Wednesday 5 February 2014

Double weave wool bag

I made the mistake of trying a new loom - not a mistake so much as being overly ambitious. I wanted to try the Oxaback that was donated to the school by Nel Oudemans. Basically I've decided I want to try as many looms as I can so that if I come across a loom I think is a good deal, I will know if I want it or not. I don't want to settle for equipment anymore. It has to be the right equipment or nothing at all.


So I had a really difficult time setting up this loom - or I should say tieing up the treadles. I ended up having to redo my entire plan because of the time involved in the tie up. It's a countermarche loom, meaning it kind of is a double the set up.


I finally got the tie up right after doing it twice. Then I was able to weave my sample. Friday I stayed at school longer than I wanted to because I was determined to get this project off the loom. And I did! Such a relief. And the expression on my teacher's face was priceless when she saw it in my hand and no longer on the loom. I don't think she expected it off for a while yet (I was given a bit of an extension after I had all of my problems). I'm happy to say I will be handing it in at the same time as everyone else.

Lesson learned: when considering a multi-harness loom, don't buy an Oxaback - unless their tie-up configuration has changed or it is attached to a computer.