Let The Weaving Begin!

I've been waiting for this all summer, and half the fall. The garden is put to rest, the last of the tomatoes have been processed into spaghetti sauce, and I can turn my attention to learning to weave. Let me introduce you to my instructors.

This book focuses on weaving on a countermarch loom.

The book on the right, below, is on warping many different types of looms and the book on the left is about tying up a countermarch loom.

And last I have these 3 DVD's. Truly like having an instructor right there in your living room. The first is very basic. Which is where my skill level is. It shows how to warp front to back, and weave, on a 4 harness loom. The second is a comprehensive course on warping. And the third is another resource for tying up and warping a countermarch loom.

You are looking at approximately $175 worth of instruction materials here. But if I were to take classes, on all the aspects of weaving these cover, it would cost a whole lot more. And, especially with the DVD's, I can take the same class over and over. At 2am if I so desire. I am a beginning weaver with  minimal knowledge. I need to start with the basics. I have woven on a rigid heddle loom in the past, but never on a multi harness loom or one with treadles. Here is my one and only project from that rigid heddle loom. It's a plaid runner for the top of my piano, woven 12 years ago.

I am ready to venture beyond basic tabby weaving. Tabby is what most of us have done in the past, on cardboard looms or with paper strips. Just basic "over, under" weaving. Which is what my plaid runner is. Having treadles which are connected to shafts allows you to easily create more complicated weave structures. The more harnesses and treadles, the more elaborate your weaving can become. I currently own 3 different types of floor looms. They vary in size and complexity. I will start my new weaving career with my simplest loom, a Schacht Wolf Pup. Please click on that link to see a stock photo, as my studio is not yet ready for public viewing. My Pup is about as basic as a 4 harness loom can get. It is only able to do "direct tie up" weaving, meaning treadle one is permanently tied to harness one, treadle two to harness two, and so forth. That will be sufficient for me at my current skill level. Once I've mastered the basics I can move on to my J-Made loom which has 4 harnesses and 6 treadles. Then I can experiment with different tie-ups. And once I have that figured out it will be time to tackle Agda, with her 8 harnesses and 10 treadles. But first things, first. Today I watched the DVD, "Beginning Four Harness Weaving". It was well worth the $19.99. I now feel confident that I can warp the Pup and weave my first project. It was a happy coincidence that the loom used in the DVD is a Baby Wolf which is related to my Pup. Everything will be the same as on the video, except for tying up the treadles, which I can ignore. I hope to warp the Pup tomorrow and have some actual weaving to show you very soon.