Christmas came a bit early for me as my BF and I exchanged gifts this weekend. He bought me a 32" wide Rigid Heddle loom! I love to be able to do mindless weaving while we watch movies together, and have been borrowing a loom of this type for that purpose for the past year. Now I can continue to use up my stash while making rugs and table coverings for our tents! (And he was extra awesome and also bought the second heddle kit and two 12.5 dent reeds!)
For those new to weaving and who do not want to purchase a floor loom before they know if they enjoy weaving, I highly recommend starting with a rigid heddle loom. There are many models on the market and they come in various sizes, including some that fold in half for traveling. My first loom (aside from a potholder loom as a child, lol) was a Schacht Cricket loom that my mother bought me for Christmas a few years ago. I love it and I still use it for weaving small projects, teaching others and for tablet weaving.
The loom I have been borrowing is a Kromski Harp. This loom folds in half for travel and has a weaving width of 32". The stand you get get for it has an adjustable angle, which is nice, but I do not like that the ratcheting mechanism is located next to your weaving, which allows your threads to possibly get tangled in it (actually, I am not overly fond of the ratchet on this one at all). Overall though, this weaves well and also also has an option for a second heddle block (which allows you to use two rigid heddles at once to weave finer fabrics or even twills).
The new loom I was gifted for Christmas is the Ashford Rigid Heddle loom, also 32". This is not the Ashford Knitters loom (which is their folding model), but I plan to mostly use the loom in the living room so was not concerned with portability. The stand is sturdy, and you cannot adjust the angle of the loom (though it sits at the same angle as I had set on the one I was borrowing so it works perfectly fine for me). The mechanics of the ratchet and pawl system work very well on this loom, and all parts are located to the outside, which saves angst on my part. This loom also has an optional second heddle block (which my BF also got for me)! I do recommend getting that from this start if you get this loom, as the heddle blocks have to be attached with wood screws and you are probably better adding that item to begin with rather than unscrewing the initial one and attaching the new one later. In general, I am very happy with many of Ashford's products. I love my Ashford Traditional spinning wheel, and my first drop spindles were all Ashford. They seem to have good quality and well thought out functionality across their line of products.
I so excited about my gift and absolutely cannot wait to get it warped with a project!
Wishing everyone out there a fantastic holiday! Have a warm, fun and safe New Year! :-)
For those new to weaving and who do not want to purchase a floor loom before they know if they enjoy weaving, I highly recommend starting with a rigid heddle loom. There are many models on the market and they come in various sizes, including some that fold in half for traveling. My first loom (aside from a potholder loom as a child, lol) was a Schacht Cricket loom that my mother bought me for Christmas a few years ago. I love it and I still use it for weaving small projects, teaching others and for tablet weaving.
The loom I have been borrowing is a Kromski Harp. This loom folds in half for travel and has a weaving width of 32". The stand you get get for it has an adjustable angle, which is nice, but I do not like that the ratcheting mechanism is located next to your weaving, which allows your threads to possibly get tangled in it (actually, I am not overly fond of the ratchet on this one at all). Overall though, this weaves well and also also has an option for a second heddle block (which allows you to use two rigid heddles at once to weave finer fabrics or even twills).
The new loom I was gifted for Christmas is the Ashford Rigid Heddle loom, also 32". This is not the Ashford Knitters loom (which is their folding model), but I plan to mostly use the loom in the living room so was not concerned with portability. The stand is sturdy, and you cannot adjust the angle of the loom (though it sits at the same angle as I had set on the one I was borrowing so it works perfectly fine for me). The mechanics of the ratchet and pawl system work very well on this loom, and all parts are located to the outside, which saves angst on my part. This loom also has an optional second heddle block (which my BF also got for me)! I do recommend getting that from this start if you get this loom, as the heddle blocks have to be attached with wood screws and you are probably better adding that item to begin with rather than unscrewing the initial one and attaching the new one later. In general, I am very happy with many of Ashford's products. I love my Ashford Traditional spinning wheel, and my first drop spindles were all Ashford. They seem to have good quality and well thought out functionality across their line of products.
I so excited about my gift and absolutely cannot wait to get it warped with a project!
Wishing everyone out there a fantastic holiday! Have a warm, fun and safe New Year! :-)
RSS Feed