops on peg looms… your brilliant collaborative work with her!
A million thanks. A dillion kudos.
Sharon Pillen
I recently read the article about the gentleman with aphasia who is producing such beautiful creations , and more importantly, connecting with others using your patterns. The article moved me to tears. I have shared it with many, and will be purchasing a loom for a friend whose husband has dementia. I might just get one for myself and my grandkids. Thank you!!!!!!
Thank you! I’m new to this, and have been selling potholders to help others. I’m having so much fun. And I’m loving the cotton loops especially
I started potholders-and-pompoms for Justice. on Instagram. Where I list all the potholders Ive made to (currently) help a woman fight a defamation #metoo backlash lawsuit
I invite people to donate to a particular justice case, and then I send them a pot holder. I’m loving it! The Go Fund Me person got almost $400! That’s so great for them and THIS helps me figure out cost. Thank you thank you thank you.
I’m trying to figure out how to cover costs.
Hi Matthew and Piglet,
I only use the FL cotton loops. About 90% of my potholder weaving is with the PRO size loops. I have accumulated a rather large number of loops that I have rejected – a fully stuffed gallon-size Ziploc bag of PRO loops and a very full quart-size Ziploc bag of Traditional loops.
Becoming alarmed of my very large and ever-growing stash of rejected loops, I recently began efforts to “rescue” some of my more borderline rejects by unrolling and then re-rolling the loop trying to capture the bad spot / questionable stretch on the loop within the roll and then when weaving, making sure that the bad spot / questionable stretch will not be on, nor very close to, the peg and end up being part of the cast-off. All that said, I’m not entirely sure that my rescued loops will hold up under actual use.
I would greatly appreciate your thoughts – with some accompanying photos would be great! – on what you would consider:
1) absolute loop rejects
2) questionable / borderline loop rejects that can possibly be rescued
3) how you personally salvage somewhat questionable / borderline loops so you can use them
Thank you!
(P.S. I’m not sure how to submit a question without attaching it to a blog listing; I thought this blog with its focus on FL loops seemed somewhat related.)
Hello!
It sounds like you have very high standards — when it comes to the Friendly Loom loops, we almost never reject any of them as unusable.
It’s true that sometimes a loop will have a loose thread or two that winds up running along the surface of the potholder, but those are easy to snip off and don’t seem prone to unravelling.
Occasionally a loop will have some very minor variations in thickness — a little bulge here, or a slight thinning there — but those even out when they’re woven up against their neighbors, and they don’t leave a noticeable lump or divot in the finished product.
That said, we’re just making these for fun, and for gifts to friends and family — if we were selling them for top-dollar prices, I suppose we might be more persnickety about material imperfections… but honestly a bit of rustic variation seems like part of the charm of these kinds of handcrafts; if folks want machine-like consistency, there are plenty of alternatives they can choose from instead.
So feel free to continue being a perfectionist — but I would also encourage you to try weaving a potholder made entirely from your “rejects” bag… you might find that it’s just as lovely as the others, and has a special charm of its own.
Thank you for your quick reply, Matthew!
I’ve never been accused of being a perfectionist before. 🙂 My question about loop quality issues came from a place of potholder weaving inexperience – I had a short-lived childhood hobby of potholder weaving in the late 1950s and only re-started weaving about 18 months ago – coupled with concerns about gifting a potholder that might well fall apart after a few months of use because a bad loop I had used unraveled or outright tore in two.
I appreciate your reassurance, born of your much longer weaving experience, of the ultimate soundness of using loops with excessively long loose threads. And, I will definitely fish them out of my reject bags to use. 🙂
But, what about loops that look like they have a weaving gap from one edge almost to the center of the loop? (That is, there are several short horizontal threads present but no long vertical threads woven through. Does that description make sense to you?) These are the loops that I worry about tearing in half if I weave one into a potholder, especially if I use it in a pattern that utilizes floats as opposed to a tighter plain weave. Do you and Piglet use loops with this type of defect?
(If it’s a relatively shallow weaving gap along the edge – meaning going in less than 1/3 across the width of the loop – I have taken to unrolling and re-rolling the loop with the hole tucked in and then placing it as described in my first post.)
Thanks again for sharing your weaving experience and knowledge!
Skye
My biggest complaint about the friendly loom packaging is the inconsistency of the number of color loops you get in each bag. I consistently buy the Party Bags and break down 2-4 bags at a time – weighing each color and dividing them evenly and repacking the bags. There is no set amount of each color in the bag. For example: One bag of Rainbow had 287 pink loops and 21 purple. The first and last colors packed can vary drastically. By redistributing I think my customers also get fairer distribution. I also offer studio packs with all four colorways. I wish the Botanicals had a green. Whoever heard of Botanicals without green? I think they could take the leaf loops out of the Designer bag and replace them with the navy from the Neutrals and put the leaf in the Botanicals.