This weekend, I may have done something slightly crazy on the spur of the moment.

Like….go down to Sunnyvale to visit Purlescence and buy a loom.

I’ve been thinking of getting a loom for a while; there are some things that are better woven than knitted, plus it’s a good way to use up lots of stash yarn relatively quickly.

The loom is an Ashford Knitter’s Loom, the 20″ size. I went with the larger size, primarily because I want to be able to make larger items (like placemats, table runners, altar cloths) and I can still make smaller things like scarves.

The big challenge was warping. I used the instructions with the loom, and it only took me one and a half hours. I’ve browsed some tutorials online; I think there has to be an easier method than direct warping, but I’m not sure. The loom comes with a free private lesson, so I’m guessing I’ll be using it to learn about warping techniques.

For my first piece, I’m using a seafoam yarn for the warp. It’s a mystery yarn, but I think it’s probably a cotton. If not, it’s a very tightly spun wool blend. For the weft, I’m using a sage green and blue mohair held together. The colors are all very close, so the effect is subtle. I probably should have chosen some more contrasting yarn, but I like this as well.

Mostly, though, it’s so much fun!