Also known as a bandvev. These hand-carved Norwegian looms were used to weave narrow bands. Often carved by a suitor and given to a young woman, it was a useful and decorative object. I found this one at an antique store, first assuming it was a replica. It’s a bit too fragile to use, but it’s neat, isn’t it?
Photos of other band looms from a Norwegian digital museum.
A blogger who weaves bands on a grindvev.
I finished this one the day before Christmas Eve, just in time to wash it, dry it over a radiator, and trim and tie the fringes. Woven on the Emilia using an 8 dent heddle and a simple 3/1 lace pickup pattern, I used slubby, handspun alpaca. The result was a pretty, incredibly soft and warm scarf. I only snapped these two pictures before waving goodbye.
I warped, wove, washed, and wore this scarf during a blizzard warning! It was two hours on the loom total, hand-washed and dried overnight on the radiator. When I wore it shoveling out from the 10”+ of snow the next morning, I was quite happy with it tied snugly around my neck. (And even happier when my neighbor drove up on his tractor and plowed our driveway!)
I used an 8 dent heddle and white acrylic for the warp, Rizotti (color: Marry) for the weft. The weft yarn is a blend of wool, mohair, nylon, and acrylic, and I found I hardly needed to beat it. It's very, very light and fluffy. I had a notion to make this a ruffle scarf by tugging a center warp thread and gathering the scarf in a little bit, but once I started, I didn't hold the opposite end and whoops! I pulled an entire thread out of the scarf. After scratching my head and laughing a little, I realized I kind of liked the look, so I pulled out two more warp threads on purpose.
The slubby texture led to some bumpy selvedges, and I just didn’t care. The one color change I messed up (you can see the color go from gray to white all of a sudden) didn’t bother me. It was a scarf woven during a blizzard! I mean, really!
Finished: the 7.5" x 16" table runner, woven with two heddles. Just big enough for a super small table or a mat underneath a lamp and telephone (which is where this one is living for now). I was thrilled to use two heddles and can't wait for the next project. This one involved embroidery thread and I used the Diamonds pattern from The Weaver's Idea Book. Very fun indeed. I don't even mind the bumpy edges (strange, I've read about this thing called a floating selvedge and yet never thought it would be something I need someday…).
Also finished: the shawl, poncho, throw-type weaving. It measures 17.5" x 60". I should have been about 6" longer, but I ran out of the Caron Simply Soft and was too impatient to buy some more. It's plenty long, however, and after knotting the fringes and trimming them to about 4", I called it done. It's now flung over the top of a chair. The pattern gives it a rustic look and I'm pleased with it.
The cat picture has a story. She suddenly flung herself onto the throw and skidded to the edge of the table. I snapped the picture just as she turned, shot across to the other side, jumped into her little basket, and skidded over the other edge where she landed on the ground. We think she was embarrassed.