Comments | altivo: 'Tivo gets a new toy

altivo

'Tivo gets a new toy

Jan 19, 2006 22:20

For at least two years I have had my eye on a used loom that was on display at my neighbor's shop. The owner had moved to Texas and didn't have space for it, so left it here hoping to find a buyer. But the price was too high. Finally she dropped the price to where it was almost within reach. I checked around and asked the more experienced weavers I ( Read more... )

weaving

Comments 27

dunpokethebear January 19 2006, 21:01:06 UTC

Gawd,for some reason I laughed my ass off when I seen this post :P

altivo January 19 2006, 21:46:58 UTC

You have cars, I have weaving tools. That's all.

dunpokethebear January 19 2006, 22:06:45 UTC

omg,stop yur killing me :D

ya know what,actually thats great that you have something positive that you enjoy,so really I cant knock that.

I just try so very hard to picture you in Rl doing stuff like this....i just cant take it,it really makes me think alot ,lol

altivo January 20 2006, 04:33:10 UTC

Thinking is good for you. Keeps the brain from rotting, you know. ;p

Yes, I'm the only man in my spinning guild, but there are several others (all of them straight and married, too) in my weaving guild.

( ... )

nekura_ca January 19 2006, 22:15:06 UTC

Oh, that's very cool. I don't have a lot of time, or space for such hobbies, but all the different crafts that can be done with thread, and yarn, and even wire fascinates me. How a simple strand of material, with knots and loops and interweaving, can be turned into so many different items is so beautiful. I tried knitting, but the yarn kept slipping off the needles, crocheting was much easier, since it had a hook. My mom made some beautiful macrame pieces. I really like the mathematics of the patterns that can be formed with weaving, but I'm geeky that way. I like the spinning wheel too.

altivo January 20 2006, 03:55:28 UTC

The mathematical aspect is one of the attractions for me too. I love designing the pattern and working out how it will be made real on the loom. Using colors to produce subtle beauty is very satisfying too. I'll post a sample in my response to Pokey here.

heavens_steed January 19 2006, 23:20:42 UTC

Oooo, that looks nice. I hope you have fun with that :)

altivo January 20 2006, 03:53:40 UTC

I'll post some more photos of the first project as it moves along. It will be a South American outer garment called a ruana that is sort of a cross between a serape and a cape. The wider loom will let me weave the entire garment in one piece.

farhoug January 20 2006, 00:52:05 UTC

Yep, looks nice. ^^

That looks quite compact too, compared to the loom my mother had, that contraption could easily fill half a room. (And fill the house with the noise too. *grins*)
But I guess the size depends on the materials made with the loom, I'd think it's a bit harder to work on finer fabrics with big monster-sized ones. =)

altivo January 20 2006, 03:51:30 UTC

Weaving is still a big tradition in your part of the world, so I'm not surprised to hear you've been in contact with it. :) Here it is considered really exotic. "Why don't you just buy stuff?" is the usual response.

Yes, the loom makes music. I like to put something rhythmic on and whack right along to it. The work really moves along when you get a good rhythm going. I gave a demonstration a couple of years ago where we had seven people spinning the yarn and I wove it into a shawl in one day. It was great fun, and attracted a lot of curious watchers who had never seen a loom working. We proved the saying that it takes seven spinners to keep one weaver busy, too. I caught up with them several times and got to relax and wait while they produced more yarn for me to use.

farhoug January 20 2006, 04:29:12 UTC

Yep, and on these cold days I'm glad to have some good thick quality rugs on the floor too... I think I haven't yet seen any commercial ones being as good as the home made rugs.

There is that little difference on making that music, than trying to sleep while someone else is making it... *grins*
But I have to agree that working with a loom has its own fascination, even though it was ages ago when I tried that a bit, and didn't quite have the appreciation for that work back then.

The manufacturing of Norwood looms is handled by Toika, a local company, and the loom we had back at home was made by them too. Sturdy piece of work, though there was something nostalgic in the creaking and squeaking of the old loom, that someone in the family had made some 20-30 years ago before getting the new one. Heh, strange, all the little details that come back when memories are refreshed a bit. =)

altivo January 20 2006, 04:50:35 UTC

Yes, and Toika builds a good sturdy loom. A friend of mine has one of the "new" Norwoods. In fact, it is at the library right now because there is a weaving class running there this week and she's taking it. They all brought their looms in and are weaving away.

But Norwood itself was originally a small US company in Michigan, my home state. The American-made Norwood looms, built of Michigan cherry wood, are highly prized now. Perhaps this is because there will be no more of them made, but also because they are very well built and heavy. My partner does some custom wood working and has been hired to repair one of these cherry wood looms. The owners are willing to pay a good price to keep them in perfect condition.

songcoyote January 20 2006, 08:57:42 UTC

I had no idea you had such interest - and such skill!

My sweetie is a weaver herself, and has a gorgeous loom made of koa that is, very sadly, languishing in storage at present. I only hope it's still in good shape when we retrieve it (I have no idea when that might be).

A good friend of mine supplements her income with hand-woven shawls (much of the threads in which are hand-spun and/or hand-dyed as well) that go for a pretty penny. Rare wools, angora, etc. go in some of them.

Anyway, thanks for sharing your loom info. Have fun with it!

Light and laughter,
SongCoyote

altivo January 20 2006, 09:22:00 UTC

Actually making money by selling crafts of this sort is extremely difficult, I've found. I quit trying a long time ago. In general, Americans just have no appreciation for the difference between a unique design that is handcrafted with skill and any old thing you could buy at WalMart. Consequently, they expect to pay WalMart prices for handmade artistry.

It's as if there were no difference between an original oil painting and one of those black velvet knockoffs they sell at KMart or a cheap reproduction of one of Thomas Kinkade's millions of lookalike formula "art" pieces.

I'd love to see photos of your friend's work, if she has any online.