My Bargain Norwood Loom

A couple of days ago I was out running errands when I noticed a flyer for a yard sale tacked to a telephone pole. It was close to my home and I hadn't stopped at any sales yet this season, so I turned around and headed back. There were 2 small signs taped to a vehicle in front of the house. I almost missed it. Went inside and looked around. There wasn't much left in the home. It is being foreclosed and the owners are also divorcing. They seemed upbeat and still the best of friends. Anyway I am always looking for sewing items so asked the lady if she had any. No, those things went to her new apartment as she is keeping them. However she did have a loom. Well, I really don't need another loom. I have 2 floor looms already. But maybe it was a table loom? I sold my table loom and rather miss it. No, she informed me it was a floor loom. Curiosity got the better of me and I headed out to the garage to have a peek at it. I immediately recognized it to be an extremely well made loom, of nice solid cherry wood. It was very wide (50" weaving width) but folded up nicely. No, I don't need another loom. I just recently sold my lovely barn frame loom, Agda. Still, I had to ask the price. She thought about it a second and said she couldn't sell it for less than $100. $100!?!!??? Heck, you can't hardly buy a used rigid heddle loom for that. No, I didn't need another loom. But this was such a good deal. Too good, in fact. Rather like an offer I couldn't refuse. I thought if nothing else I would buy it, clean it up and re-sell it. I told the lady I would go home and ask the husband if he would mind another huge loom in the living room. I also needed his manly gorilla strength to get it home. There was no way I could stuff it in the Outback. It would have to be partially dismantled. Long story short, we had the thing in our home within the hour. We had to make 2 trips to bring it all home, but they lived just around the corner. Now I need to clean it up and get it put back together. Here are pictures of the loom from the lady's Craigslist ad. This is exactly how it looked when I found it.

Apparently this is a much sought after loom. Norwood looms are no longer made of cherry and this older style loom is much better made than the Norwood looms currently produced. It has a sectional back beam and chain tie ups. It came with the original manual, extra heddles, a Glimakra swift, warping board and 2 Leclerc shuttles with bobbins. This was my best yard sale find, ever.

Ooops! I Did It Again.

It really wasn't my fault. Honest. What can I do if looms just keep throwing themselves at me? I am too weak to resist. I had an ad up on the local Craigslist (one of my favorite things), seeking a used 8 harness Schacht Baby Wolf Loom. That ad had been up there for at least 2 months. Then one day, out of the blue, I receive an email telling me that someone has a 4 harness Baby for sale. I really wasn't looking for another 4 harness loom (I've already got 2) and told them it would have to be a smokin' good deal for me to be interested. Well, it was. So good, in fact, that I am now the proud owner of an older 4 harness Baby with a birth date of Feb, 17, 1989.

She came with a Schacht warping board, some lease sticks and a stick shuttle, as well as some yarns.

A brand new 4 harness Schacht Baby Wolf will set you back at least $1,400. I paid $350. See? Too good to pass up. And the seller actually delivered her to my door. Perhaps because he didn't want some fiber crazed maniac knowing where he lived? But still, much appreciated. Her only issues, that I can tell, are some light rusting on her harness frames (from being stored in a garage) and she's missing the pin to lock the beater into place for warping. Not huge issues. I think she and I will have lots of fun together.

As if that wasn't enough excitement for the day, I also turned this unwanted bag of yarn....

...into all this thread (and bobbin boxes), via bartering.

And this yarn...

...into this lovely batik print fabric.

All in all a wonderful, stash enhancing day!

Selling my Leclerc DOROTHY plus Extras!

**SOLD** on 10-8-11
I need to cull my herd in order to get money to buy reeds for Agda. This little lady is the first up for your consideration.

4 shaft Leclerc DOROTHY with a 16” weaving width. She comes with the yarn needle, shuttles and lease sticks shown, as well as the 16” by 19” compact warping board and the 4 books shown. All you’ll need is some yarn. :-) This is the perfect loom for someone with limited space. Also great for taking to guild meetings or workshops.

The loom will come warped as shown so you can easily figure her out. Must be picked up here in Tacoma, WA.

The Story of Agda's Adoption

It all began with this ad that I posted to the Seattle area Craigslist:

My Drum Carder for your Loom? (Tacoma, near 48th & Pacific)
I have a brand new (still in shipping box) Fricke's Finest Drum carder that I would like to trade for an 8 harness floor loom. Must be sturdy enough to weave rugs as well as other lighter fabrics. Must be 8 harness as I already have a 4 harness loom.

The impetus for that post? While clearing out the shop I found a box stored upstairs. A box that had never been opened. A box that contained a brand new drum carder.

Way back, when I first began my business, my focus was on hand spinning and I was selling quite a bit of hand spun yarn and hand dyed roving. I had purchased this drum carder in order to keep the colors of fleece separated. I would have one carder (which I already had in my studio) for white fleece, and this new carder for dark fleece. But fate had other plans. My focus shifted to commercially spun yarns and I no longer had time to spin or dye for customers (or for myself). And time flew by. The box remained, all but forgotten, tucked safely away. How long was it up there? Probably close to 10 years. They no longer produce the Fricke's Finest model 100 with a metal frame. How much did I pay for it? I can't remember. But over the years the cost of all fiber processing tools has shot way up. If purchased today a similar carder would cost around $700. So here I was, with a rather valuable item, which I really didn't need anymore. I am downsizing for my retirement and already have one of these. Mine has a gray base, instead of the green, as mine was a couple of years older. Otherwise they are identical. Trying to sell an expensive item in this economy can take forever. Craigslisters want garage sale prices. But what about a barter? What could I use that would have a similar value? The only thing that came to mind was an 8 harness weaving loom. I have two 4 harness floor looms but you can do so much more with 8 harnesses. That evening I posted the above ad to the Seattle Craigslist. I had absolutely zero expectation of anyone being interested. How many people have an 8 harness loom just sitting around? Used 4 harness looms are a dime a dozen. 8 harness looms are rather hard to locate. And, even if someone has this type of loom collecting dust, what are the odds they'd be interested in a drum carder? Most people don't know what a drum carder is. Imagine my surprise when, almost immediately, I got a response. Someone said they had an 8 harness loom and would like to trade. Having been around Craigslist for years I knew not to get excited until I saw pictures of the loom. The offerer quickly assembled the loom in her garage and took many detailed photos for me. Now I was getting excited. But I am a newbie to weaving and was still a bit hesitant. What was the catch? I am a member of Ravelry and showed the loom to some more experienced weavers on that forum. I was assured that the loom looked sturdy and, as long as it was not warped or rusty, it was a good trade. At this point I began to fall in love with this new-to-me loom. I went from being unsure of the acquisition, to being terrified the offerer would change her mind. It helped immensely that she was extremely forthcoming and pleasant to exchange emails with. I felt confident that this exchange was meant to be. You can read about the adoption from her perspective here. I spent the week pleading my case to the husbeast (who was none too thrilled), rearranging the living room to make space, and reading up on countermarch looms. And worrying. My heart was now firmly set on adding this loom to my little herd. Saturday finally arrived and we drove to Bellevue. Once I laid eyes on the loom and met SpinningLizzy, any apprehension was gone. I could tell she loved this loom and was having a hard time parting with it. Non-weavers won't understand but looms feel almost like your children and when you have to let them go you need to know they'll be in a home where they are appreciated and loved. I think she felt better knowing I was going to actually use the loom and I felt better knowing she cared for the loom and wasn't just trying to unload it. It truly was meant to be.