Current Supplement

Hand Loom Supplement #23 – June 2022

$10.00

• Band Looms From Leksand, Sweden
• Early American Hand Looms
• Signed Reeds
• Constructing a Floating Rigid Heddle
• Two Book Reviews: Warping and Dressing the Early Hand Loom by Kate Smith with Justin Squizzero & The Weaver’s Revenge, by Kathleen Ernst

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Description

In this edition we are introduced to band looms found in Leksand, Sweden. We learn the origins of the Early American Hand Looms Survey and how it was applied to a barn-frame loom in a historic house in Maine. A group of signed reeds found in an auction lot in Pennsylvania are examined. The construction of a small floating heddle loom is described, and two books are reviewed.

Band Looms From Leksand, Sweden

Kirsi Manni has collected looms designed for weaving the bands or ribbons used in traditional Swedish clothing. The looms from Leksand have a unique structure, using a treadle to control the rigid heddle. She shows the different parts and explains how it works. Old illustrations place the looms in the historical context.

Early American Hand Looms

The Early American Hand Loom Survey is an effort to document the 18th- and 19th-century barn-frame or timber-frame looms still in existence. Kate Smith recounts how the project started and where it is now. Cheryl Callahan reports on how she applied the survey to a hand loom in the collection of the Bridgton, ME, Historical Society.

Signed Reeds

When Erika Keller acquired a barn-frame loom and a large collection of loom parts at an auction, she was surprised to find that many of the reeds had names on them. She immediately contacted Bill Leinbach, not just for his extensive knowledge of looms, but because many of the reeds were signed “Leinbach.” They were his ancestors’.

Constructing a Floating Rigid Heddle

Intrigued by a small loom in Eleanor Bittle’s collection, Johannes Zinzendorf wanted to figure out how a rigid heddle could float. He outlines the steps in creating this little loom and how he wove on it. He made a “floating heddle,” but he isn’t sure it is really practical.

Two Book Reviews

The two books that I review both have to do with looms but are quite different. One, Warping and Dressing the Early Hand Loom by Kate Smith with Justin Squizzero, is practical with a lot of useful information. The other, The Weaver’s Revenge, by Kathleen Ernst is fiction, but discusses Finnish-American rag-rug weaving and “root looms.”