PARDON ME DO YOU WEAVE? Part One.

I went on a fiber adventure yesterday with a friend. We went to look at some Jacob fleeces a shepherdess about 30 minutes from us had from this years shearing. For those who don't know Jacob it is a breed of sheep. And the actual trip to buy these fleeces and the animals they come from is yet another blog post to come. But on the way over we stopped at a local Dutch Brothers coffee for some cooling Frappuccino's . As is the custom at Dutch Bros. the gal getting our drinks inquired how our day was going. So we shared that we were on a fiber adventure to purchase sheep fleece to weave. Of course we would weave it after we spun the fiber up on our spinning wheels. You are going to do what to get what to do what? Pretty much covered what she said about what we do. 

I have found it not unusual that folks either have no clue what spinning and weaving are or can't understand why in the name of everything sane would one go to all the trouble to undertake a process that one can go to the mall and buy and wear "instant gratification". Remember that phrase there will be an analogy latter.  

 The loom to the left is my newest addition to my weaving tools. This is the fourth loom I have owned and I have two others currently. This is a JL Hammett counter balance loom . There are many types of looms and they are distinguished by how they look, how they operate and what they are used for. This loom is considered a floor loom*.

 

Physically, there are several different types of looms that range in size and features:

Floor Loom* - Floor looms are best used for producing longer lengths of fabric, for production work, designs that are more complex and for carpets and rugs. The loom must be solid and stable without being excessively heavy. Three different types of floor looms are: Jack, Counterbalance, and Countermarch.

Table Looms - These smaller, less expensive, portable looms are usually jack looms. Sometimes they have springs under the shafts to hold them down. Table looms are good for learning as they are portable enough to put into a car or even on a plane to take to a workshop.

Rigid Heddle - provide the equivalent of two-shaft weaving and can be adapted to behave as a four shaft loom by adding a second heddle set.

Tapestry Frame Loom - The tapestry frame loom is the most simple form for a weaving loom. The Navajo loom would be considered a frame loom.

Back strap loom - A simple loom comprising two sticks between which the warps are stretched. One bar is attached to a fixed object and the other to the weaver usually by means of a strap around the back.

 The above descriptions and photos were found on The Woolery at woolery.com  just in case you get the weaving bug or other fiber art bug. 

And if any of you enjoy the inter workings of things here is a more detailed description. Remember that a jack loom works in a different manner the the counter balance and counter march. 

Stay tuned for part two . Where we will find out what is the difference in how the floor looms work.

HOME AGAIN JIGGITY JIG PART 2.

Another road. Life is full of them and yesterday I took a side trip to deliver the three wethers to their new home. That is worthy of a blog entry for another time in itself. But it took the starch  out of me. After a fast three day trip to Fresno and then the unloading of loom (another blog entry in the future) plus the boys trip to new home I was pooped! 
So here I am today trying to make up for an empty promise. That part two of the Fresno trip would be up for your viewing pleasure.  The road above is the road to my hay man's place in Fresno county "the golden west side" as we lovingly call the great agricultural expanse west of Hwy 99 .

"Hey it is hay" pun intended. This lovely field is one of many that my hay man Brett grows in his alfalfa operation. It is a second year field and we have had three loads (two last year and one this year) from it. All cuttings were lovely and the dairy quality test* hay we got earlier this summer was from this field. The load I picked up on this trip was from another equally nice field in a different location. 

  
 Loved the fact that Brett was flying our flags in his yard and asked for permission to take a photo to share on my blog. Wouldn't it be great if more people did the same thing? 

Hay picked up 25 bales on that day and another 35 are in storage on his property for me to pick up in October before autumn kicks in with some wet weather. Hauling and then unloading in the rain  is no fun!

Next stop was the studio / warehouse of my friends where I am lucky to have the chance to purchase this loom.  And she is a beauty! First off allow me to credit this photo to Sheep and Shepherd blog. My loom is identical to the one in the photo but mine is completely 

 

unassembled. It is a 45 inch weaving width 1946 JL Hammett counter balance rug loom . The counter balance is in reference to the way the harnessses (shafts) which contain the heddles work. Another post of its own is loom anatomy. The photo below is my loom. Use your imagination please. I am very sure it will be quite lovely once it is put together and dressed. Which is weaver for having a warp on it and then let the weaving commence!

 Time to put some home made sour dough bread into the oven. I am planning on getting in a few post here between cheese and soap making in the coming week. Also working on getting my live feed on visitors back up as it went south yesterday. I love to see where everyone is viewing our post are from. So check back soon.

PS Ah late to the party. I forgot about the asterisk above in the hay portion of my post. *look for the post about hay Heading Out Again for the explanation about test hay.