So my husband has been eyeing my loom, I know he’s thinking about ways to home improve it so I told him hands off and a f Bomb might have flown. Fingers will be broken! I watched some videos and joined in with some cotton yarn I had on hand. I thought I might get a couple dish towels out of a warp 4 ft long but it shrunk to less than 2 feet. I have lots to learn for sure.
@Rose the Rebel - a favorite around here is “not yours don’t touch”. Applied to the guys of all ages. Lol
I shoot for 6-8 towels at a time, usually end up with 4-6. :-). Best laid plans. Do you have a photo to share?
@Rose the Rebel - did you see this scarf I did? It is
with one hank of the yarn you won in the sock KAL
I didn’t see the finished scarf, that is beautiful! Did you do the warp and weft with one skein?
Yes - I wanted to see what I could do with a 100 gram ball. I think this is on a 12 dent heddle.
@Char, this is beautiful! I am going to have to give this a try! Right now I’m busy prepping fiber for the Spin de Fleece, so my loom has been set aside, but I can’t wait to try some of my sock yarns! My only concern is that I can’t get a 12-dent. The highest the Leclerc has is a 10-dent. I could do a 1-1-2 sleying pattern, which is equivalent to a 12.5 dent, as long as I do a plain weave, I guess.
Help! I’m thinking about placing an order for additional heddles for my Ashford 24" RH loom, it came with one 7.5 dent. I plan to buy one more 7.5 but would like advice on the next most common dent? It seems that I see 12.5 listed a lot, if I have two of the 7.5 and two of the 12.5 will that get me by for most projects?
Not to throw water on your plan, but I’m very curious why you might opt for a second 7.5 dent when I believe Ashford offers a 15 dent. I’m not sure what advantage there would be in threading two 7.5 dents and having to manage them, when managing one heddle (to me at least) is easier. (Maybe you prefer the larger holes of the 7.5? But then if the goal is finer cloth, you would be using a finer yarn.) I have used my 10-dent a lot, and I have two 12-dents (I am in the Schacht brand, so dents per inch vary from Ashford a bit. I wish Schacht had a 15.) I know this doesn’t answer your question - sorry. I was just thinking, if you want to broaden your range, maybe don’t duplicate the 7.5 if the goal is finer cloth. These items are expensive and I like having a specific project lined up before adding another heddle to the line-up. Maybe others will chime in with their thoughts about planning for the best utilization.
That is quite pretty. I’m having fun watching the different outcomes as the changes are made. It looks very fine and tightly woven.
Help! My mother is 91 years old, living in assisted living. We are not able to visit, except by phone since COVID. She is an artist, with a long time interest in textiles. She cannot see to sew any longer. She wants to try weaving. Her apartment is small. I am thinking she will need a portable loom. I will not be able to help her set it up or figure it out. Any suggestions on a starter loom for someone who just wants to craft? I don’t know that I can talk her through watching videos on YouTube, etc. It will need to be a simple set up/start process. any suggestions are appreciated.
I’m betting a rigid heddle isn’t in her future - getting it warped will likely be too complicated for her. You might consider something like the Melissa and Doug weaving loom. It is available on Amazon:
Another thing to consider is maybe a hat or scarf knitting loom?
Maybe a pin loom like the Hazel Rose looms https://hazelroselooms.com/
Or as Char suggested a knitting loom/frame might be a good idea.
Thank you. I will look that up. Also, I am going to contact the Community Director to see if there are any other weavers in her building who could help!
I agree with Char, the Melissa & Doug loom is a good basic one, and you get a bigger bang for your buck than some others. There are books for basic weaving on Amazon as well. Also, the Nifty knitter looms would give her a huge variety of projects to do.
Thank you both. This weekend’s project: work on the Melissa & Doug loom and see if I can get some weavers in her building to help
I am thinking about stimulating the economy with a 16" Ashford Rigid Heddle (not the SamplIt). What do you think @FreedomLover and @Rose the Rebel ?I think this would give me some good versatility for a beginner. I was looking at a Schacht Lilli lap loom, but I’m afraid I’d get bored with it and never use it.
I was going to start with the 16" and someone recommended the 24" and I’m glad that’s what I got. What do you want to make?
I would definitely do the 24”. A 16” will get you scarfs, but not much wider… end result 13-14” wide after it pulls in some.
I really like my 24”.