Weaving

Since long before I married into the name, I've wanted to weave.

Indeed, even as a kid, I watched a man weave at a loom at an antebellum mansion, during a reenactment and I really, really wanted to weave.

Every year, I go to SAFF and I play with looms, or I stand and watch.

It just seems like an additional 'fiber thing' that I NEED to do.

Most mornings, I check my emails early.  Most days for the last 6 or 8 months, I"ve checked various sites for job listings and other pertinent postings.

A couple of weeks ago, I found this post:
 
Antique 4 harness floor loom for sale.

And it called my name.

I went to visit it and the next thing that I knew, it was in my van and I was so excited as I drove it home.

Now, at first, my darling husband inquired as to if there was a need for such a thing.

And where, pray tell, would it be put?

And however would we know if it would actually work.

And as often happens here, my answers were these:

I need it, for reasons that I can't describe, and as I have never woven, I have no idea  if it will work, nor if I can actually make it work and I have no clue where it would go.

So, logically, that meant that it had to come home with me, right?

So, here she is:

Obviously in working order, right in the middle of my living room.
Not forever... she'll make her way to the sewing room, as soon as I get in there and rearrange and sort this out.

Crash course with weaving began when my darling husband put the thing together and we decided that the front right and rear left posts were in the wrong places.  Slowly but surely, with every little piece, it assembled.

And I rushed to the library for the 'standard' Learning to Weave book that every online resource indicated would be the 'go to manual' and I poured over the details.

Now, I was, prior to this, already working on a project that I'd simply not been to the place to share.
The aforementioned antebellum plantation house is now an historic site, and the loom has sat, unused for many years.  I've been working on a volunteer project there to get that loom up and running.

In doing my research, I learned that about an hours drive north would get me to an historic site with not only a working loom, but an opportunity to watch as the loom was warped.

Thank goodness for that... I'd have hit the panic button fast if the first time I saw that process was in my own living room.

But, the process went fairly smoothly, if you discount the fact that I decided that my first project needed to be towels of an irregular plaid. 

Oh, my goodness, it is fun...

and for a first project, I think it's beautiful.

The learning curve has been a bit of a circus ride, but a very pleasant one.

I will admit to using it to keep my mind off of things while I waited on all the test results.
I do believe that it's been therapeutic in the aftermath of the procedures.

And the loom itself is so beautiful, that I'm glad that I've never bought one of the newer ones before.

Sometimes, an old home calls for an old amusement.