Spinning Yarn And Weaving Tales Part 1

By Jeff Young

This is a tale with two beginnings.

The first one is the most recent.ч  It started several weeks ago.ч  I am the Activity Director at my local nursing home and one of our most beloved activities is Crochet Club.ч  These women learned to crochet on their mother"s or grandmother"s lap, or taught themselves as a child.ч  We have over 250 years of combined experience.ч  But age has taken its toll and left its mark and we struggle a little more every day.ч  Some of us struggle a little, or a lot, more than others, and some of us just plain don"t get it.ч  But we try and that"s what"s important.

So it was suggested that we weave.ч  And thus we come to the first beginning of this tale.ч  We have tried our hands at weaving before, we have used foam strips to make placemats, and we have made loop pot holders, or used this odd net looking material to make holiday dз©cor, all with the same sad results.ч  So it was suggested we try a loom.

A loom.ч  I knew looms.ч  It was the same basic principle as the foam strip weaving we had done, only the strings are pulled tight across the ends of the loom and you would get just as lost figuring out if you"re under this sting or over that one and we would end up again with the same sad results.

No, it was suggested, a real working loom, a real loom for weaving.ч  Well, I knew looms. ч They are huge, complicated machines that take a lifetime to learn to use.ч  And did I mention they were huge and we just don"t have a spare room for a loom.

So I started looking around.ч  I did an internet search and found a do-it-yourself, at home, with common household tools, wooden tabletop loom kit from out in Oregon.ч  I was sold.ч  How hard could it be?ч  You throw it together, you string it up, you toss the shuttle thingy back and forth, move the other thingy and the other thingy and you"re weaving.ч  And PRESTO you have a sweater or a scarf or a table runner or a whatever it is useful household item to show your friends and family and you never had to worry about whether you are over this string or under it.ч  The loom took care of it.

So I ordered it.ч  We made a big to do about it.ч  We got the ladies talking; we tracked our shipment online as it left the workshop and made it step-by-step along the old Oregon Trail.ч  Our very own loom, lovingly made by skilled artisan woodworkers was on its way to us. And when it arrived there was snow on the ground and it was bitter cold, the winds had been driving the temperature down all week.ч  It was another one of those countless forgettable days of winter when the blahs had settled in and staying in bed all day was the preferred activity. ч But our loom had arrived.

We broke open the box, fished out the instructions, spent the next 30 minutes hunting for our useful household screwdriver, and set to work assembling our loom.ч  One-by-one, the curiosity of residents and staff alike was peaked and they drifted in to watch as I assembled the loom.ч  I have assembled furniture before, even other kits requiring the limited use of household tools.ч  I was confident I knew what I was doing.ч  I just should have sorted the screws by size when I started, but otherwise it only took an hour and a half.ч  While the directions were competent, they were clearly written for someone who knew what he was doing.ч  But we got it together without cursing or injury and we had our very own loom, a real working loom, a finely crafted, solid wood, well-built loom.

I was amazed at how many people knew what it was just by looking at it, and how many didn"t.ч  The most common question:ч  "What are you going to do with it?"ч  What, indeed?ч  We are going to weave, I told them.ч  We are going to learn to weave.ч  And that was that.ч  I carried the loom contraption back to the office for overnight storage.ч  I got looks of bemused amazement from on-lookers as we passed by.ч  Something new was in the air.ч  Something exciting was about to begin and everyone could feel it.

As I turned out the lights to go home that night, I looked back at the loom, perched on its new rolling table, I knew we were indeed beginning a new journey and here we come to the end of the first beginning of this tale.

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