Not So Rigid Weaver

Musings on weaving on a Rigid Heddle Loom and beyond

Posts

Beginner Rigid Heddle Weaving Project Ideas

These projects are all great ways to make useful items and experiment, when you’re first learning or learning a new technique. They can all be made with worsted or DK weight yarns with a 7.5 or 8 dent heddle.

Weaving suppliers in Canada

This post helps you sort though the haystack of Canadian yarn stores to find the ones that sell weaving specific supplies.

Dealing with hanks of yarn

The first time I tried to use a hank of yarn, I didn't realize that they need some special attention, just started pulling, and quickly ended up with a tangled mess that I spent the next 3 evenings untangling and winding into a ball.

My First Few Projects

If you're looking to see what a beginner can do, or get some inspiration for your own beginner projects, you're in the right place! These are definitely not the prettiest things I'll ever weave, but this is where I started!

Books for beginners and beyond

This post is a listing of weaving books I've read with some description to help you decided if it might be right for you. I've seen a lot of places that have lists of books, but they often don't have much context for when you might choose one over the other.

Why a rigid heddle loom might be a great fit for your lifestyle

Rigid heddle looms are fantastic little looms that can fit into a wider range of lifestyles than larger looms, and, they can enable may fit your lifestyle better than a multi-shaft loom, instead of or in addition to a larger loom.

Why you (probably) shouldn't buy the biggest loom

Rigid heddle looms come in a variety of sizes, from 8” or even smaller to 48”. Some people are tempted when buying a loom to buy the biggest one they can find, so that they can weave anything. But my advice would be to find something large enough to keep you interested, but small enough to fit your life.

What size of loom do I need to weave ___?

When I was deciding on a loom, I found it was hard to figure out what size of loom I needed to weave the kinds of things I was interested in - 16” seemed big enough for placemats, but some sources suggested at least 20”. So I looked up a bunch of patterns and came up with this list of common weaving widths, aka, the size of loom you need to make the item.