Not Weaving Yet

I was looking forward to weaving on the David loom over the long weekend, but it's not going to happen. When I finished cleaning up the loom, I noticed that the beater was hanging at an angle - one side of the beater was closer to the front of the loom than the other. (This is a used David and I don't think it had the best of care for several years). After disassembling the hanging beater, I found that the bottom wood support had twisted which caused the problem. I ordered a new one from Louet and I had to wait a while because it was coming over in their next container. It arrived Friday, but it was the bottom piece of their new style beater, not the old one. I called Dave at Louet and they are arranging a pickup for this piece and will get me the correct one, but it will probably be a little while since it will be shipped from overseas.

To be honest, I don't weave nearly as much as I used to, or I would like to now. I used to weave for a living - mostly saddle blankets and rugs, but also custom ordered fabrics and shawls, but several years ago, I decided to go back to school and get a degree in CAD drafting and now I have a "real" job. I'm lucky, because I get to work at home. But I miss all of the weaving that I used to do. We decided last fall (well, I decided and my wonderfully supportive husband Bill, went along with it) that having a dining room that was only used a few days a year for holidays was a waste of space when it could be better used for weaving space! Bill travels during the week and is only home a day or two on weekends so the rehab is moving slowly. We had torn up the carpet, and the oak floors underneath will need to be refinished, and we are putting in a coffered ceiling but it is going to be great when it is done.

I'll be able to get a bigger countermarche loom which I'm very happy about because I would like to start doing some rugs again. In addition to the David loom, I also have a a Toika Norjaana loom which fits neatly in the corner of the living room, but it is not as large as I will now be able to have. When I get around to it, I'll take photos of the Norjaana and put it up for sale to make way for a larger Toika Eeva. I really like Toika looms, and especially like the worm drive on the warp beam.

This summer has been a little crazy so far. One of my sons is staying with us for a few months with his 2 daughters and their little dog Jack. That's in addition to the three of us and our 2 dogs.

But I am hopeful that someday the dining room will be finished, I'll find exactly the used Eeva that I want and by fall and winter, my "real" job will slow down a little and I will be able to weave again!

When I started this blog I thought it would be filled with all of my weaving adventures, but there hasn't been much to write about. I'm looking forward to getting some of my ideas turn into reality and I'll have more to write about!

Lou

Louet David!

I brought home a new (to me) loom this weekend, a Louet David 90. I had a smaller David several years ago and really loved using it. It's a great loom with extremely light treadling. It also folds up so it doesn't take up much room when not being used. By looking at how much the color of the wood has darkened, I would say that the loom is possibly 20 years old.

It did need quite a bit of cleanup. I removed all of the texsolv heddles and tieups and washed them, which removed the dinginess from them. I also wiped down the entire loom with a damp cloth and made some adjustments to the texsolv and the harnesses which are hanging perfectly now. The springs had lost a little of their resistence, so I tightened all of the spring connections - I hooked them one loop over in the Texsolv. The reed that came with it is rusty and I haven't started on that yet to see if it can be cleaned, or if it will be beyond hope. The rod for locking the harnesses was missing, but I had another rod that fit perfectly. I had to replace a few screws that were rusty, and I need to replace the 2 little eye hooks in the back that hold the lease sticks, but that is easily done.

As soon as I wind the warp for my Vikings scarf, I'll use the David instead of the Toika Norjaana for this project and see how it's working. I'm using a snowflake twill for the scarf and Jaggerspun Zephyr wool/silk for the yarn.

We have another snowstorm on the way, but since I work at home, I can't get a "snow" day to play with my new loom! Unless we lose electricity, which almost never happens, because then I can't work on the computer. I will probably have to wait until next weekend to warp the loom! Darn.