All the looms are bare right now. Four empty, quiet looms. But they won’t be quiet for long. I have thread/yarn and plans ready for each loom. I hear a rumbling as the looms begin to wake up. Before long, the weaving rhythm will be fully awakened in this place!
Glimakra 100cm Ideal countermarch loom has moved into the spot vacated by my recently-acquired Glimakra Standard 120cm countermarch loom that we have moved to a new location. 12/6 cotton rug warp in Pear and Brass for Rosepath rag rugs.Glimakra 120cm Standard countermarch loom in its favored position in our home. This loom has not been moved. 6/2 Tuna wool in Lapis Lazuli and Almond for a 12-shaftdouble weave blanket.Handbuilt little 70cm countermarch loom in its perfect little corner by the windows. Pre-wound warp from Vavstuga (Mary’s Towel Kit) that my dear friend Elisabeth is letting me weave. 22/2 Cottolin in Sapphire and Yellow Ochre for towels.Glimakra 120cm Standard countermarch loom…in pieces. We are moving the newest loom in the family to a room that is next to Steve’s carving workshop.Glimakra Standard horizontal countermarch loom is being reassembled in its new Drawloom Studio! The drawloom boxes have been opened and parts sorted and organized. Let the fun begin! The room is undergoing some renovations, too.Draw attachment frame obstructs the jacks in the horizontal countermarch on the 120cm Standard loom. So Steve made all new horizontal jacks for the countermarch. Loom has an extension added at the back. We put it at its fully extended length to make sure it fits in this room. It does!Glimakra Standard with Myrehed Combination Drawloom–Shaft draw system and single unit draw system. Unbleached 16/2 cotton for I-don’t-know-what-yet. But I will soon! Book pictured is Drawloom Weaving, An introduction to warping and weaving on a drawloom by Joanne Hall.
Transition. Changes. Adventure into the unknown. That describes 2018 for Steve and me. When I review my weaving history for the year, everything on the loom is attached to a memory. Like an old song that awakens our thoughts to past experiences, the Lizardtapestry certainly sparks in me revived memories of our transition season and the moving of looms. See Quiet Friday: Tapestry in Transition.
Steve unscrews a bolster that holds one side of the warp beam so I can remove the warp beam.
I began 2018 with a plan to weave coordinated fabrics for our Texas hill country home—towels, upholstery for bar stools, and placemats, explained in this post: Harmonized Weaving for the New Year.Accomplished! I also committed to weaving a gift for each of my three daughters (daughter and two son’s wives), as described in this post: Weaving a Gift. Accomplished two out of three! The final gift is nearing halfway on the loom right now.
Cotton throw has hemstitching at the beginning. The ends will be twisted for fringe when it’s taken from the loom.
Eight-shafttwill in an undulating pattern. Single-shuttle weaving gets me off to a fast start for 2019.
2019 is a continuation of transition, changes, and adventure, as we tiptoe into this retirement chapter. A drawloom is in the forecast, as well as some travel tapestry weaving, and more rag rugs, towels, scarves, and throws. And anything else we can think up. It’s going to be a good year! Thank you for coming along. I’m grateful to have you as a friend.
Guess what? I added another loom. You might think I already have plenty of looms. This one is a beautiful, well-cared-for 120 cm Glimåkra Standard countermarch loom. It’s the first real step toward another big dream—drawloom weaving. What a pleasant surprise for me to find out that the dear person handing off this loom is one of my blog friends from right here at Warped for Good! And not far from our Texas hill country home. Thank you, friend!
Glimakra Standard, 120 cm. The side gables fit, but just barely, in the covered bed of our Tacoma pickup truck.
Sticks. A Swedish loom is mostly a pile of sticks all fitted together just so.
There are a few things to be done before drawloom weaving becomes a reality for me.
Read, re-read, and review everything I can get my hands on about drawlooms and drawloom weaving, especially Joanne Hall’s new book, Drawloom Weaving, and Becky Ashenden’s DVD, Dress Your Swedish Drawloom.
Fix up the light-filled room in the hangar (did I tell you we have an airplane hangar on our property?) where there is ample room for the extended-length drawloom.
Order the drawloom attachment and supplies.
Move the loom to its special room in the hangar.
Assemble the drawloom.
In the meantime, I’ll weave a couple projects on this loom while it sits in a prized corner in our home. In our little piece of hill country. (We make our final move there next week!)
Setting up the loom.
Ready and waiting.
Loom with a view of Texas hill country. Perfect temporary spot.
May you take a step closer to your biggest dreams.
