My First Loom
When you get a group of weavers or spinners together, eventually the talk turns to the merits - and quirks! - of various types of looms and spinning wheels. Inevitably, someone will ask "how many do you have?" Sometimes, it comes as a bit of a competition: "Four spinning wheels? I have six!" Sometimes it's more of a commiseration "My husband says he's really tired of having three looms in the living room." I myself have several looms - each has a different optimal use and purpose.
But my first loom... My mother gave me my first loom. It was a jersey looper, sometimes called a "potholder loom." It took no time at all - less than a day - to use up the supply of cotton knit loops that came with the loom. The dime store had bags of loops for sale, but my small allowance did not stretch far enough to cover that expense. So my mother pulled some yarn from her stash and showed me how to use that instead of loops for my weaving. Safety tip: do not make potholders out of acrylic yarn! (Ask me how I know.)
These looms disappeared from the market for awhile, but now they're back in the craft stores. On a nostalgic impulse, I picked one up. The modern version I got was inferior in some ways to my childhood loom. It's plastic, not metal, for one thing. Also my old loom had longer notched pegs on one side to raise and lower the shed. The loops that came with the loom are nylon jersey - also not a good idea for potholders!
Still, I could make a nice little color gamp from the supplied loops. I'm thinking maybe a coaster.
