These aren’t accessories sold by Kromski, the maker of my largest rigid heddle loom, but those I’ve found helpful when weaving on my wide rigid heddle loom. It turns out that the challenges offered by a super-wide loom are a little different, and the habits I’d developed when using my smaller looms didn’t necessarily translate.
When warping my Cricket or Sampleit looms, I typically used a standard spool holder, or, occasionally, a deep metal mixing bowl. For smaller, quicker warps these solutions were not ideal, but worked adequately.
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Once you begin to use your loom regularly, you’ll probably discover that you need various ways of storing your tools, and the bits and pieces you reach for each time you sit down to work.
Here are a few ways I keep my own weaving tools organized.
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Quite a while ago, I made a bag for a little loom for a dear relative who wanted to play around with weaving.
It was quick and easy to make up, and allowed for simple storage for a project that was only going to be picked up occasionally.
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I haven’t proven to be much of a natural at getting a good feel for selvedges, so it’s been important that I take the path to Carnegie Hall approach to learning. (Practice, practice, practice!)
But I like a little variety in my projects, so when I determined that I’d make a batch of mufflers, I decided that I wanted to experiment with texture and differing thicknesses of yarns. I bought a variable reed for my Cricket.
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This is a portion of the first piece I wove on my own. It’s a great example of the way in which a very simple, beginning-weaver project, can turn into more than the sum of its origins!
The fibers are just craft store crochet yarns, woven in alternating stripes, on what was then my brand-new Cricket loom.
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Plain weave isn’t usually very exciting by itself, but learning to do it well is an essential for rigid heddle learners. A clever way to make beginner projects more interesting is to choose a variegated yarn in colors you love.
This cowl wasn’t the first thing I wove on my Cricket, but it might have been, as it’s so simple to make that anyone can do it. It’s just a rectangle of cloth, but I love how the variegated yarn makes it look so much spiffier than a solid color plain weave!
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When I first started weaving on my little loom, I was vexed because there was no good place for me to set tools where they would be accessible. Then I saw the Wolf Trap on the Schacht website and knew I had the answer. The problem was that Schacht doesn’t make a similar apron/sling for the Cricket. Naturally, I made my own.
Here’s what my finished sling looks like on my 15-inch Cricket loom:
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