INTRODUCTION

Welcome! I am going to share on this site my journey in learning how to weave on a rigid heddle loom. I have been weaving on this loom for a year now. I have a Kromski 32" Rigid Heddle loom with stand. Kromski is the name of the manufacturer and this loom is made in Poland.  Over this past year I have taught myself how to weave on this loom and I still have a long way to go to learn all of the techniques and variations of weaving on this loom. All rigid heddle looms are basically the same - and weaving on one is really no different than weaving on any other rigid heddle (or RH) loom no matter the manufacturer. As you read this site you will have the benefit of learning what I have learned. You will hear about what to do - and what not to do - as well as resolving some of the minor problems that can arise for someone new to weaving starting out with a rigid heddle loom. What I am not going to do on this site is teach you step by step how to weave. There are some excellent books to teach you this and will do so much better than I. There are also some excellent videos that do this - some free and some you have to purchase or have a paid subscription to see. There are many free ones that help a great deal. As we go along I will share the books and videos that I find are most helpful. There are things that the books will only mention and there are things that the books don't go into at all. These are many and these are the things that over this past year I have had to find the answers to and get help with - and these things I will share with you. Think of this site as a supplemental resource.

I should share first just what a rigid heddle loom is. All looms have a heddle of one type or another. The heddle is what holds the yarn or thread that runs vertically on the loom from back to front. These threads pass through slots and holes in the heddle. The heddle makes it possible for the threads (or yarn) to open and close - each set - those in slots and those in holes - going up or down. Opening the threads creates an open which you will pass a shuttle through to bring more yarn (or thread) from one side to the other horizontally across the loom. This is the process of weaving. Alternating which set of threads goes up or down and passing that shuttle through back and forth each time "weaves" all of the yarn (or threads) together. This is the process of creating cloth from yarn or thread. All cloth is made this way - whether on a hand operated loom or a machine loom. The rigid heddle loom uses a one piece solid heddle. This heddle has both slots and holes - generally made of a plastic or composite. Traditional looms often use strings to create these slots and holes. Others use wires to do this. Traditional weaving looms have multiple "shafts" or sets of heddles that can go up and down independently from each other controlled by pedals or handles. The basic rigid heddle loom has one heddle. (Some rigid heddle manufacturers include or offer as an option, a way to use a second or even a third rigid heddle on the loom which make more complex weaving patterns possible and also allow the loom to weave wider than the length of the loom or a tube.)

So a rigid heddle loom is a loom with from one to three solidly constructed heddles. There are several manufacturers around the world that make and sell rigid heddle looms. The three most popular are Kromski, Schacht, and Ashford (listed in no particular order). All three companies have websites that will show you the various looms each makes in various sizes.

Introductions can be boring! My buying my loom is a story in itself and in two weeks you will read about that. I will have a new article every two weeks on Mondays at about 5:00 pm Eastern time.  I have a whole year of things to share so much of this will be written well in advance of its publication date and after that new experiences will keep this site going.

If you give this site a chance to get started you will see that it will be fun. I write to entertain as well as inform and I have written a great deal in my life - some of which has brought more than a few smiles.

I am looking forward to sharing all with you and I hope that you will come back every two weeks to travel this journey with me.

Oh yes, allow me to introduce you to my loom -