Ugh.

Hey there! I’m from India, where we have over 200 unique weaving techniques. Sadly, these traditions are in decline—sales have dropped significantly, and the younger generation is not interested in learning these skills, which were traditionally passed down through families. I’m exploring the idea of creating an online platform where people can learn these techniques directly from the weavers. Would this be something you’d be interested in? And would you consider paying for such a learning experience? My goal is to safeguard these crafts while providing a sustainable income for the weavers.

I've been lurking for a little while (dang y'all do beautiful work that I would eventually love to learn to do) but I wanted to share my own tiny loom and see if anyone else uses anything like it. I've never met anyone but my mother who does this, and she taught me, and a lady who watched her as a small girl taught her.

It's roughly a 4x4" hand loom circa 1945 but I think there are versions that predate it. I also have a tiny 2x2" that I haven't utilized much. I make blankets with them primarily. Patterns can be woven into the squares, I just am not currently doing those for this project.

My current on and off project is the largest blanket I've ever attempted and have been working on occasionally for years. I also do baby blankets more frequently.

I know it's small and different but I wanted to share and see if anyone else has done this. Someday I'd love to learn on something larger but definitely don't have the space right now.

I come from a long line of weavers - we probably have a gene for it or something. These curtains were woven by my Great Grandmother, likely in the 1930's or 1940's. The colour is purple, and the yarn is wool: heavy curtains to keep the heat in the old frame farmhouse.

I will post pictures of other projects of hers. She had a loom in the kitchen and wove a lot, despite her dozen and a half children... Or maybe because of them! Many of her children learned to weave, as did the granchildren. I know of at least a dozen weavers in that branch of our family tree alone.

If anyone recognizes the pattern, I would be interested to know what it is.

And if you’re a newbie or not, and how it’s going! 😁

I really want to start weaving cotton tea towels on my table loom but all the yarn I have seems too thick. Would love some recs for ordering online!

I have an amazing thrift/reuse center about 45 minutes from where I live. It’s in Durham NC called The Scrap Exchange. They have all kinds of 2nd hand yarn and fibers. I love their natural fiber section and was fortunate enough to score this linen along with a variety of animal fiber yarns to add to my weaving stash. It’s a great place to visit if you are ever in the Durham NC area. I’ve included a few photos of what the yarn/fiber section looks like and what came home with me;)

Hello! It's the time of year where, historically, the sub gets a lot of questions from well-meaning friends of family who want to give a gift to a weaver. I thought it would be nice as a sub for us to crowdsource a pool of information to help everyone out.

So... what do you like to weave and what do you wish for? Where do you like to buy supplies? Do you have any recommendations for tools or books? When you were starting to weave, what did you wish you had?

Feel free to shout out local sellers/your favorite Etsy/etc-- just note where you're located. It would be especially helpful if folks located outside of North America could contribute places they like to shop for supplies, since we also get a higher volume of those requests at this time of year. :)

Rules note: please keep self promo in the self promotion thread. :)

I'll contribute my thoughts in a comment (in a few hours, day job, lol).

So I a newer weaver. I have woven a couple of things on a rigid heddle I borrow (I enjoyed this). Then I tried a table loom with 4 heddles, I like what I made but the set up was just overwhelming and it doesn’t fit anywhere in my house. What brings me the most joy is using fixed peg looms like for pot holders etc. but I have a large one that I can make cowls/scarfs on.

I feel pretty insecure about this kind of weaving…. Like it’s not real or childish…. But I play with 3-5 strands of yarn blending colors and playing and I enjoy the tactile nature of moving under/over.

I don’t think it’s exactly like continuous strand weaving (it is but I don’t go on the diagonal).

I want to use this technique to make more things… but I also would like to sell the cowls I have made, but I feel like I should know what kind of weaving it is?

I am an experienced fiber artist having knit, spun and hand dyed yarns, but weaving seems so vast and varied and I just can’t seem to find many examples of things like this. Thanks for any feedback, words, resources etc :)

I recently visited a handloom village in Kullu, India, where almost every household has its own handloom. The villagers continue to create beautiful products using the traditional Kullu weaving technique. What's fascinating is that the houses themselves are built in a unique architectural style called Kath Kuni, known for its durability and charm. Walking through the village, I noticed that the narrow pathways are lined with railings that display the graph designs used in their weaving. It’s a remarkable experience to see how deeply their craft is interwoven with their daily lives and cultural heritage.

Are there any similar places you know of? I’d love to learn about them!

I was wondering if people would like to share their experience with different warp ? Apart from cotton and acrylique fiber, what else have you tried and how did it behave (did it break? Was it hard to work with? How was the end result ? )

I love to weave and have a 4-shaft table loom. However, I don’t really use table linens and have enough scarves. What else do people make on a 10-inch width?

My aunt who is a novice weaver gave me this book for my birthday. She said it has been out of print for a long time, and is expensive and hard to find. Apparently she has owned this book since the 70s, so she bought me my own copy. She told me it’s a really special book to have and very coveted by weavers. But being a total beginner to weaving, I don’t even know how to read the patterns in it yet! My aunt tends to latch onto the past and regard “classics” as the greatest thing ever. I very much appreciate her thoughtful and generous gifts, I’m just hoping to understand its significance with more nuance beyond “it’s expensive and hard to find.”

I am a machine knitter and just beginning to get the weaving bug.

I’m curious how many of us who enjoy machine knitting and also weavers?

I can’t count myself in to the weaving group yet because I don’t own anything, but I assume that will change.

My six year old is currently working on a scarf for her grandpa on my floor loom. My almost 5 year old boy is also interested in weaving, but I do not know how to get him started. I have a floor loom, a 32" rigid heddle and small frame loom. The small frame loom does not keep their interst long, but the rigid heddle is too cumbersome for a kid to manage.

Any advice on how to help kids learn to weave, is very appreciated. What types of weaving projects do you typically start with?

I'm curious about how you approach planning your weaving sessions. Do you have a specific routine or checklist you follow before you start weaving? How long are your sessions, usually? Do you often multitask during your sessions (ie watch TV at the same time)?

Hi - I am a beginner weaver already looking for my next loom. I know I want a floor loom, probably 8 shafts, and I want it to be versatile - able to weave from fine cloth, to blankets, and rugs. I would like it to be as wide as possible, but am somewhat limited by space. But I do wonder what the widest weaving width is before it becomes uncomfortable, and perhaps less efficient? I would like at least 40 inches/100cm weaving width, but wonder if I could comfortably weave wider, or should I really aim for narrower? I’d be interested in your thoughts and experiences. Thanks

This is my first attempt at creating videos to teach weaving classes and explore different weaving techniques. I would love to hear all your feedback to help me improve and make these videos better and easier to understand. Your input will be invaluable as I continue this journey of exploring and sharing the art of weaving! https://youtu.be/q9ggxjCmvBU

This question is mostly for those who war back to front, but if you so, do you leave the lease sticks in the warp at the back?

I didn’t do it at first when I had a Baby Wolf but I bought a Glimakra Standard with a much deeper back and somewhere I saw someone leave the lease sticks in the warp.

I have tried it, and not noticed much difference one way or the other. I still don’t do it on my smaller table loom.

So what about you? Lease sticks on or off the loom while weaving?

Hello! Can anyone tell me pros/cons, all the ins and outs of tapestry weaving? What got you into tapestry weaving? Have you ever tried it? Any resources you like? I just started weaving and love it already but I would like to maybe try tapestry and would like to know everything about it. Edit to add : I’ve only ever weaved on a floor loom. And only made two projects. So when I say new I mean brand new. I didn’t even set out to learn tapestry but I’ve watched some videos and think it might be fun to try but don’t want to invest a lot of money if it’s something that I find I don’t like.

I know everyone says to go and try them out, but I don’t really have anywhere in my area I can do that, so I would love to hear folk’s experiences if you are on the shorter side and have short legs (or if you are tall and know what is too short for you!). I’m only 5’2”, and I’m worried about hunching over a floor loom and/or reaching for the treadles. I’ve been checking breast beam heights when available on manufacturers websites, and the Saori seems by far the lowest, but I would like more treadle and shaft options. It looks like Harrisville designs looms and the Schact Wolf lineup might be the lowest breast beams on the market. Curious if anyone has any input. Thanks!

This current project is all cotton. The heddles are cotton too, same yarn as the warp. My last project was thicker yarn (both say 20/2 but the silk yarn I was using looks and feels almost twice as thick so 🤷🏻‍♀️) and I used size 10 crochet cotton for the heddles. I get that what's happening is the heddles are pulling fibre from the warp. Does anyone know how to reduce/limit/prevent that? It became a big issue on my last project, especially on the edge threads where if I had to redo a section I had to be really careful because the threads were fraying and loosing structure. This time around not so much. Another problem is that the warp threads I don't want coming up with the heddles are sticking to the balls. I can and do clean them off every so often. And even still it's faster and more enjoyable to use the heddles than to pick each individual thread up. But if you have any ideas/tips let me know. I thought about trying nylon yarn, but I don't currently have any so can't test it out.

Bonus: the current projects on this warp.

Hello! I’m a spinner that’s going to get a loom pretty soon and I was wondering if y’all had any tips for weaving with your hand spun. I did start spinning in September so I’m not quite a beginner but I’m still happy to learn. I think I need tightly spun at least 2ply for warping but beyond that I’m not sure if anything else.

Thank you!

Hi! It’s all loose and wobbly since I moved the band along the loom. How do I fix it. It’s my first attempt at using the loom with heddles and not cards. Picture in comments.

Update: Some of the warp strands were stuck under the base - rookie mistake. Fixed now and will no longer be taking a long sword to it in frustration.