Our younger daughter made a vertical warp weighted loom from saplings in our backyard, when she was working from our house for seven weeks last summer. This is what occupied her spare time while here.
The maple saplings she used were volunteers that needed to be cleared away, and she promised to remove them as a help to us. When doing so, she saw such possibilities in them! The loom was the result, as you can see in the step by step photos below. You can also see the baskets she made from the bark that she immediately peeled from the young trees after felling them. The wood under the bark was smooth and beautiful.
There are no screws in the entire loom and it only cost her $6 for the 1/2″ drill bit she bought in order to do it. After she cut down the saplings and stripped the bark, she carved pieces and tools, macraméd rounded rocks for the weights, lashed it all together, and strung it up.
It is now in her apartment, and this fall she’s woven over twelve inches with fine cotton. I got to see it when I picked her up for Thanksgiving. She’s practicing for her ultimate goal of weaving linen.
I just love the ingenuity and patient, unfolding vision represented in this project! She is quite the artificer– which is a new word she’s taught me, which means a skilled craftsman merged with artist and inventor!
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7 Comments
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The acorn not falling far from the tree. ❤️
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Wow! Sharing!
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I LOVE that! So cool. I bought a Schacht 15″ rigid heddle loom last winter, and am currently weaving 100% cotton dish towels. I am giving a couple of them for gifts…everyone can use a new dish towel, right? I bought a couple of skeins of linen blend too, but they are a lot more expensive. Do you mind if I share this post with my shepherdess friend? Normally she does a fiber day at her farm twice a year where people come and work on their projects, but the last 2 have been cancelled. She is collecting and sharing “pandemic projects” instead.
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Author
Sure! And she is welcome to share the link too!
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Oh, that is so cool and so beautiful.
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Amazing, Polly! A wonderful example of seeing the possibilities…creativity at its best. Please congratulate Laura on her ingenuity and vision!
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Ah…the Art of Divine Mind, Creative Soul and Idea,
Expressed from Conception to Product
As one Whole Unit of Completeness and Beauty.
