Today’s weaving class was more of a watch and learn day than a hands-on day. As part of our watching and learning, we watched a fellow student load her warp onto a loom, a process that required the efforts of at least two people. At one point, I jumped in to turn the crank that kept falling on the floor and threatening to break toes if it wasn’t held in place, so technically it took three people to put thread on a loom. As we’ve now graduated into the “moving parts” part, I found myself again asking what I was thinking signing up for such a brain-busting task.
After we finished with that, it was time to cut another student’s blanket off her loom. I can’t imagine tackling such an immense project my first time out as this girl did. And it was truly immense. Not only was the finished project very large in size, but the fact that it was folded in half to actually weave it (because it was too wide to fit on the loom) – well, let’s just say this girl was a real go-getter.
So, after we all applauded her and learned how to twist fringe with a tool designed for braiding hair, my classmate JoAnn and I were instructed on tying off our warps and got our loom assignments.
I chose a baby loom, a smallish Dorset with string ties on the treadles. It’s quite a bit smaller than most of the looms in the room, but it’s sweet and named after a sheep, so I like it.
I’m still happy with the threads I chose for making my scarf and look forward to actually getting started. In the meantime, I’ve arranged my threads on top of the loom for a pre-scarf portrait.
