One of the most prolific designers working in our field is Allie Hoffman, known on Pinterest as Antyal.
Her output is impressive — she seems to weave dozens of potholders every month, and posts innumerable photos including on- and off-loom shots — but what I love even more is her persistence in trying multiple variations on a design, sharing them all so you can watch the results evolve.
She might start by weaving a design from a printed chart or based on a photo she found online, and then she’ll make another version at a different size, and then in a different color palette, and then she’ll try combining part of one design with part of another, and before you know it she’ll have come up with some unique and wonderful results.
(I’ve fondly called her “the queen of the paste-up chart” after seeing striking examples of her work and realizing that she created them by printing out multiple copies of our charts then cutting them to pieces and taping them back together to create something unexpected.)
I’ve found her photo feed to be inspiring, and hope you will as well — check it out and see what catches your eye!
Thank you for telling us about her site. I bookmarked it and “Follow”ed her.
Fabulous! Thanks for sharing her link! Some fun holiday patterns!
So many talented amazing people!!
Thank you much!
Hi Matthew:
I’ve been at a loss for words and turned bashful so it’s taken a while to express my gratitude and appreciation for the honor of a spotlight post on my designs.
Thank you for your support and encouragement with my cut and tape charts of your patterns. You welcome new and creative expressions of patterns.
Thank you also for creating this site which is a constant source of inspiration, and a wonderful resource for sharing potholder ideas. Your contribution to the potholder hobby is immeasurable.
You are an inspiration! You have taken potholder weaving to a whole new level and made it a work of art! Thank you for sharing your amazing talent! I made your sailboat potholders and absolutely love them. I was wondering if you could give me some tips on how to figure out how to make the IU logo on pro size potholder loom.
Lori — for the IU logo, I would recommend using the double-weave technique. Designing double-weave charts can be tricky, but if you’re up for some trial-and-error learning I expect you’ll be able to figure it out. There’s a general framework for this, and chart templates you can print and draw on, located on the page below:
https://potholders.piglet.org/2024/09/double-weave-templates/
Awesome! Thank you so much! I’ll give it a try.
I love Alice Hoffmanns designs and have made a couple by following Marge Duffys YouTube videos. She’s great and I learned today how to double bind. But are Alice’s charts available anywhere besides Pinterest? I’d like to print them out and I see some of them on Pinterest but it’s clunky to take pictures and try to print. Or am I missing a link somewhere? I want to make all the Halloween ones!
Also love Piglets charts and the fact that they are so easily accessible and free. I’ve made a lot of them, spending hours watching patterns emerge then sometimes change when it’s off the loom. So much fun.
Nancy — thank you for your kind words.
As far as I know, Allie’s designs are only posted to Pinterest.
You might find that a screen-shot tool allows you to capture portions of her photos directly from the Pinterest pages for easier printing, although the details will depend on what kind of browser / device you are using.
In Pinterest, you can click on the symbol to enlarge the pattern. Then right-click on that image — it will give you the option to save the image. I do that all the time. I am using a Windows computer and just save the image to a directory that I have created for that purpose.
Thanks for your replies! I did figure out how to enlarge, screenshot, download and print the patterns and have now made all of the Halloween double weave patterns I can find! I love them. Time to start on Christmas next, after I weave a few maple leaves for Thanksgiving. If anyone ever comes up with a double weave crow I’d love to have it. I’m going to attempt graphing it myself using the templates and instructions on this site, but not too confident yet of my understanding of the process.
Do you have a Christmas mug rugs pattern?
Tamara — we don’t have anything Christmas-themed, but if you click through to Antyal’s Pinterest page above, you’ll find some cute wreaths, candy canes, and gingerbread figures.
Does anyone know if it’s ok to sell potholders made with the double weave patterns that other people came up with? I’m talking small potatoes, not on Etsy or any kind of social media, just at my local arts and crafts fair. Since they are out for free on Pinterest and other places I’d think it’s ok, but I’d be happy to pay a share to the pattern creators. I’d have to figure out how to contact them to ask. Marge Duffy I can message through YouTube I think. But Alice Hoffman I’m not sure unless she might see this post!
Nancy — I believe Allie shares our attitude on this topic: we’re sharing our work because we’d like other people to be able to use it, and it’s fine for folks to use our charts and example to weave potholders for their own use, as gifts, or to sell.