This is Noah in a sweater I knit for him before he was born last year. It was while we were buying the house and getting ready to move so I kept ZERO records. I have no idea what pattern I used (anyone recognize it?) or what yarn I used.
I finally finished up my first floor loom project. They’ve been off the loom since before we moved last Summer, but I finally finished the ends and washed them. The reason I held on so long is because, for some weird reason, I didn’t weave the ends in while I wove. I haven’t gotten any idea why I did this because I know better. I blame it on the stress of the move we were about to make and the high I was on from buying our house. I asked for some help on the Warped Weavers forum on Ravelry and a few people said to just wash them. They’d full enough that when I just snipped off the ends, they’d be fine. They were right. I guess time will tell, but they really look melded together. Yeah.
I blogged all about them here and here, but finally finished them up. A little wrinkled but the feel is fabulous! I LOVE these towels. After washing they have softened up incredibly. LOVE it!
8/2 Cotton/Linen 4-Shaft Twill Towels. The towel on the far right is my own pattern you can find here.
Draft can be found on the Webs website. The pattern is free when you buy the yarn.
Okay… so my selvedges need a little work, but not bad for my first attempt, eh? I used Peaches & Cream for this. I wouldn’t recommend it. It started pilling really early and made it difficult to get a good shed after a while because all the threads wanted to stick together. That’s why the piece is so short. I got tired of fighting it.
I wove the above piece with the backstrap loom anchored around me feet. I had a hard time with that. It’s like a juggling act keeping things just right being “tied” to the loom at the waist and feet. Felt a little like a contortionist at times.
Here’s what I love about backstrap weaving. It’s eaaasy. It’s cheap. It’s portable. It’s easy. Did I mention that it’s easy? Also, did I mention that it’s cheap? This would be a fabulous way to introduce kids to weaving. I think I spent mmaaaybe five bucks on it.
So after I took the little sample piece off, I warped the loom for the backstrap pattern that Laverne Waddington showed in the videos and Weavezine Episodes which I believe are gone of the net now. If you give this a try, be sure to watch all the videos. I didn’t and couldn’t figure out why I couldn’t get the shed open on a wider project. Then I watched the videos again and saw the way to open a wider warp. No problems after that.
Here’s everything ready to go. I used a pillowcase for my temporary backstrap. See how portable it is? It would all easily fit into a bag (which I think is my next project). I may try the feet thing again after I get better. I like it better that way because you can sit anywhere and do it and don’t need to anchor it on anything else. I think it’ll be easier when I’m used to the movements and all.
This time I used Sinfonia that I bought at Hobby Lobby (Varigated Blues and Royal Blue) with a 40% coupon. Dan bought a skein and I bought a skein so we could use two coupons. Hey. Every little bit helps. lol. This yarn was easier to work with than the Peaches & Cream. It is a little thinner than what Laverne uses I think, so my backstrap ended up not being as wide, but it beats the pillowcase out of the ball park.
This time I decided to try anchoring to my dining room chair as suggested by a member of the Backstrap Forum at Weavolution.
Not an attractive picture, but I wanted you to see the full set up and how easy it is:
Once I got all set up and comfy, I finished the weaving of the backstrap in about an hour and a half. I had a hard time with the end warp threads loosening up so I’ll be more careful in the future. I’m really pleased though and I can see really getting addicted to this.
So I came across Laverne Waddington‘s Backstrap Weaving article on Weavezine. I’d wanted to give this a shot for some years now and she made it seem so simple, I had to try. Guess what. After spending bits and pieces of my day yesterday with dowels, cotton yarn and my dremel I produced my own loom!
I couldn’t find a convenient place to anchor the end not attached to me, so I added another dowel to that end, rolled it and put the rope around my feet. I like this way because I think it’s even more portable and I can sit on my sofa with me feet up on my coffee table.
After only a few minutes I, this is what I accomplished:
I think this would be a great way to teach kids to weave. Cheap and easy. I’m going to see if my nieces want to learn. After I finish this little practice strap, I’m going to weave my backstrap following Laverne’s pattern.
