Rigid Heddle Loom

As I said, I’m already on my resolutions for 2023!

I’ve been sitting on this loom for too long, so I’m super excited to get started. My one problem, as it has almost always been, is hubris. “I don’t need to do any research,” I said. “I’m a classically-trained weaver. It will come back to me like riding a bike.” Yeah, never mind that I took that weaving class when I was in college a decade ago, and I never was much good at riding bikes!

I busted out the old warping board that was gathering dust in my parents’ basement, because my chosen first project (a Decades Shawl from Yarn Barn) required three-yard warps. The written instructions for my loom suggested a table the length of your warps, and I did not have a nine foot table lying around. As a “classical weaver,” I knew the warping board was the solution.

That took a huge chunk of time in itself! I forgot all the techniques to keep my yarn straight, and I just wrapped around extra warps to accommodate for knots, completely forgetting that, in a perfect world, I’d only have to cut one end of my fabric. I ended up having to cut both ends, and it became quite the tangled mess.

Both of my parents came to my aid when it was time to wind the warp on (Thanks, Mom and Dad!). Then I struggled to get the sheds where I wanted them. I had to put this project, before it had really even begun, back in time out. I finally caved and watched a couple of videos… Now I have some fabric!

It’s not even enough to measure picks per inch (I broke a warp, and took all the extra yarn back to my stash…), but it’s there! I’m so excited to really get into weaving, and next time, I’ll actually follow the beginner instructions!