Any tips for someone who feels called to weaving and has absolutely no idea where to start? My natural inclination is to go buy a bunch of sheep, but that seems a bit premature!
You should definitely start with the sheep! That would be fabulous and next-level. I began five years ago with a very small, basic rigid-heddle (“Cricket”) loom that one can buy at any good arts and crafts store but I could never get the tension right, in fact the tension on those is virtually never tight enough for tapestry weaving. If you are interested in tapestry I’d definitely recommend a basic frame loom like the Glimakra Freja model. Rebecca Mezoff’s book on tapestry is so well-written for beginners and she has great YouTube resources too. There are a ton of great videos and subreddits on building your own basic loom and getting started, plus there are weaving guilds everywhere with very kind women who will likely offer to offload a loom onto you if you befriend them. Good luck — If I can do it, literally anybody can!
Thank you very much! Down the rabbit hole I go! (Or maybe sheep hole...that doesn't sound quite right!) There is a yarn store down in the big city near us that I am sure has resources, so finding you (and Penelope) on here at the same time seems to be a sign to get going.
Gosh I love your writing, Birdie! I'm not an artist but the idea of weaving has been similarly tugging at me for years and years. I was blessed to be freely gifted a 95cm table loom last month with a whole boot-load of naturally dyed, hand-spun rug yarn. After days of fixing up the loom, re-tying the shaft chords, cutting and sanding back odd bits of dowel for holes that had lost their plugs, I've finally warped and started a small rug. For me the actual practice of weaving (perhaps bar the preliminary warping) tends to feel appealing and suitable at times when other kinds of work feels impossible. I've been chipping away at the rug with my daughter afoot, even on days where I've felt like I could otherwise be in bed.... Tapestry & Navajo weaving is calling to me too but I want to get the hang of this salvage-to-salvage single-pass weaving business first, then we'll see...
Your current weaving path is beyond impressive and from what I’ve seen your work is as beautiful as any good art I’ve encountered- plus that photo of your hand-dyed woolen treasures is to LIVE for. Thank you again for your kind words and encouragement I so appreciate them. I’ve been saving your piece on God and Quality for my husband’s return and then our recovery from this mutant toddler cold we all got! I think the time to finally enjoy it is here thank God.
Περαστικά as we say! I hope you're through to the final days of the cold. This is somewhat synchronistic as I've also come down with something but lucky for me, we are all home & I have help. I'm looking forward to the piece you plan to write on illness!
Any tips for someone who feels called to weaving and has absolutely no idea where to start? My natural inclination is to go buy a bunch of sheep, but that seems a bit premature!
You should definitely start with the sheep! That would be fabulous and next-level. I began five years ago with a very small, basic rigid-heddle (“Cricket”) loom that one can buy at any good arts and crafts store but I could never get the tension right, in fact the tension on those is virtually never tight enough for tapestry weaving. If you are interested in tapestry I’d definitely recommend a basic frame loom like the Glimakra Freja model. Rebecca Mezoff’s book on tapestry is so well-written for beginners and she has great YouTube resources too. There are a ton of great videos and subreddits on building your own basic loom and getting started, plus there are weaving guilds everywhere with very kind women who will likely offer to offload a loom onto you if you befriend them. Good luck — If I can do it, literally anybody can!
Thank you very much! Down the rabbit hole I go! (Or maybe sheep hole...that doesn't sound quite right!) There is a yarn store down in the big city near us that I am sure has resources, so finding you (and Penelope) on here at the same time seems to be a sign to get going.
Gosh I love your writing, Birdie! I'm not an artist but the idea of weaving has been similarly tugging at me for years and years. I was blessed to be freely gifted a 95cm table loom last month with a whole boot-load of naturally dyed, hand-spun rug yarn. After days of fixing up the loom, re-tying the shaft chords, cutting and sanding back odd bits of dowel for holes that had lost their plugs, I've finally warped and started a small rug. For me the actual practice of weaving (perhaps bar the preliminary warping) tends to feel appealing and suitable at times when other kinds of work feels impossible. I've been chipping away at the rug with my daughter afoot, even on days where I've felt like I could otherwise be in bed.... Tapestry & Navajo weaving is calling to me too but I want to get the hang of this salvage-to-salvage single-pass weaving business first, then we'll see...
Your current weaving path is beyond impressive and from what I’ve seen your work is as beautiful as any good art I’ve encountered- plus that photo of your hand-dyed woolen treasures is to LIVE for. Thank you again for your kind words and encouragement I so appreciate them. I’ve been saving your piece on God and Quality for my husband’s return and then our recovery from this mutant toddler cold we all got! I think the time to finally enjoy it is here thank God.
Περαστικά as we say! I hope you're through to the final days of the cold. This is somewhat synchronistic as I've also come down with something but lucky for me, we are all home & I have help. I'm looking forward to the piece you plan to write on illness!