My new loom is here!!
Backstory--Back in the Dark Ages of Time, I was a production weaver. I worked in designers' studios and did commission work out of my home when the boys were small. It wasn't unusual for me to crank out 20-24 yds of fabric in a workday. I had a 64", 10 harness, 12 treadle Glimakra loom with a fly shuttle beater. I loved those hours spent in the studio. Life changed and I sold the loom to a lovely lady in Ohio, who has since passed it on to a weaver in Kentucky. Back in 2005 I bought a 48" Gallinger 8H loom and worked on restoring it. During the process I discovered that it was just too big for me to use comfortably (I'm 5'1") and so I sold it to a lovely new home nearby where she'll be well and caringly used. All I had left for weaving was a rigid heddle loom, which is wonderful for what it does with it's two heddles, etc. But I really wanted that feeling of doing marvelous twills and rocking with the beater (Bob Seger's Greatest Hits is a great CD for setting your weaving rhythm).
While visiting family two weeks ago I made my annual pilgrimage to WEBS, only this time I wanted to talk looms. Barbara and Art were SO helpful (and it was a pleasure to chat with someone who knew all that weird weaving terminology like 'tromp as writ'). My one concern was something a good friend in Holland brought up--climbing under a loom to do the tie-up when you're moving into the arthritis years can be a big consideration. And Barbara solved the issue by mentioning that the Toika loom could be adapted at a later time to a computer loom, eliminating the tie-up issue completely! Yay!
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| I suggested the driver back down the street so he'd be closer to the garage and not have to face the challenge of backing out of my long driveway. |
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| Yikes, that's some big crate! |
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| It just fit on the lift gate. Be careful it doesn't roll off onto the ground. |
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| And here it lives in my garage for the week. |
This weekend I'll have help opening that Norwegian birch crate (saving the wood for future woodworking projects). I'm hoping to have it together by Sunday evening, although I have no idea what I'll put on the loom first. I must go find my copy of Davidson's book and pore over it with a cup of coffee--all those lovely twills to be re-explored after a 25-year absence.
