Things have been quiet in the studio the past month or so, between the winter blahs, and waiting for a reed to arrive. One evening I was thinking the seine twine heddles on the drawloom were a bit too heavy for the dense sett, and the next morning I had a note from another weaver saying she had experienced the same thing and perhaps I needed to make them from something a bit finer.  I would need to order a bit finer seine twine.

While on the computer looking up seine twine sizes, I decided to look at the GlimakraUSA used loom page. Not long after I first learned to weave (1981) I’d seen a Glimakra catalog and decided someday I would have a Glimakra Regina (vertical) tapestry/rug loom. A few years later they stopped production of that loom. I was so disappointed but thought perhaps someday I would find one.

I’ve been watching used loom lists for years, but that loom seems to be somewhat rare here and they were always far away and would cost hundreds more for shipping, so I kept waiting and hoping.

The day I looked again, there were a couple for sale, one in AZ, another further away. Going down the list there was another,… an HOUR away from my home, and looking at the email address realized it was Carol, one of our guild members.  Picking up the phone, I called her right away, asked questions, and agreed to buy it.

A few days ago I drove over and we were able to load all the pieces up into my car.

On the front seat was the box holding the treadles, ratchets, wedges, and instructions for both loom assembly and warping.  The loom is 60″ wide and has 3 sets of treadles.

The loom had a few extra parts, as Carol had had a woodworker make extra shafts and treadles so the loom could be used as a 4 shaft loom.  They will be useful in the future, but to start I’ll be using the loom’s original two shafts.

On Saturday, with Char’s help, the loom was assembled. My preference for reeds is stainless steel reeds, the reed that came with the loom wasn’t, so on Sunday, I was back online ordering a new 8 dent 60″ 8 stainless steel reed from Gowdey Reed Company in Rhode Island.  I’ve ordered from them before and their reeds are well-made and strong.

Needless to say, I’m excited to finally have this loom and very excited about the possibilities!  And Carol is VERY happy the loom was going to my home studio.

Now, I need to decide between starting with a tapestry sampler or a Scandinavian style Rana, and get warp and weft ordered.  Since I am starting a tapestry diary on the Glimakra “Sara” loom, and have a tabletop Schacht in reserve for starting to learn tapestry techniques, the thought of weaving a Rana is highly likely. Examples of Ranas may be found in “43 vavar av En enda varp” by Leena Svensson; “En annan bild av Lappland” by Doris Wiklund; and “Old Swedish Weavings from North to South” also by Doris Wiklund.

Carol and I are also going to partner up and be our own weaving study group as our area guild members prefer social meetings only. We’re exchanging emails detailing our weaving interests to find topics we would both want to learn and spend time on. More to look forward to!

Now, down to work in the studio, so I can get back to sharing photos of weaving!