Recently, I wrote a set of instructions and a made a video about my favorite, fantastic free online tool, the Band Weaving Pattern Editor, created by Jeff Bigot. I hope they will help users to take advantage of many of the cool features of the program. They only cover plain weave designs, although the program also has the ability to create pickup patterns as well. When new functions are added, Jeff writes about them along with other tips here on his blog. This is where the instructions can be found. They are in PDF form, so you can download the document and keep it handy when designing. http://www.raktres.net/blog/2020/06/29/basic-instructions-for-using-seizenn-%e2%88%92-band-weaving-pattern-editor/ You can watch the video here or on my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWV1McKtNuM&t=29s This week I've been working on camera straps (1.5" wide) which are a little bit narrower than the guitar straps (2" wide) which is what I am often making. The main yarn that I use for all my straps is Omega Sinfonia. Jeff has made it really easy to match my yarn colors by creating a list of codes for the yarn colors. You can find that here: http://www.raktres.net/blog/list-of-yarns/ The new instructions give some detail about adding colors to use in your designs. It's fun to choose colors to add to your Loom Color Pallet! Colors on the World Wide Web (and therefore this online tool) are represented by 6-character HEX codes. You can select any color using it's HEX code and add it into your yarn palette. Of of my favorite sites for color choosing is this, although there are many. : https://htmlcolorcodes.com/ Or this: https://encycolorpedia.com/named You can even google the name of a color you want, for instance "turquoise hex code", find the code and add it to the color chooser on the Pattern Editor. If you use DMC products, they provide a chart of their floss colors with HEX codes here: https://threadcolors.com/ It's easy to draw up a pattern using the Band Weaving Pattern Editor and then change it up in a myriad of ways. So, I can play around with different color combinations and preview the patterns before deciding which one I want to weave. The graphic preview of the pattern so closely represents what the woven pattern will look like that I've been using it to show customers when I'm creating a custom woven strap for them. The first two patterns below are the same, except for a change from red to dark red and a change in positions of the colors. (Below each pattern, I've shared the direct links. You can click on them to go to the Band Weaving Pattern Editor and use them as a way to edit and create your own pattern if you wish.) http://www.raktres.net 4i http://www.raktres.net/l/2F I changed the look radically by using different colors in the turquoise and purple one below left. And on the right, I shifted the elements of the pattern slightly before changing colors again. http://www.raktres.net 4v http://www.raktres.net/l/2o Here's my collection of camera straps so far. Most commercial straps have a patch of leather or vinyl which attaches the 1.5" strap to the 3/8" nylon webbing that fits to the camera. To skip this difficult part, I found a plastic piece that acts as a reducer. I've put it together as a kit and sell it in my Etsy shop here. https://www.etsy.com/listing/206025133/camera-strap-kit-do-it-yourself The straps also show up also in this photo that I took last Saturday when I had a small weaving class at my house. As it seems like traveling to teach workshops will not be possible any time soon, I plan to join the new way of doing things and have committed to learning to use Zoom for online classes. I don't yet have a timeline for getting this done, but if you are interested, send me an email and I'll put you on a list for the future. [email protected]