My husband's Aunt Lynn is an inspiring person. She is a masterful, yet humble weaver. When she comes out from California I always pester her about what she is making. When the kids were born she made each of the special blankets. Those blankets got a lot of use, and a lot of extra care so that they could be used for any grandbabies I might have some day in the future. When we went to northern California two years ago we stayed with them and had a blast. She has two floor looms and one giant one about the size of a four poster bed. She set up the looms so that we could make things while we stayed with them. The kids and I loved it. Originally the looms were just set up for the kids. She used soft yarns so they could make pillows to use on the airplane and take home. This was met with great enthusiasm and focused effort. As a result they got to do a second project each. This time they picked out all of their own stuff. These are some of our most precious reminders of that trip.
I am fiber crazy. I sew, quilt, knit, etc. I have been aching to learn to weave for some time, but thought it would have to wait until I retired. My friend, Karen, knew of this dream and called me last spring. She has stumbled upon a loom at an estate sale. We scoped it out and swooped down. We got the loom and a great book for something like $10 or $20. I tried to take classes, but they conflicted with the kids' races, so it sat in the basement for some time. Then I happened to learn that the local Weaver's shop had Tuesday evening lessons. I was thrilled, and then I found that I could not afford them. I pushed that idea away. I was still thinking about it a lot so I asked for help paying for the lessons as a Christmas gift. My in laws were ever gracious and paid for the whole 6 week session. I just had to make sure my loom worked and pay for the supplies and materials. I took in my loom and the owner suggested just a few small changes. My father-in-law helped with that and I had my first class last night. I was so excited that I could hardly sleep the night before. We learned about the parts of the loom and some about weaving philosophy. We also picked out our yarns and got ready to dress the loom. I look forward to showing you what gets done each week. The photos I've included here are not actually my own, but some that are similar to what I have. I decided that asking the other people in class to put up with my enthusiasm and exuberance was enough. I would not bust out the camera, yet. Actually I asked if they would be okay being on my blog and they all said yes, so next week you can look for live action shots. Until then I will have to settle with admiring the fibers I picked out.
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