a tangled web i weave

last week i took a weaving class with margaret at the midwest fiber & folk fair. it's the first time i think i've paid money for a fiber arts class; taught myself knitting and crocheting from library books, but weaving i just could not wrap my head around with the dizzying array of terms. i had no interest in it, frankly, until i read this post on the blog of one of my favorite knitting authors.

after the easier-than-i-thought lesson on stringing the portable looms they had for us, we got to weave. and after only an hour, i had this.

it might not look like much - look beyond the imperfections and consider the possibilities ...

as ms. mcphee put it, "It's just so easy, and ... fast.. and it uses up a lot of yarn quickly... really quickly - I mean, I used up that whole ball of sock yarn in a couple of hours and Knitting, you have to admit it, you and I have never been able to get it together for a "quickie". I'm not saying that's wrong, I mean, there are other things that we have, things that are more important than speed. We have intimacy, and history and ... well, I'm not going to pretend that there haven't been problems. "

before i knew it, my friend and i were both going home with our own portable table looms. now, these are not the looms of lore that take up rooms and play like organs with their armies of foot pedals. this is just a simple table loom, a schacht flip rigid heddle for those in the know. the "rigid heddle" part of it refers to the plastic reed that helps keep all the fibers the same width apart and makes it easier for beginner weavers to get addicted to the craft.


and addicted i am.

these are dishcloths i've woven with knitpicks cotlin. what a perfect way to use up those cottons i once got in hopes of knitting dishcloths, but never got around to because cotton is no fun to knit with.

part of the appeal is that i feel like i'm helping to keep alive a dying art. there are no weaving stores nearby, and some of the basic/fundamental books on learning to weave aren't even on amazon! (just imagine, i had to pay shipping on a new book :)) so does anyone know any weavers? DH's grandmother used to weave, but where are the modern day mothers and grandmothers who weave?