Tammy Bast 10/20/23 Tammy Bast 10/20/23

String Heddles

Let’s talk about string heddles, what they are, how to make them and why you might use them.

If you follow me, you know I like to push the limits of rigid heddle weaving, but at the same time, I want weaving to be easy and fun. And I love pick-up sticks!!! Often when I use multiple pick-up sticks they slide over each other so need to be inserted only once. However, I also have patterns where one pick-up stick needs to be reinserted each time it is needed. When I first started weaving with multiple sticks, I didn’t mind reinserting the stick each time. And really, I still don’t most of the time. I put off using string heddles because I didn’t want to stop weaving long enough to make them. Then I didn’t really like them because they sometimes came untied while weaving. But I’ve learned a few things and now I like string heddles!

What are String heddles?

String heddles are exactly what they sound like…string that acts as a heddle around a single warp end. Your rigid heddle has slots and holes. Each warp end is threaded into a slot or hole and the movement of the heddle determines which ends go up and which stay down. When you weave you will notice that the slots stay level and the holes either move up or down. String heddles will only be used on ends that are in slots are used the same way as a pick-up stick adding up to 2 extra sheds!

How to Make String Heddles

You can make your own string heddles. It really isn’t hard, just time consuming. You will need an extra reed, 8/4 cotton and a pair of scissors.

Sitting in a comfortable chair, rest one end of the reed on the floor and hold the reed between your knees. Wrap the cotton once around the reed and tie a square knot. Cut the ends short. Done, you now have 1 string heddle! I leave the heddles on the reed until I have made them all. I keep them in groups of 10 to make counting easier. So after I have 10, I slide them all together down the reed, then make the next 10, slide them down leaving a space between them and the previous 10. Here’s a video: https://youtu.be/MkjMSigjMOs

As I mentioned earlier, I put off using string heddle because I didn’t want to take the time to make them. And I have a solution for that…texsolv heddles!!!! These are premade heddles for floor looms, but they work great as string heddles and have several advantages: they do not come untied, they do not stick or get fuzzy, they are all the same size and best of all, you do not have to tie them!! They are more expensive, I bought the 9.5” heddles from LeClerc for about $27/100. They come as a single long “string” so do need to be cut apart. Be careful when cutting to ensure that you are cutting in the right spot. Switching from handmade cotton heddles to texsolv has definitely improved my weaving life! If you have a choice, buy the shortest heddles available. (Bonus, you can use these on your inkle loom too!)

Inserting String Heddles

If you can insert a pick-up stick, you can insert string heddles. You will need 2 pick-up sticks or shuttles a little longer than the warped width in the reed, string heddles, and painter’s tape.

Insert the pick-up stick as usual. The string heddles will go around the warp ends that are on top of the pick-up stick. Count these ends and count out the right number of heddles (this acts as a check at the end). Starting at one end, add the first string heddle. Put it under the warp end, then fold the heddle up and place both ends on the second pick-up stick. I usually wait until I have a number of string heddles inserted and on my fingers before putting them on the second stick. Here’s a video: https://youtu.be/zw3FRtq5yQ4

Work your way across the loom. If you counted out the right number of heddles before you started, you should have no heddles left. As a second check, place the heddle in neutral and flip the pick-up on edge. Every end on the pick-up should have a heddle. Flip the pick-up flat and pull up the stick with the heddles: it should lift all the ends off the pick-up stick. You can now remove the pick-up stick.

Use painter’s tape to tape the heddles so they can’t slide off the pick-up stick (now called a heddle rod). I run one strip from end to end then wrap tape around each end.

Here’s a few things to note when using string heddles:

If you are using a pick-up stick and string heddles, the string heddles must be inserted in front of the pick-up stick.

When you are using the pick-up stick, the heddle rod will slide forward to the back of the reed. This won’t cause any problem with the shed.

Remember to slide the pick-up stick back to the back of the loom when using the string heddle rod.

If you are getting a small shed in the plain weave sections check to make sure that the string heddles are all moved to the back of the loom.

Why Use String Heddles?

String heddles are best used when there are multiple pick-up sticks in a repeating pattern. You will see in many patterns that when 2 pick-up sticks are used, one is inserted and remains in the project for the entire weaving process. The second needs to be replaced each time it is needed. Every time you inset a stick, there is opportunity for error. Using string heddles means you only need to do it once. I will often weave the first repeat with just pick-up sticks. After examining the cloth and confirmed the pick-up stick is correctly inserted, I will add the string heddles. It’s easier to correct a misplaced pick-up stick than a misplaced string heddle.

It takes time to insert a pick-up stick. We aren’t running a marathon, and weaving should be fun, not time driven, but some patterns can mean more time is spent inserting the pick-up stick than weaving! Once we switch to string heddles things move a little faster.

Finally, string heddles open a whole new range of possibilities for you and your rigid heddle! Complex lace work suddenly becomes very possible!

Looking for some projects to try out string heddles? Check out these patterns:

Surprise Twill Tea Towels

Swedish Lace Scarf

Tammy Bast 2/22/21 Tammy Bast 2/22/21

Dealing with Pesky Loose Ends

I’ve been working with linen lately. I’m finding it slippery, unforgiving, and tricky as warp! The first time I warped and tied on just as usual. Everything went well until the first time I wound forward. Everything went loose! Next time I paid extra special attention to winding on and checking tension. Again, everything was fine until I wound forward the first time and again, everything went loose. Third time I tried using 2 heddles. I think I need to practice more with 1 heddle before I try that again!

Loose threads are not the end of the world. Those loose ends can be fixed. Today I’ll give 2 of my favourite tips for loose threads.

Have you ever warped, tied on, then found when the heddle is in the downshed all the lower threads are crazy loose? I find this happens most often with warps with little to no stretch…cotton, linen, silk. First thing, be sure when you are winding and tying on all the threads are even in the heddle (slots and holes should be side by side).

If you’ve done that and you still have a problem it is super easy to fix. Place the heddle in the down shed, place a shuttle or pickup stick in the shed behind the heddle. Slide to the back warp beam. Slide the stick back each time you wind forward. Problem solved!

2. Sometimes there are just 1 or 2 threads that are loose. You can pay extra attention to those spots while weaving to be sure your shuttle goes over and under the troublesome ends or you can fix the problem for good. Simply hang an s-hook on the offending end and let it hang behind the back warp beam. You can add extra s-hooks to give extra weight as needed. I generally add s-hooks to the first and last end when weaving with cotton. I find it helps keep my selvedges tidy.

These 2 tricks mean I never need to deal with loose ends…and neither do you!

Happy Weaving!

Tammy Bast 1/25/21 Tammy Bast 1/25/21

Lessons Learned from Yarn

As many of you know, my 2020 weaving challenge was colour. I needed to use more of it, particularly the bright colours. I didn’t just want more colours though, I wanted confidence to put colours together. I made a ridiculous number of tea towels. 2020 became the year of tea towels. Tea towels act as a perfect palette for mixing colours and if I wove an ugly tea towel, well, that would be one more tea towel for my kitchen! As it turned out, each one was my favourite, until I wove the next one!

Challenging ourselves is good. There were times however, when I needed a changeI needed something simple yet beautiful. Something I could do without thought and just allow my mind to be filled and soothed by the softness of the yarn and the richness of the colour. The kind of weave that allows me space to think, to process and to just be at peace in the moment. And that’s what we are looking for in our crafts isn’t it? Our craft grounds us so that when we go back into the world we can go peacefully, and bring that peace to others. We may not like what is happening around us but we can face it with calm determination knowing that our outward circumstances cannot rule our hearts. Whatever happens in the world, we can march out and meet it with the same patience we untangle a stubborn knot.

Which leads me to today’s post. I’ve learned a lot from yarn. In fact, weaving, or any craft involving yarn, can teach us much about how to live life.

1. Never fight the yarn

Knots happen. They seem to happen most often in the really expensive yarns. You know, the skeins you bought because you loved them so much but now you’re afraid to use? Those ones, they love to knot. Also, mohair. Untangling knots is a slow, sometimes tedious activity. But we all know that the looser we hold the yarn the easier it is to untangle. Once a knot gets pulled tight to can be impossible to untie. The best way to sort a knotty problem is to patiently, gently, tease the threads apart and always move in the same direction as the yarn. Gradually work away at the little knots, one at a time and the big snarl goes away. Keep your hands and your heart soft.

2. A little tension is good…too little and you create a mess, too much and things begin to crack.

Tension (or stress) is good, but not too much. A yarn under tension will not tangle. That’s why we warp and weave under tension. Just the right tension and everything works the way it should. Let things relax too much and you get a tangled mess; too much and things begin to break. Don’t be afraid of a little tension in your life. It will help keep you moving forward. And when things get to be too much, take a hot bath…hot baths relax everything!

3. Listen to the yarn…you cannot expect yarn to be what it was never meant to be.

Some yarns are stretchy, some are fuzzy, some are a little prickly. Some yarns work as warp and some just won’t. Take time to get to know your yarn. A prickly yarn will always be prickly, don’t try to make it be a soft neck warmer. Definitely don’t make a loose bulky yarn act like warp. Forcing yarns out of their comfort zones a little might yield some fabulous results…taking them too far can ruin something that might have been beautiful. Approach each project with an open mind, willing to listen and try something different if need be.

4. Don’t write off a yarn because of one bad experience.

Some yarns require a little more patience than others. Mohair for example. Mohair makes for delicate, airy wraps but many avoid it as warp. It is sticky, it is a challenge, but treated with just a little extra care it can work. A wider sett and just a little extra patience brings out the best in even the stickiest mohair. Then there’s boucle. Winding boucle on a rigid heddle requires a little more attention: even under tension it likes to tangle. But winding can be done easily by slowing down and “snapping" small bouts of warp as you crank and yank. Just a little bit of the right attention at the right time can make all the difference in the world!

I believe we all learn life lessons from whatever crafts we engage in. What are some of the things you’ve learned from your chosen craft?

Tammy Bast 1/4/21 Tammy Bast 1/4/21

New Year, New Weavers

Welcome to a New Year! From what I’ve seen on social media many are embarking on weaving! I know you won’t regret it!! As a weaving instructor I see many new weavers and weavers who want to improve their weaving. There is lots of advice I could give, but today I’m going to keep it short and sweet: don’t beat so hard! That’s it.

This is a weft-faced fabric-meant to be dense with no warp showing

Experienced weavers know that what they see on the loom is not the fabric that will come off the loom and is not the fabric that will emerge after finishing. New weavers try to make the fabric on the loom look like the fabric they want when it comes off the loom. So they beat. Really hard. The weft is pressed so tight that nothing is getting through that fabric. When it comes off the loom and is finished a very dense stiff fabric results (and they have used way more yarn than they anticipated, or the pattern called for). I know this from personal experience!

Here’s the non-technical theory behind weaving. When you weave, the warp is under tension (stretched out). This allows the fibres to move up and down easily and create nice sheds for the shuttle. When the fabric (it’s actually called a web at this point) is cut off the loom, all the tension is released. So if you wove 80” on the loom, it might only measure 72” off the loom as the fibres go back to their natural relaxed state. This will vary depending on the fibre.

After you have taken the work off the loom, it takes a hot bath. This relaxes the fibres even more, and with agitation, fulling can occur. Fulling draws the fibres closer together creating a stable fabric. So now your 72” piece might only measure 65” (again, this will vary depending on the fibre)

In order for this to happen, the fibres need to have room to relax and move.

Here’s a couple tips to help you out:

1. Keep a tape measure handy. A balanced weave (good for beginners to practice) will mean that you have the same ppi (picks per inch) as epi (ends per inch). So if I am weaving a scarf on a 7.5 dent reed I should have 7.5 weft threads per inch of weaving. Check you work often with the tape measure. Especially when you are coming back after a break.

This is the same project as above after finishing-no holes!

2. Pay attention to how you draw your heddle forward. If the heddle is tilted towards you, you cannot see the weft being pressed into place. If you tilt it a little away from you, you have a great view of what is going on and have a little more control. You should be able to see through your work easily. Here’s a little video https://www.instagram.com/tv/CI6xZN-JWLQ/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

I hope this is helpful to the new weavers out there! Follow me on facebook or Instagram to find out when new blog posts are out. This year I plan to cover some beginner tips (things like edges, pick up sticks, and project planning) as well as delve deep into double heddle weaving, and, just because I can’t control myself, there will be some inkle weaving, tablet weaving and floor loom weaving. I’d also love to cover topics you are interested in, so if there is something you are looking for, please let me know!

Tammy Bast 3/6/20 Tammy Bast 3/6/20

Mohair for Warp?!

I’m on a few weaving groups on Facebook as well as following a number of rigid heddle weavers on Instagram. As I read the posts I learn a lot, some I agree with, some not so much. One idea that seems to be coming up a lot lately is mohair. Specifically, that one should not use mohair for warp. I must disagree!

I know why weavers believe this, I’ve experienced why weavers, after 1 attempt at a mohair warp swear never again, but I love the effect of a mohair warp. I love the light airy feel. I love the drape. I love the warmth. I love how far just a little bit can go. So, here are my tips for using mohair as warp, and a free “pattern” to make your own mohair wrap.

Use the right hedd!e. Mohair is sticky. If it is too close together you will have problems. I usually use my 7.5 (for 1000m/100g) or 5 dent (500m/100g)
Place an extra shuttle or pick up stick behind the reed as follows: with heddle in the down position place shuttle in the shed behind the reed. Slide shuttle as far back as possible. This shuttle will stay in the work for the entire project. I find the down shed is usually the stickiest. The shuttle helps and if it is too sticky and you can’t get a clear shed: just slide the shuttle forward, flip it in its edge and voila!
Be prepared to spend extra time. Weaving with mohair does require a little extra patience. You will need to check to ensure the shed is clear before passing the shuttle through. You will probably spend time hand picking some threads apart. You may need a few s hooks to help with tension issues. You will need to be extra vigilant to ensure the right number of picks per inch.
After winding the work forward, place the heddle in the up position and spend a few minutes making sure there are no tangles behind the reed. This will make it easier to keep the up shed clear until you wind forward again.
Finally, have fun, try some lace or finger techniques. Mix and your warp, most of all, don’t be afraid, it is after all, only string!

I promised a free pattern. It’s not really a pattern because it is so easy, but here it is:

You will need a 7.5 dent reed and a mohair and silk blend (I use Zambezi by Fleece Artist/Handmaiden but Rowan Kidsilk Haze will work just as well. (Or any other mohair silk blend that is 1000m/100g)

Warp measures 100” (2.5 meters) Warp as wide as you like or your loom can handle (1000m will warp and weft 100” x 32”) Tie on in small bundles. I like to tie little bows because they are easier to untie at the end. Plus, they are so darn cute!

Weave at about 6 picks per inch. It really looks like a window screen as you are weaving!! (remember the tips above)

Hemstitch the ends in bundles of 4, alternatively, or if you forget to hemstitch, knots in bundles of 4 look like little beads (ask how I know!) Don’t worry about the spaces between bundles…they will wash out, I promise!

Weave until you can weave no more (about 84”)

Cut off the loom and tie fringe in large loose bundles to prevent tangling. Soak in very hot water (I use my washing machine). Spin out the water and dry on high heat for 5 minutes. Untie bundles and press with a hot iron set for steam. Trim ends and enjoy!

PS If you would like to order an already made wrap, please contact me!

Tammy Bast 5/31/19 Tammy Bast 5/31/19

Keeping Things Simple

In weaving, as in life, is can be tempting to make things much more complex than they need to be. At least for me. I find keeping things simple can get a little boring. Why do the simple thing when you can do the much more complicated thing? This philosophy has been the primary contributor to numerous unfinished projects in my life. The thing about complicated though, is that as you progress, the complexity can grow exponentially. Especially if you are just working from ideas in your head! It’s taken a long time, but I’m beginning to learn that sometimes, the simplest thing is really the best.

Each summer Interweave puts out a call for submissions for Little Looms, a special edition of Handwoven and a magazine especially for rigid heddle, inkle and pin looms. I’ve submitted a number of pieces and have had three pieces accepted. When I choose which pieces to submit, I think about the complexity of the project. Not because I want to show off but because I want to show what a rigid heddle can do and encourage people push the limits. I was very surprised and pleased to see my Mermaid Wrap on the front cover. Particularly as its’ submission was an after thought.

This past summer I sent in a double weave blanket, a log cabin scarf, a twill poncho and a 3/1 lace checkered scarf. All are rather complex patterns. As I said, submitting the Mermaid Wrap was really an after thought. I love the scarf, it is so beautiful but, I thought, too simple! I didn’t do anything; the yarn did all the work. I was convinced to send it in after seeing the cover of the Handwoven May/June 2018 edition. The front cover features a gorgeous travel wrap by Debra Jarchow…in plain weave. So simple yet so gorgeous. So, I sent it in and was pleasantly surprised when it was chosen (along with my Classy scarf with 3/1 lace).

Lesson: just like people, yarns have voices and personalities. Some yarns want to fade into the background and are happy to let the pattern, texture or another yarn shine. Other yarns have a big personality. They want (or need) to be the centre of attention. This is shown so well in these two patterns. In the classy scarf, the Sabri yarn by Illimani, is lovely. It has an incredible drape but is understated. The texture draws the eye more than the yarn itself. Sabri is a quietly confident yarn, quite content to be the supporting actor to lace. Handmaiden’s Maiden Hair on the other hand, draws every eye as soon as it walks into the room. Trying to pair it with another attention seeker would be disaster!

In a way, a weaver is like a movie director with the yarn as characters. Our job is to cast the right characters and show them to their best advantage so that even complicated looks simple. Sometimes we must be quiet and let the yarn speak.

Tammy Bast 4/15/19 Tammy Bast 4/15/19

Dressing the Loom

For a non-weaver this may seem a bit technical. I want you to be able to understand the process of weaving for two reasons: 1. So you can appreciate it more when you see it; and 2. So you can shake your head at me and laugh when you read my next blog post! If you are a weaver this is going to sound over simplified but hopefully you can use this to educate your non-weaving friends or customers about the hidden work of weaving.

Floor looms do take a lot of work to dress (the term used to describe the process of getting the loom ready for weaving). Once the yarn, pattern and draft are picked -this can be a project all by itself- the real work begins.

Winding the warp

Winding the warp consists of wrapping the yarn around pegs on a warping board in the right colour pattern. The warping board is used to measure the warp and ensure all the threads will be the same length. Wrapping with a cross allows the weaver to know which is the next thread in the sequence when threading the heddles or reed. It is really important to secure the cross well.

After winding the warp the yarn needs to get from the warping board to the loom without becoming a huge snarly mess. Lots of choke ties get tied, especially at the cross. Then the whole mass can be chained (like a crochet chain).

Winding the warp can take anywhere from an hour to several hours.

Next you can start dressing the loom.

I usually warp back to front. I start by putting sticks in my cross to make sure I don’t lose it and attaching those sticks to my loom. Next I spread my warp in the raddle (my raddle is a piece of wood with nails every inch) and wind the warp onto my back beam. As I wind my warp I undo the chain that stops my warp from tangling. I wind around heavy paper to keep an even tension. (Handy tip: the tubes from wrapping paper unroll to make excellent warp packing material) Winding well is incredibly important. You need the warp to go on with an even tension. I regularly go to the front of the loom and tug on the warp to keep things even. A tension problem here will cause problems through the whole weaving process.

Once the warp is wound on it’s time to thread the heddles. Threads are threaded through the heddles in the order of the draft chosen. Each thread is taken, in order, from the cross and threaded through it’s own heddle. It’s slow, sometimes painful if you don’t stretch enough, and frustrating if you make a mistake. It definitely pays to slow down here and double and triple check. Again, this process can take several hours or for a really fine wide warp, days.

Next, each thread needs to go through the reed. This is usually quick and easy. Then it’s time to tie the warp to the front apron rod. Tension is important now too. Finally, the treadles are attached to the shafts in the order prescribed by the draft. On a floor loom this requires getting on the floor half under the loom. It helps if you are a contortionist.

Then comes the first moment of truth. As you press each treadle and the shafts move you can see if you have it right. Are there any crossed threads? Threads through more than one heddle? It’s a pain, but these are easy to fix…but will require going back, retying and checking the tension again.

At last, the real moment of truth. The first few treadles will tell you if you have threaded each end correctly through the heddles. If there is a mistake in the threading there is no way to fix it without going back and rethreading. If the mistake is at an edge it’s not so bad. If it’s in the middle I recommend a box of kleenex and a cup of tea…or something stronger!

After all the mistakes are fixed and the tears are dried, the actual weaving begins. And it’s fast. I usually spend way more time dressing my loom than actually weaving! Of course attention needs to be taken keep the pattern correct, keep neat selvages and change colour when needed. But compared to the pre-weaving tasks, this is easy!

So now you know the behind the scenes of weaving. That’s how woven fabric is made. And it’s everywhere…the jeans you are wearing, the shirts in you closet, the sheets on your bed. Of course, most of it is done on industrial machines but the principle is the same. And someone still has to man those machines!

Tammy Bast 12/27/18 Tammy Bast 12/27/18

Colour

One of my biggest challenges when it comes to weaving is choosing colours. I know the basics of colour theory. Ok, I know about the colour wheel and how to mix the primaries to create the secondary colours. I even know a tiny bit about putting colours together. Weaving however, adds a whole new element. If my warp is red and my weft is blue, those colours will blend when my eyes see them and it will look purple. My two colours give birth to a new colour. And I’m not always sure how it will look , so I play it safe: I use the same colour way for both warp and weft or pick a variegated and pair it with a solid colour that is in the variegated or I stick to neutrals.

I recently tried to be a little more adventurous. Rowan Yarns has a lovely yarn called Felted Tweed. The green, yellow and orange were calling my name. I think it had to do with it being the height of fall and all the trees were yellow and green and orange. If nature can pull off those colours, so can I !

At the same time as getting adventurous with colour I decided to figure out how to use two heddles to create double weave only in certain parts of my weaving. And how to bring different colours to the front. And use an extra pick up stick in double weave to add more pattern. Have I told you I never start easy?

I ended up with fabric that holds together, so I guess that is some success. The rest really didn’t come together well. I'll stick to the colour issue for this post. A few things happened.

First, I used tweed. When a tweed yarn is spun, little bits of other fibers in contrasting colours are added to the wool. So my colours weren’t pure colours, they all had flecks of other colours mixed in. I experienced first hand what it means to have “muddy" colours.

Then, some of my patches have all three colours together. It’s not that using three colours is a bad thing, but add the tweed and it really doesn’t work so well. On the orange, the strongest colour, it works pretty well but using only 1 colour, or 2, works even better.

Proportions are important too. Using 3 colours in equal amounts might be ok for some projects, but using 1 colour sparingly can change ok to fabulous. Note in the first picture the primary colour is green, then yellow, and finally just a little bit of orange. All the colours look more distinct and the orange draws the eye. But use mostly orange (second pic) and it over powers the other colours.

I know that sampling is (part of) the solution to my problem but we all know how I feel about sampling! (Actually, this was a sample! I had no plans for the finished product and was ok if it didn’t work!)

Knowledge is also power. I just received a book about colour. It's not specifically a weaving book, but it tells me about colour, colour theory, gives numerous colour combinations and gives proportions as well as grouping them into families (soothing, neutral, bold, dynamic, powerful etc.). I'm looking forward to experimenting with new colour combinations!

Tammy Bast 10/12/18 Tammy Bast 10/12/18

My Craft Room

I dream of a ‘ real’ craft room. I think all crafters do. I dream of a big airy space filled with giant windows and sunshine. And sky lights! My dream room has a big center work table, my 32” rigid heddle, room for a 60” 8 shaft loom, a wall of shelves to keep all my skeins and cones and fibres for spinning in view and easy reach. A corner for spinning and a corner for planning, drinking tea and dreaming.

I’ll bet you also have a dream craft room. But so much can be done without it. I am fortunate enough to have a craft room. It’s pretty tiny, an 8’ x 9’ basement room. (One small window, no sun) Until recently it held a 36” 4-shaft floor loom, a 32” rigid heddle loom, a dresser that acted as storage and sewing station, a warping station, a spinning wheel and a dressmaker’s dummy. I really couldn’t move in it. Both the spinning wheel and the rigid heddle loom needed to move out to be used. So they moved into the rec room. (Come on, be honest, your craft stuff is quietly taking over your house too!) The rec room worked well until my husband’s office moved into it. I may have shed a tear. Then I pulled myself together and redirected my takeover. My rigid heddle temporarily moved into the living room (along with all my rec room furniture, it was a mess!) I didn’t have room to warp so it moved into the kitchen or to the back deck for the warping process.

In the office moving process, we freed up a room in the house (the old office). I seriously considered just taking over that room (in addition to the one I already have) but decided that wasn’t really fair (my kids think they need space too) so I took over the closet instead. It isn’t very wide but it is quite deep. I moved my dresser/sewing station, dressmaker’s dummy and spinning wheel into it. I can close the door and we have a lovely sitting room. I can open up the closet and have a lovely sewing station or pull out my wheel to spin. And my rigid heddle moved back down to the basement craft room. Except when I’m doing a longer warp, then it moves to the kitchen, or I’m using the full width, then it’s back in the living room.

So don’t let lack of space stop you from weaving. If it weren’t for the floor loom I could quite easily manage without a room altogether. If my house were more open I wouldn’t need a room even with the floor loom. If you really want to do something you can make it happen in the space you have. You get creative, find solutions and weave on.

Do you have a dream craft room? Or have you found ways to manage in small spaces? I’d love to hear about them!