A Weaving Story

For those of you who may not know, last year I began an additional creative journey I have always wanted to take, but didn't know how to go about it. Then came the day I saw a fellow artist weaving on her loom at the gallery- Dec. 2018.  She invited me to sit down at the Baby Wolf loom -  and voila - it was love at 'first throw of the shuttle'!   I made part of a 'mug rug' in holiday fabric and color.  

Fast forward to Christmas of 2018, I decided to move further along to learn how to weave.  I ordered a "Cricket" table loom from Dick Blick art supplies.  My big thought at the time was, with all the yarn I had in my stash from years of knitting and crocheting, was surely I had lots of materials to weave with.  And I did.  I soon became familiar with 'how to warp' the loom (it's not hard, but tedious).  Made a few scarves.  And I also started buying some quality yarns to weave with.

Our artist's guild offers classes of all kinds, and luckily - in addition to watercolor, pastel, oil, there was a weaving class!  YAY! I signed up for a beginner's class in Feb. 2019, with the same weaver friend, Jere,   We learned about yarn, about how to read patterns, about words and technical operations of looms, about warping and wefting.   I was in 'the weaver's mode'..it was mysterious and required patience and thought.  I experienced an INKLE loom, one you can make woven straps on and a couple of other looms - believe me - there are many kinds, shapes and different operations to make woven goods.  A photo of my two day attempts at the different ideas and projects we made is added here.  We made a small dishtowel. That intrigued me - wow - dish towels!!  

Inkle Loom

I was hooked.  I began exploring all the things you can make on a loom.  I became interested in making things to wear, other than scarves - and how weave pieces and construct them into wearable pieces. And then, because my instructor had to downsize, she offered one of her 'floor looms' for sale.  It was one she used to make 'rugs'.  Rugs???  WOW - I had always wanted to make rugs.  So I bought the behemoth and we helped pick it up from her storage unit in town and delivered it to my studio, with the help of 3 other kind people/friends.  It is a Kessenich 8 shaft, rigid heddle, Jack loom, complete with bench and lots of accessories (particularly some dents and shuttles - which are imperative).  It is made of lovely OAK..takes up more space than I can afford in a painting studio, but it is, what it is. 

I joined the local 'weaver's guild', "The Wet Mountain Weavers", who meet once a month at the local library.  We have show and tell, and there are always demonstrations and learning experiences, and they have an extensive library of 'how-to' weaving books and magazines for borrowing - not to mention the camaraderie of like minded individuals.  Many of them have their own fiber sources and fiber farms with goats and alpacas.  Some spin.  Some dye.  The possibilities to learn are endless.  Tomorrow, I will share some of the work that has been done on the Kessenich loom and some more about my creative journey into weaving.  AND, I still DO art...painting, drawing, etc.

The Kessenich, 8 shaft, LOOM