Regular readers will already know that I've been learning to weave. My first couple of "plays" were on my rigid heddle loom (an Ashford 80cm), but over the past couple of weeks I picked up my 8 shaft loom from Rustic Forge Crafts, where Carol worked her magic on this twisted and rusty "thing" I didn't understand (the loom) and returned a perfectly aligned and functioning piece of textile equipment.

If you live anywhere near Bendigo (Victoria, Australia), you can't go past Carol when it comes to loom and spinning wheel repairs.

Back to my weaving...

Look, I made a sampler!

I'm teaching myself with an excellent book called "Learning to Weave" by Deborah Chandler and I highly recommend it to anyone else who wants to learn to weave. Weaving was a total mystery to me when I started (aside from a couple of inkle bands), and now I feel confident designing a simple project, reading drafts, and identifying what I can do better next time.

Finally, the website beyond all weaving websites if you're looking for weaving drafts to play with. Handweaving.net. View it and be gobsmacked! I'm currently downloading simple drafts suitable for a beginner so I can play with weaving some cushion covers. After playing around on my sampler I'm totally in love with twill checks at the moment, so I can see some tartan-like fabrics in my near future. Fun fun fun!

:-)