Day 41: Welcome, loom

Yesterday was the holiday potluck and show-and-tell for the Cuyahoga Weavers Guild. Knowing that I would find out whether or not I could adopt Sally Jane’s sweet little loom helped me put aside my multi-layered loathing of the potluck tradition and attend. I even made a rustic apple tart, thanks to Andy playing pastry chef in the morning. What do I find so off-putting about the food processor that I can’t make a pie crust? Maybe it’s the motor, I don’t know.

Almost as soon as I got there (okay, before I even walked on the door), I was on high alert. The reason I didn’t know whether or not I would get the loom is that someone else was ahead of me in line for adoption. Ele’s been in the guild for decades and knew Sally Jane, the loom’s original owner, so she had completely legitimate first dibs. Fortunately, the idea of her wanting the loom had just been a complete misunderstanding. She hadn’t ever wanted it, and I was standing about a foot away when I heard her say so. I immediately jumped in with my offer to buy the loom. I didn’t even need to know the price. I knew the price would be totally fair, a fantastic deal even, and it was. Sold, American!

The loom is a 26″ 4-harness Brown, perfect for small projects and portable enough to take to a workshop. Brown looms aren’t made anymore, alas, because Mr. Brown went to the great woodworking shop in the sky (why yes, it is adjacent to the great weaving workshop in the sky, how did you know?). It’s made of natural maple with a finish as smooth as glass. The loom is in perfect condition, of course. She came with a bench (the bench! so lovely!), also in unstained glass-smooth maple, and four reeds, which for you non-weavers are the comb-shaped bit that the long warp threads pass through to keep them all an even distance apart while you weave.

Brown looms are special not just for their rarity but because of the amazing design. I’ll tell you more about the history another time, but suffice to say Mr. Brown was an engineer who was married to a master weaver, and these babies have a positively genius design. I spent a good while last night just running my hands over the smooth wood and exclaiming over the many wonderful details, not the least of which is a clever little built-in box tucked at the lower rear portion of the castle. Perfect size for storing shuttles or heddles or bobbins or whatever. Genius.

Another guild member is going to show me the attachments she has on her Brown for a lamp, scissors and something else, and the cart she uses for moving it. I’m hoping I can charm Andy into building me some gadgets.

I never met Sally Jane, but I hear she was a very cool lady, which does not surprise me because the happy weaving love mojo is just coming off this loom in waves. The loom is already dressed, wearing a shiny turquoise chenille warp that has a good yard woven already. And now I’m dashing off to get some more chenille to weave it off! Have a great day, y’all!