Vintage Weave-It Dolly
I haven’t done much weaving this summer, so I was pleased to find this sweet dolly at antique store. She was a steal at $4.
I haven’t done much weaving this summer, so I was pleased to find this sweet dolly at antique store. She was a steal at $4.
One of my Christmas presents was a 12″ square loom from U Weave Looms. The pins are arranged so it’s like a Weave-It loom–only it’s giant! I wove two squares and stitched them together to make a tube and then gathered the top. It’s a hat!
I brought a little Weave-It 4″ loom to work and during my lunch hours, wove up a stack of squares. Then, I spent a few hours stitching them together and crocheting a border. I thought it was cute, but truly didn’t care for it until it had been washed, dried, and steamed with an iron. Then, I suddenly thought, “That’s a scarf!”
Quite awhile ago, in fact nearly three years ago, I posted what I thought was an impressive list of all the little weaving and knitting looms I had accumulated up to that time. It was just about then I started becoming interested in weaving, and I was making a pretty clear switch from knitting to weaving. I still do an occasional knitting project, but most of my time is spent in weaving world. So, maybe it's time for an updated list? I think it's interesting that all of the looms from my old list could have probably been stored in one medium-sized plastic bin, but I still thought it was excessive.
Then:
Now… (I've kept every one of those, plus added a few.)
Okay, we've gone way past the medium plastic bin storage idea!
For some reason–and not just because I'm running out of room in my tiny 8'x9' office–with the recent purchase of the 7' triloom, I feel I've actually come full circle. The first looms I had an interest in were the 4" square looms and the little Wonder Weave rigid heddle loom. I then bought my first triloom. Little did I know that those simple looms would teach me the basics of weaving. From there, I let things slide, weaving-wise, until the next fall, about a year later, when I suddenly had an urge to buy a "real" loom. But first, with my inquisitive nature and with some helpful words from a Ravelry weaver, along with Laverne's fantastic series on backstrap weaving at Weavezine, I put together a backstrap loom (and chiseled my hand in the process!), and figured out lifting patterns for plain weave, weft-faced projects. It was about five months later that I bought the Emilia loom.
My looms, every one, are still portable and small enough to fold up and store on a shelf or under the desk. So, my little saying on the top of my blog, "weaving and knitting on small looms," still holds water. (Do I sound a little defiant?) And yet, I think I really started weaving because I wanted to follow the fibers visually and figure out how structure was created. If you've ever seen a triloom, you'll know the weaver walks the yarn from side to side, hooking it onto opposing nails and weaving over and under the horizontal threads that are created in the process. It's called continuous weave, where the warp and weft are woven at the same time. It's not fine weaving with silken threads, but it suits me. (And if I want to use silken threads, well, I just fire up the little Louet W30!!)
With all that said, I have two looms in the mix that will probably need new homes, the Peacock and the Kessenich. Both also need some work, but I'll post more about that in the future if I decide to wave goodbye.