'Tivo gets a new toy

[altivo]

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 know, and they all agreed it was still too high. "Make her an offer," they said. So yesterday I finally called Texas and offered. The seller wasn't excited about the offer, but said she'd get back to me. I guess she made her own calls, I heard afterward from two people she had talked to. Then she called me back and accepted. I dropped off the check today, and made measurements. Now I have to figure out how to get it in the door of my house, but at least I do have a place to put it. This is an 8 shaft floor loom, 50 inch weaving width, made by Norwood back when they were in Michigan, and in excellent shape. It exceeds the width of my existing loom and is much sturdier. I already have several projects in mind for it.




(Click photo for larger view.) They don't make them like this any more. Norwood was sold out to a Finnish company that makes very good looms but only in native birch and without the solid feel of the old Norwood. I plan to make rugs and saddle blankets as well as outer garments for myself on this one. First project is already planned out, I was going to have to do it in two strips on my old loom, but it can be done all at once here. (Picture scanned from a 1993 advertisement, shows a 45 inch wide loom, slightly narrower than my new prize.)

I know this post is a bit out of character for some of you. But here's a glimpse of what really interests me. I should probably show my favorite spinning wheel some time too. :)

Edit: Oh, why not. Here's the spinning wheel too.

Comments

[pokeypony.livejournal.com]

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

[altivo.livejournal.com]

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

[pokeypony.livejournal.com]

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.livejournal.com]

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.

	Handwoven saddle blanket Woven in the taquete structure using two shades of tweed woolen yarn, as exhibited in my guild show in 2001. This took second prize in its category.
	Prize winning saddle blanket First in its category, 2001. Wool on a linen warp, taquete structure. The model is one of my Haflingers, Asher WKF. He's wearing an Australian saddle, which may look odd to some of you.

[nekura-ca.livejournal.com]

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.livejournal.com]

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.livejournal.com]

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

[altivo.livejournal.com]

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.livejournal.com]

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.livejournal.com]

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.livejournal.com]

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.livejournal.com]

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.livejournal.com]

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.livejournal.com]

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.

[drelonek.livejournal.com]

Looks neat. :P

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Only as long as there isn't a cat tangled in the warp. ;P

[drelonek.livejournal.com]

True, true..

[typographer.livejournal.com]

I checked around and asked the more experienced weavers I know, and they all agreed it was still too high

Heh. This reminded me of a good laugh I got while dropping Michael off at work recently. He works at a non-profit computer recycler/refurbisher. Someone had brought in a flier that they had found posted all over their neighborhood for a ten-year old PC and monitor "and working printer!" "Almost never used!" "Just like new!" -- they wanted $2400 for it.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

That kind of situation exactly. Now that I have all the documents and small pieces in my possession (the loom hasn't moved yet because it's so large) I can tell that the seller probably paid $3400 for this three years ago. Apparently the story is that her husband got transferred to Texas just weeks later, and they went to live in a small condo there. So she never used the loom at all, and has no room for it now. I can understand her feeling of disappointment, though as the shop owner says: "We buy as individuals at retail, and sell at wholesale." She got back less than half of her investment. Just like with cars, you get a better price buying from an individual. But she had chosen to buy from a large craft center that buys up used equipment and resells it at a profit.

Of course, a ten year old computer is really obsolete these days. Looms don't get outdated like that, since they are already centuries old technology. ;P

[pioneer11.livejournal.com]

Can I actually buy stuff you make or is this all just personal stuff?

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I haven't actually offered anything for sale in years. Mostly I give it away as gifts. Did you have anything in particular in mind? ;)

[pioneer11.livejournal.com]

Nah, its cool. We have this ancient weaved blanket I use on the
couch, since I get cold now being so ancient, and its worn thin.
However, there is this place at the local county fair that sells
them so I'm kinda looking forward to perusing for a new one
this summer. ^.^;

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Blankets are one of the things I can do now. I plan to try them. One of our guild members here is an expert on weaving wool blankets that are light, beautifully colored and patterned, and still nicely warm. Not only that, but she shares her "trade secrets" quite freely. I was talking to her about it just today.

How large is your woven blanket? Afghan or sleigh blanket size is not so difficult and doesn't take long. A full sized bed blanket for say a double bed is a BIG project and takes a lot of wool.

[(Anonymous)]

Wow! I'd love to have a loom that large, but no where to put it. I barely got room for tiny lap sized loom my mom gave me several years ago to try beadweaving on. I don't have much spare time with my writing and work to weave much of anything, but it is a nice thought.

Glad to see there's another into the hand craft artsy stuff like me.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Well, there's always knitting or crochet. They take up almost no space. :)

Weaving tends to expand to fill whole buildings if you don't ride herd on it all the time.

[cats-haven.livejournal.com]

That post, if you screen for anonymous, is from me. I didn't relaize I wasn't logged in.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Caught by LJ playing with the cookies eh? They got me twice yesterday.