(re-post from March 22 2011)
Sunday I went to the Saori gathering at Knotty by Nature and on Tuesday I rented the piccolo loom from them!
It's light and portable (folds up and fits in back seat of car). Here it is warped and ready to go.
Not many minutes have passed ….
It is a lot of fun. The loom is user friendly; friendly is actully a very appropriate term here.
This is the boat shuttle that 'sails' through the shed and across the warp, carrying the weft. In the jars are thrums, the saved bits and pieces resulting from sewing and knitting and other fibre projects. I put them into the shed on top of the warp threads and wove them into the piece.
The first piece completed. It is intended to form the bodice of a vest or tabard. This could change. I also want to make a cover for a pillow and maybe this will be used.
The second length to dance off the loom. Intended for a hat.
And hat it became.
At first the crown was pinned flat. Then an insert was considered. Finally a lenght of strong cord was threaded along the top edge and pulled taut, cupping the head.
A green fleece panel was used to join the two edges together (I used a zig zag stitch) and this gave a bit of give at the back where hats meet the neck.
It feels good to wear. Spring weight, made from the skeins of linen I bought at a garage sale two summers ago (I doubled the yarn to get a denser fabric).
Now I want to weave one for summer, likely on an ivory flax warp, likely using cotton or cotton blend. Maybe with thrums again. And likely sprigs of herbs like rosemary and southernwood and sage. The sprigs of Australian bushmint I wove into the first piece (pos. vest bodice) are drying and releasing their fragrance. A wearable garden is a delight.