Posted by Kat on Friday, 25 January 2002, at 8:44 a.m.:
In Reply to: beginning to weave posted by Ellen on Friday, 25 January 2002, at 8:19 a.m.:
Ellen, hi! Here's what I did -- I contacted Lois at Bountiful Spinning & Weaving www.bountifulspinweave.com). At that time, I was unable to afford a floor loom, so I bought the Schacht rigid heddle on the trestle with the optional warp and cloth beams. I also bought Davenport's book on Learning the Rigid Heddle. Lois has free shipping, a big plus with heavy items!
Once I mastered the basics, I bought a used Schacht Baby Wolf and Deb Chandler's book, Learn to Weave. I believe there is also a video that Deb has done, but I did not use it.
The rigid heddle is in constant use. A lot of weavers seem to turn up their noses at these looms as the capabilities are limited, but I love it! I've cranked out innumerable shawls, scarves, and table runners on it. It is easy to warp (well, relatively speaking! Is anything easy to warp!). I've also experimented with floats, leno weaves, etc., as outlined in the Davenport book.
I guess how you start out depends on what you want to make and how much time/money you want to spend. I'm glad I started off with the easier loom, as I was less intimidated to warp the harness loom. The rigid heddle only weaves 24" wide, so that was a limitation as I also weave fabric for apparel purposes.
Oh, and when you buy a loom, make sure you buy extra stick shuttles -- that was one place I fell short on although I have since stocked up!
Hope this is of some help...let us know!
Regards,
Kat in New Jersey