Life is getting back to normal. Yesterday I started cleaning up my 'new' 2 harness Newcomb Studio Loom. I love, love, love, Newcomb Looms!
It is being squeezed into the little room that already holds my 4 harness Newcomb Studio Art Loom. I call them my twins.
Still have a little work to do on the new addition. Poor loom had sat in an inadequate shed for many years. Animals chewed on the wood, and cats did what cats do on other parts of it. It still has a nice long warp on it that seems to be dusty, but in good shape. I'll salvage as much of it as I can. After buying some new cords she should be ready to weave. It is so exciting to see these old looms come to life again. This one even came with the original spool rack - a little red (and rusty) piece of history.
There is actually a story that goes with this loom. I bought it from the granddaughter of the original owner. She could remember weaving on it as a child when her family visited her grandmother. When the grandmother passed away, the family gave the loom to the granddaughter. As life often goes, as much as she wanted to learn to weave, small children, and other obligations kept her from getting to the loom. She felt badly that it was just sitting in the shed, starting to rust, and so sold it. She also gave me bins, and bins of her grandmother's prepared strips of rags. I cherish these balls of vintage fabric. They weave up into classic, thin, rag rugs that will wash in a domestic washing machine very well.
When I went to look at the loom I was devastated to see that the breast beam was missing. The woman selling the loom was mystified, too, and said maybe it had been missing when she got the loom. We negotiated a new price, and I sadly tried to think how in the world I would come up with a sturdy enough breast beam without spending a fortune. I spoke with a local woodworker. I went to the lumber yard and bought a 'test' piece of spruce. The very next day after buying the spruce, the seller of the loom called me to say that she had found the beam in another shed! She actually came to drop it off at my house, and I gave her the rug that her grandmother had last woven on the loom. The rug was still on the loom when I bought it, but had been badly damaged by cats' claws. I had washed it, taken it apart, and re-wove it for her son. There had been two other rugs on the loom, too, protected by the last one - these she took for her daughter, and herself/husband. So everyone got a 'new' rug from their deceased grandmother/great grandmother. I also told the lady that she could come and weave on her grandmother's loom anytime after I got it set up.
I have been restricted from weaving rugs since my surgery - only one more week to go, and I will be back at my looms. I have tried to be good about not lifting over ten pounds, but that all went to hades in a hand-basket about a week ago when we bought a new refrigerator. Looms aren't too light to move around, either, but I've been pretty careful - don't want to go through that again : )
Now I am off to help out with the grand kids for two weeks. Enjoy FALL!!!! Time to get the lettuce in the ground. Salad! Yummm.
