Saw a post today from a new weaver trying to use a project woven on a shaft loom and using their rigid heddle loom. And running into all sorts of problems.
I get that rigid heddle looms are less expensive and that you *can* do 'anything' with them. The problem is when you don't know enough about weaving in the first place, and then try to do something with a piece of equipment that is going to need you to understand what it is you are trying to accomplish with a piece of equipment that needs way more knowledge to accomplish than you have.
Some new weavers are obviously looking for more assistance than using a pick up stick to weave anything other than plain weave. Yes, you *can* do anything you want - but do you really want to spend that much time (and making mistakes) than you will need to with no mechanical assistance to make the entire process take a very long time?
Well, if you do, that's great. I've been known to do time consuming stuff, just because I want to - everyone gets to choose.
The problem is when your directions are such that you cannot easily reproduce because they don't always convert easily. And then there are disappointments, errors, frustrations.
This is not to disparage people who do these things. Because you *can* do whatever you want. *IF YOU HAVE THE KNOWLEDGE TO ACCOMPLISH IT.* (Jumps off soap box.)
Weaving - as a craft - is 1000s of years old. That's a lot of development, research, exploration, and perfection of equipment to do specific jobs. A loom is a loom, yes, but each category of loom was developed to provide easier ways to do specific types of textiles. A tapestry loom is going to make tapestry weaving 'easier'. Faster, in some cases (not all).
A draw loom is going to produce incredibly intricate (or not) textiles. Because that is what they were designed to do. Jacquard looms does that even more efficiently - sort of. A shaft loom is going to weave any weave structure other than plain weave more efficiently than a rigid heddle loom.
And so people decide they want to learn to weave, but don't have a lot of money to burn, so they buy a rigid heddle loom and are told that they can do 'anything' on it. But when they try...turns out it takes a very long time. Or their results aren't good. Or sometimes, the loom isn't very friendly in terms of ergonomics and they start to have physical issues. It becomes harder to convince some of them that they just have the - not wrong - but not the most efficient equipment, given their desire to make things that could so much more easily be done on a shaft loom.
But neither do I want to discourage people. So I don't go on their question and tell them that. I bite my tongue and scroll on by.
Because maybe they don't have the budget or the space to invest in a shaft loom. Or they maybe don't have a teacher who can tell them how to use the rigid heddle loom in a way that will satisfy what they want to do.
But I also wonder if the 21st century has lead people to believe that you don't need to ask an 'expert'. Or pay for lessons. Because weaving is 'simple' and anyone can do it, and a rigid heddle loom will let you do anything?
Weaving is 'simple'. On one level. But it is like an onion - it has many many many layers. And if you truly want to learn, some time and effort might need to be taken to begin to peel those layers off.
After 50 years of doing it, researching it, teaching it, writing about it...I'm still learning.
The life so short the craft so long to learn...
My classes at School of Sweet Georgia here
My class at Long Thread Media
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