10/07/2010

#¤&@¤£# !!!

Why am I doing this??? And twice in a week, too...

I don't particularly like table looms. Then this thingy came my way, had 8 shafts and was cheap.




So I bought it, sight unseen. I mean, a loom is a loom, even if it is a table model, right?
I had very limited experience with metal heddles, but, thought I, a heddle is a heddle.
Then I wanted to test my new-to-me sample loom - and... soon found that I don't like (rather "hate") the heddles on this loom. They won't slide (except if I handle them one at a time), they tangle (how is still a mystery), the eyes are too small for all my heddle hooks...
So I wove one small narrow warp, and put it under a table.

Then came the guild's anniversary exhibitions, and we decided we needed a dog. The dog itself was made of hex mesh, but it also needed a tail. I decided to weave it a tail, on the Lillstina. (It also got vadmal ears, but they came from existing scraps)
I made a 5 cm-or-so warp, with 4 ends of steel wire (to shape the tail) and some rug warp. As the tail was only to be 20 cm-or-so, it was ok (sort of).



Again the loom was put under the table for a couple of years.
Next time it came out was for a "culture day".
This is me, weaving a shawl.



For that shawl, I really had to move some heddles. Couldn't figure out any way to do that in an even moderatlely efficient way, but got them moved.
- The shawl came out allright - a woollen stripe in the middle, wich created nice ruffles after wet finishing/fulling:



One-and-a-half year later, I needed some illustrations for an article. Did not want to try to warp the AVL with a meter-long warp, so out Lillstina came again. That was on Monday last.

But... apparently I have not had my share of, er, punishment? yet, 'cos as soon as that little warp was done, I decided to make another warp...

Dear readers - . How is one supposed to move heddles on a loom like this?!?
Fortunately, there was only one shaft (and fortunately, it was near the back) that needed more heddles. I had to pry the heddle bar out with a plier - and the only way I could figure out how to put on heddles was one-by-one... There is no way (that I can see) that the heddle frames can be taken out, and there is no way (that I can see) to put those new heddles on in a bunch. #¤&@¤£# !!!
Here it is, next-to-last shaft raised, heddle bars pried out of their holders.



(And it was a pain-in-my-thumbs to try to pry them back again... and no pliers big enough to use...)

4 comments:

Laura Fry said...

By cursing in both languages? I can only think that the designer is not a weaver. :( These looms are not the only ones with these sorts of issues....

Cheers,
Laura

Restless Knitter said...

Are those heddle bars round? I guess there's no way that the top of the castle comes off to remove the shafts? I think that loom would have a bad fate if I had it.

Kerstin på Spinnhuset said...

Yes, the heddle bars are round. They are also a bit rusted, but as I can't get them out there is no way I can de-rust them easily...

My Patchwork Katt said...

i have just been given a 4 harness table loom of the same maker (mine has legs tho)..
now mind you i have only just learned weaving and on a rigid heddle to boot.

its a lovely looking beastie but i cannot find any information on it..
could you suggest where i might look to find instructions etc. am not even sure about names of things on this. so i dont even really know what to ask!

any suggestions would be greatly appreciated from this total newbie!

thank you
RJ