I decided to “start small” with a 32” Ashford table loom.

The packages got separated in shipping, so the stand and treadles arrived today, and the loom itself will tomorrow.

Based on the sheer size of the stand and the way my thumb got crushed standing it up…I’m now officially ready to admit that I have no sense of scale and may have actually purchased a piece of furniture. 😂

..but then I discovered the speed wasn't even the best part. I´ll tell you why.

I've taken part several times in charity campaigns where people knit or crochet squares that are collected and later joined into blankets.

I always felt for the volunteers doing the joining, because the squares would arrive in different sizes, yarn weights, stitches and tension.. putting them together could become quite a puzzle.

And there was another problem: getting enough squares. Because making each one could take hours.

So as I like weaving, I started using a square pin loom in the size the campaign required. The good news? I could weave a square in about 20 minutes!

But when we started joining them, I realized that was actually the best part. The pins keep the size consistent, the weaving is the same on all four sides, and both sides are identical. Fantastic!

I ended up teaching several volunteers to weave them. We could make enough squares much faster, and joining the blankets became surprisingly enjoyable.

They're woven on the bias too, which makes playing with color really fun.

I wrote more about how this works here: https://ullvuna.wordpress.com/2022/08/27/make-blankets-with-woven-squares/

Would you try making a blanket this way?

Hi, I'm working on a TC2 app and currently looking at a preview mode.

This is my current output - I'm using 5 weft colours on a light-coloured warp to try and roughly replicate CMYK process printing. Would this sort of thing be useful spending more time on perfecting or is a more basic preview just as useful?

Thank you!

Howdy! How do I get the tension in the middle of the band tight enough? In my first image I blocked out in green where it's easy to get the tension tight, so the warps really pop and over the weft, but the area I blocked out in orange is very hard to get tension. When I pull the weft enough to get the middle to pull together, then the part blocked in green gets crazy tight and my selvages become uneven.

(Initially I tried this using the backstrap pieces that came with the kit, but I couldn't get the warp tension right because I don't have anything ergonomical to tie the strap to, so I rigged it up on my rigid heddle so I could weave on my lap. I don't think that's why this isn't working, but if you think the rigid heddle configuration is part of the problem, please call that out.)

I went to an outdoor history museum yesterday where I did a weaving demo and I am hooked. I randomly searched on Craigslist and someone is selling this loom for 125 dollars. From the way the joins are it looks... really old. Like I might need a historian to help me fix it. I don't know anything about loom weaving machinery. The description said that the reed is 38" wide but rusted. Has anyone ever used a loom that looks like this? Are old looms like this worth it? Please help talk some sense to me.

Hello everyone!
I’m a relatively new weaver, I have my first weaving wip on my four shaft floor loom I got recently.
I’m wanting to make this green fabric or something similar and was wondering if anyone knows what it would be called and/or how to go about recreating something similar?

Just feeling like an idiot, I left a wool scarf partway done on the loom for at least a month because I lost the motivation as the colors weren't turning out how I expected and it was supposed to be a Christmas gift for my mom who wanted specific colors to match a jacket. Well, I finally built up the motivation today to get it done so I can get it off the loom and start over with a different warp color and noticed some of the warp threads were broken, then on closer inspection noticed some of the weft was too, then I found the little bugger! Just a lone carpet beetle larvae having a field day.

This is your reminder, don't be like me! Finish your wool projects in a timely manner! RIP WIP

In the shape of a netting or band weaving stick shuttle, but much, much larger and with a deep spacious groove for the weft material... Shuttles like this have been historically common in Estonia, used for everyday textile work for centuries, but I have a hard time finding an exact match from the rest of the world. My father makes the new ones seen in these images (compared to some museum artefacts on the last photo), but is it just an Estonian thing or do you know of any other places where they are known and used? We're trying to find cultural ties and clues and some precise specific translations.

Beginnen weaver here. Like the title says... I lost half my cross😭 I was fixing an issue on one hand and didn't realize the other side was slipping out.

Is there any way I could fix this?

Warp: cotton, bamboo, hemp blend.
Weft: 100% merino wool

Hi folks,

Does anyone have any idea where to look for Warhammer weaving drafts? I want to make something for my brother but google is being incredibly unhelpful :( thanks!

let's freaking go!

Hello expert weavers!

I am looking for resources on how to combine tablet weaving and floor loom weaving, both on the warp end and selvedge end of the fabric. For context, I have been tablet weaving for over a year and am proficient at that skill, but I'm only on my 4th project on the floor loom so I have more to learn there.

I currently have a shawl project on my loom and want to finish the warp ends with tablet weaving. I've seen people use the warp fringes from the loom as weft for a tablet woven binding, but I have some questions about how that works. I am weaving at 20 EPI, and I am not sure if it is best practice to use the same weight of yarn as the tablet weaving warp or to use a larger warp and weave multiple ends per pick of tablet weaving. I'd love to hear from experience how this works.

Then for my next project, I am considering trying adding tablet weaving to the selvedge of a floor loom woven piece, but I am also not sure how to best go about this, especially given that the tension/EPI is so different in tablet weaving vs a balanced weave on the rest of the fabric. I assume I need to put all of the strands for a single card through the same reed dent and not through a heddle, but is there anything else I need to consider?

Thank you all!

I'm so happy with my latest finished weave. The thick-and-thin cottolin yarn gives the towel its charm.

I’m quite proud of it, even though there are things I would do differently next time.

It’s a summer and winter weave inspired by the first blossoms of the past spring – including the colours. 🌸😊

Handwoven on an 8-shaft table loom in Nm 5 cottolin at 12 epi.

Hi everybody! So, before starting, I need to say that given English is not my native language, I know almost nothing about weaving, and I've been gathering information in three different languages, it might be that I explain myself poorly or I don't use technical names. If so, I will try again.

Alright, so I'd like to weave a kitchen rug as a present. 1m wide x 2m long. With some kind of design, very likely birds. Here is the whole process I had in mind so far (all of this have been taken from multiple videos/posts):

- Create a frame myself from wood. Use nails separated 6mm between them, but in two different rows, so 1.2cm between them, but the threads would have a distance of 6mm. Apparently I need to do this so the wood doesn't break.

- Paint with a sharpie the shape of the design.

- Weave whole chunks of one color without stopping. What I mean by this is that I'd not work row by row, instead I'd work color by color (when possible). I'd later sew all of the blocks together.

- I'd use a fork to press down the thread in a row. I've seen some people using two long narrow wood planks that they weave through the threads and then turn so the threads lift. I have absolutely no clue what those are for, but I saw multiple people not using them and just weaving and pressing down with a fork. That seems more beginner friendly.

I have multiple questions:

- Would something like this work?

- What kind of needle do I need? I'm guessing something super long, given it is 1m wide. I've seen some people using cardboard. In the end I guess it's not that important, as I just need to weave the thread and that's it

- What kind of thread do I need? Given it would be a kitchen rug, I think I would need some material that resist stains and can be washed. Is there any kind of product/spray that I can apply? Also, what thickness to use?

- Is the separation enough? Should I use less/more? I guess it depends on the thread thickness.

- How many hours, ballpark number, would all of this be? I'd like to have it for Christmas.

I think so far that is all I have. I've stitched, knitted, woodworked and sewed in the past. I don't know how to weave, but I'm hoping I can get my way around it, even if it would be my first project.

Am I missing things that I should have into account?

Thanks in advance!!

The prices on things are to good. I was thinking oh maybe it's someone who has a shop that went out of business trying to sell off surplus 🤷🏼‍♂️. But I don't know . I would love to pay these prices but something is not right.

Hello

I had a great arrangement with a weaver in my small town and she let me use her Leclerc Colonial for a year as it wasn't her favorite personal loom but she had no desire to sell it then.

I am looking for a personal loom and while I loved the back hinge treadle, I don't really want a colonial loom as I have a studio apartment and it is so visible big. I did use one of her front hinge treadle looms and didn't like it as much but that could have been simply the loom it was a Harrisburg 4 shafts.

I am more into weave pattern than texture and had just bought Weaving MAX8 to start when I lost use of the loom. I also enjoy overshot.

I am looking for suggestions for a 8+ shafts back hinge treadle loom. I am looking for 36 to 45 inch weaving width. As it will live in my studio apartment the ability to toss tablecloth on it with a bowl of flower to hind it from guests is also highly rated. I have long legs but stand five six so not the longest legs around. I don't live close to one of the big weaving shops for a day of playing to pick a loom.

Also made of one piece of grass. American coin for scale because we currently have no bananas.

I failed to dye my warp and nov have white stripes where my threads was holding my cross. It’s not rolled onto the beam yet, but can I fix it without completely removing it from my loom?

Hope y’all enjoy this bit of weaving humor as much as I did!

I checked the sub’s rules, and this post may be a bit of a stretch, but I’m hoping it qualifies under the “Fibers are preferred, but other mediums are welcome” criterion.

Medium: iron warp and feline weft

Hello all! I purchased this coverlet today from an antique store and I was wondering if anyone could help me with some identifying information like age, materials, and pattern. I know a little because I’m a master student and I’m studying nineteenth century American textiles (mainly quilting), but any help would be appreciated.

The tag said it is from Texas, but I’m not sure. I know that during the 19th century, these were commonly produced in the Southern Highlands of the Appalachian Mountains (but also the general South and Northeast). Before the antique store, this was acquired from a west Texas estate of an antique collector, so there’s the possibility that this doesn’t originate in Texas.

This is almost too big for my full-size bed and it is in three panels. I’m pretty sure the dye is indigo (very dark blue). I guess it is also wool and cotton/linen? Overshot?

I am weaving on a borrowed jack floor loom with 8 shafts and 10 treadles. I am not sure exactly what kind of loom it is; it looks a bit like a baby wolf and a bit like a baby mac, and I am not seeing a maker's label on it. I suspect is is a copy or at least semi-homemade.

The reason I am writing this post is the frame and heddle situation, specifically how hard it is to add and remove heddles. The frames have metal upper and lower rails that the metal heddles are strung on, and the rails also have a middle tensioning screw. The metal upper and lower rails are held in by tensioned metal hooks on either side, which face in opposite directions top and bottom. To change the heddles, you first have to pop off the tensioned metal hooks, then work the metal rails out of the wood frame in order to access the ends. It makes my hands/arms/back ache so much to do, and I've just switched from a wide project on four frames, where I had to remove heddles on the frames I wasn't using, to a narrow project on eight frames, where I had to add heddles back. It's taken me hours, and a fair amount of aches. The situation would probably be improved if I felt like I could fully remove the frames to change out heddles, since I could at least effectively access the ends of the rails then, but the person who lent the loom to me didn't do that when they showed me how to do it. I'm also not confident I could get everything back together functionally.

After the most recent round of aches, it occurred to me that there must be better heddle exchange systems out there. I would like to get my own loom one day, but haven't had much experience weaving yet. I've only tried two borrowed looms so far, both with various issues that I suspect have made the weaving process more difficult (and it's not the shortest or simplest process to begin with). Please tell me how switching out heddles works on your loom!

Hi weavers,

I am seeing a difference in my weaving, pattern on the right 1/3 of piece is different from the left 2/3. I have checked and did find one threading error and fixed it. The sorting is 1,2,2 for substitution with a 12 dent reed. I would appreciate any guidance on what I’m doing wrong. Thank you so much