Backstrap Loom Prototype #1

I have always wanted to learn how to weave. Actually I already know HOW to weave - I just want to learn how to weave really nice fabric that I can actually use! This would of course require the use of a loom. And not just one of those quick cardboard looms (you know the ones with the little slits in the ends to wrap the warp thread around and then you had to painfully thread the weft over and under every single strand!) that we all learned how to weave on as kids. I have been reading and googling and drooling over pictures of big fancy looms that take up half a room and cost thousands of dollars. Even if I could afford the price tag there is no way I could fit one in my house. Then I found a video showing how to make a simple backstrap loom out of nothing more than a chopstick and a piece of card! I knew that would be a step up from the cardboard square with the slits in it but still a long way from what I want. BUT - making one would be a good first step in learning all the weaving terms and the multitude of different bits and pieces that are involved in simplifying the weaving process as well as give me an idea of what I needed to do to make something that is actually useful. So I did it. 90 minutes later I had completed my first project - a very crude and unbelievably messy, teeny square "rug" for Alex's little stuffed puppy! The time included the time to gather the materials I needed - a piece of cracker box from the recycle bin, 2 different yarns from my stash and an 18 inch piece of 1/4 inch dowel, cutting and threading the warp threads and doing the actual weaving. These pictures show the loom in action. It is ugly. Very ugly. I'm pretty sure the the most primitive cave people had better looking looms. But it served its purpose very well and that was to guide me in my path of discovery. I already have a number of ideas to start construction on a usable (and hopefully somewhat more attractive!) backstrap loom. A loom that I will be able to tuck into a drawer when not in use and take with me to the lake in the summer.