Peg Loom Tutorial
I spotted this nice picture-based tutorial on peg loom weaving, or stick loom weaving, as it's also called.
http://picasaweb.google.com/atelierjohanna/HowToWeaveWithSticksLoom#
I still would like to put one together for rugs.
Studio Twelve flower loom
I must be on my annual warm weather hiatus. After the Christmas knitting rush, and the January/February explosion of playing with new fiber arts gifts, I often take a long break from crafting–but my eyes are always peering into thrift stores and studying piles of junky shelves for the treasures that wait for me, whether I’m actually crafting or not. Take this Studio Twelve Flower Loom, for example. I wasn’t expecting to find anything in that Goodwill store, but when my eyes rested on this $1.00 loom, unopened, I had to leave the store with it. And because I wasn’t at home, I had to stop in a yarn store to buy these two skeins of Frog Tree, right? It would have been a shame if I didn’t try the loom the same day I found it.
It made a very nice flower. And I like having the two sizes of pegs on the same round loom, one for the outside petals and one for the inside. Very clever, and I don’t have anything like it.
And just because I’m not feeling very crafty lately, I am feeling very garden-y, and I’ve planted spring crops outside, started all my summer crops inside, and a few weeks ago, maintained my much neglected terrarium. So, that’s something!
And my birthday is coming up and someone in my household mentioned something about a loom… but that’s for a future posting.
Flower loom playlist
I'm putting together a playlist of flower loom tutorials posted on Youtube. It's a great time to set aside the knitting and weaving (which I have–notice the lack of posts?) and pull out the flower looms again.
The long, long warp
Have you ever seen the 1953 movie, "The Long, Long Trailer" starring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz? You haven't? Well, why not? It's a charming story about a newlywed couple driving their way across America towing, you guessed it, a long, long trailer. The anxiety it causes smacks of real life, somehow, and even with the stereotypical roles, I find the movie funny, sweet, and worthy of re-watching.
So, why am I recommending a movie instead of writing about weaving? Because, part of "The Long, Long Trailer" revolves around the problems dealing with a very long and complicated trailer… and somehow I've created a very long and complicated warp. It's bothering me. I mean, it's like nine feet long! And this is on a backstrap loom!
I don't know what got into me. I have this old acrylic Red Heart that I've used for a few small projects, but I'm starting to think it's cursed. Everything I try to make out of it fails, so I can't explain why I kept on warping my 10" Beka 8 dent rigid heddle with this long, long acrylic warp. I just kept on warping! And I didn't even have a project in mind. I just wanted to weave.
So, now I'm stuck. I have a few feet finished with multiple color changes and some really lovely, bumpy edges (yes, that's sarcasm), but due to my newness with weaving and using a rigid heddle, I've found it easier to roll up the entire thing and leave it where it all started, firmly attached to the radiator. Once I unroll it again and start weaving, well, it'll turn into the movie for me… "Always think of the trailer as a train behind you… Forty feet of train!"
Okay, so maybe you need to watch the movie to understand what I've gotten myself into. And if you do watch the movie, think of me during the scene where they slowly and painfully drive their way up a twisting and turning mountain road. We'll see if I make it down the other side in one piece.