I think it was in June, but may have been early July, a new Ashford Knitters Loom arrived, but just like a too-early guest to a party, I wasn’t quite ready for it; so I made it comfortable, expressed such happiness that it had come, and then promptly left it to attend to other things. July and August flew by and I hadn’t found the right time to warp it up, knowing very little about weaving, and even less about warping! But finally, on September 1st, I managed to warp the small loom, with the help of a very small instruction manual and warping peg that came with the loom. I found this “direct warping” method not at all difficult, quite genius in fact, but now I need to practice . . . lots of practice.

I chose this little 20″ folding rigid heddle loom because I think it is a good starting place to learn basic balanced plain weaving, and I am absolutely loving it, preferring color play to be the main focus rather than multiple shaft patterns. For that I think the rigid heddle loom is utterly perfect. Oh, and if you remember this post you’ll understand my colorway, and I’m using Venne Cottolin, and making a predictable first weaving of an Autumnal table runner… or something.

♣   Weaving Notes  ♣ 

• After choosing the colors, I adhered to a sequence, starting with gold, then blue, then green, then rust, across the warp, ending with gold which would frame the edges in the same color.
• In the same sequence I wove the weft upwards. If it were completely balanced weaving, there would be the same number of weft rows as warp threads, and the intersections of color would be square. But as I think it is more important to have squares than the same number of rows as threads, I wove up until the blocks were square, then changed color. 
• It is not yet finished, when I take it off it is pretty open and draping, so I guess being cotton-linen blend (cottolin) that it will shrink and the fabric will become a little more dense. I will probably just sew a hem on each end.
• Linen is rather stiff and scratchy until it is washed, and eventually softens, whereas cotton is instantly soft, and only gets softer, but the cottolin is a lovely blend of both, and I really love it! Linen is a very long strong fiber that is part of the “stalk” of the plant and processed from roots in the entire length,  whereas cotton is a very short and downy fiber, as it is the fluff in the seed pod of the plant, so you can understand why they are very different.
• This size is 22/2 very fine yarn actually, and it was woven with the smallest possible 12 dent reed, and still had airspace between the weft & warp. Once washed and dried I hope it comes together and is less open. Next I will attempt to weave with 8/2 cottolin. 
• I am learning that weaving yarns are very different from knitting yarns and especially so in the sizing standards, which I don’t know a thing about yet.