Studio Changes

by Penny Nelson September 2, 2012

The studio seemed to fill up completely at exactly the moment when I started moving looms and spinning wheels into it. Almost from the very beginning I’ve said all I need is just another 5 feet of length to the building to have enough room for everything. Or maybe 10 feet. Periodically I get bored with the arrangement and move everything around, but this spring we have made some real changes. I’ve happily re-homed my old Macomber loom

and that made plenty of space for my new-to-me Baby Macomber loom.

A few months ago I decided that the Cranbrook loom would have to go. I really wanted this loom for a long time and was so delighted when I finally found one. It’s a huge loom with a 6 foot weaving width and eight harnesses. It looks like a large loom on steroids. It’s beautiful but it takes up a huge amount of space. As long as I want to weave large rugs, the loom makes perfect sense, but I seem to be moving in another direction.

Since bigger is always better, it really surprises me that I’m eager to down-size. My new Saori loom has a weaving width of only 23 inches and as a counter balance loom is designed for plain weave only but it makes me very happy. I have two eight harness looms – the Baby Mac with a weaving width of 22 inches and the Gilmore with a weaving width of 40 inches. I think taken together that gives me all the harness and width options that I need to keep me happily weaving for some time. Not that I’m giving up the right to find and fall in love with some other loom.

I have now found a new home for my Cranbrook loom. It is going to a man in Sealy, TX just 15 miles down the road from me. Steve is totally excited about having the loom and I'm close enough to offer assistance as he learns how to use it. It's a win-win situation if there ever was one.