You Have To Be Warped To Weave.

This is another type of loom that I've been learning to weave on. It's called and "inkle loom". It is a very simple loom, and is used to make narrow pieces of woven fabric. The warp threads go in a continuous circle around the pegs, so as you weave you simply advance the woven straps around until you have woven all the warp threads.

The dark threads are the headles that are used on this loom, and they are made from string. To achieve the over under action of a loom you simply push or lift the threads with your hand to make a shed for the shuttle to pass through.

This type of weaving is a "warp faced" type of weaving. Meaning you mainly see the warp threads and not the weft. The weft thread is the thread that goes back and forth across the warp threads. As you can see the thread on my shuttle is green, but the warp threads cover that thread, and you see the color pattern of the warp threads.

The reason that I made this strap is to go on the little carpet bag that I made. Remember the loom that I bought back in September? Well I got all the replacement parts, thoroughly cleaned the loom, and reassembled it. I didn't want to test the loom out on really good yarns, so I chose to do a simple rag rug.

The loom works wonderfully, and this is the result. I made this little bag out of fabric scraps and one of my husband's old worn shirts. It turned out quite nice.

I know your mom or grandma had rugs just like this in her house.

But I bet they didn't have a really cool computer bag like this.

My First Completed Weaving Projects

Before I tell you about my latest adventures in weaving, I wanted to share this little project with you. My daughter has a black and tan Pomeranian named Jack. She collected Jack's undercoat when she would brush him, and brought this small bag of hair for me to spin. I did so and got this really pretty and soft yarn. I have plans for something, but I will tell you about it when I get it finished.
This is my first finished, usable project from my weaving class. I think it turned out quite nice. The warp was a soft black wool fingerling yarn, and the weft was some ugly sock yarn that looked better on the monitor than it did in real life, but it looked much better as a woven scarf. It just goes to show you that even ugly sock yarn can be made into something beautiful, you just have to find the right project. There are some beginner mistakes in this project, and I'm sure they will glare at my teacher when I take it into class, but it's not to bad.

After I finished the above scarf, I decided to try it again while the corrections from the previous scarf were fresh in my head. I'm please to say that this scarf turned out great without any of the mistakes that where in the last scarf.

At the village, the artisans that work there sell their hand made items in the gift shop. I have many different items in the gift shop, and this will be added to the inventory. It is made from a soft wool, so it will be very warm and comfy around someones neck.