Craft room setup

I’m finally in the process of setting up my new craft room.  As you can see there’s still some clean up/organizing to do, but it’s a wonderful room!

Shelving, loom, and fabric stash.

On the other side, my sewing nook.

Learning To Weave

The first time I can recall seeing someone actually weaving was at an embroidery class held at the home of a woman in town. During the break she brought out a small table loom and did a little work while we chatted. I was fascinated, but never did more than watch.

A few years later, someone posted to one of the mailing lists I belong to with a similar loom for sale at an amazing price. I jumped. It turned out to be one of those ‘cottage crafts’-type four-shaft table looms that were so very common in the 70’s, and was in rather rough shape. Still, I bought a ‘learn to weave’ book to explain how everything worked, ordered a new reed and a bunch of heddles (the original metal bits were very rusty), and signed up for a beginner’s weaving course.

The course was great. We learned about warping our looms and getting ready to weave, as well as troubleshooting tricks when we got stuck. After that, we focused on different types of weaves and the differences between them. I learned a lot.

Unfortunately, one of the things I learned was that I was miserable with my little loom. The wood was rough and old and I was getting splinters regularly. It wasn’t nearly wide enough and the cords holding up the shafts kept popping loose making it a pain to weave on. I needed a new loom.

I knew I wanted something wider than what I had. It also had to be portable, as we were moving cross-country in a year or so. I checked the used lists for a while, but only found large floor looms (not portable), or little Leclerc table looms (not wide enough, and I didn’t like them). Giving in, I decided to decimate my savings and buy a brand new Ashford table loom and stand for my birthday. That was in January of 2009.

Since then I’ve done a little weaving (when I had the time) and read many books. Now that my life is settling down again (in the past year I’ve seen three jobs, two moves, and over 4600 km) I’m starting to think what the next chapter in my weaving journey will be.

Ashford Table Loom