When I
found myself with 2 naked looms last week, I knew it was time for a couple of
do-it-yourself projects before I wound on the next warp.
I went to
the local hardware barn and bought 2.4m/8 ft of 30 x 30 mm quarter round dowel
with a flat edge,
some bolts and wing nuts, a packet of saddle clips(enough for
2 projects) and some short screws, short enough for the jobs I had in mind. Altogether it cost $24.48.
My first
project was a warping valet. Behind the
loom in the garage there are some sturdy shelves. The unit is quite stable as it is ‘L’ shaped
and the heavy boxes of yarn are at the bottom and do their bit to contribute to
the stability as well. I thought I could
attach something beneath one of the higher shelves and hoped that my DIY skills
were up to the task.
I cut 2 pieces off
the length of dowel long enough to fit to the back of the shelves, leaving the
third piece long enough for my planned valet. I lined it up on the floor to make sure it was going to work.
I had a
tencel warp ready to go but before I did anything I had a look at Laura’s excellent video and I was away.
It
worked like a dream, the warp went on in no time and was smooth and even just
as it should be – thanks Laura!
We used to
have annual hard rubbish collections where everyone put their unwanted and
broken household items out the front of the house and everything was collected
on the appointed day. What often
happened was that items just moved from one house to another as neighbours
spotted something they could use. This
annoyed the people who were paid to do the collections as by the time they
arrived, the best treasures had already found new homes. It’s much less interesting now as individual
households book their own collections.
My neighbour had booked one and I noticed a small trolley amongst her collection. I thought it had great potential as a weaving
trolley but didn’t like to steal her rubbish.
We were talking and she was complaining that not only had the council
failed to collect the rubbish when they said they would, but other neighbours
had started adding to her collection.
That’s not allowed under the new rules but if it’s done at night, who’s
to know. Pointing at the trolley she
said ‘that’s not mine’ and instantly, it disappeared down my drive.
I bought a top and a cutlery drawer at
IKEA. The drawer fitted perfectly but my
attempt to attach the top was less than successful and this was the second DIY
project. I measured out where the saddle
clips needed to be, drilled some holes, packed the space between the round
clips and the square frame with some scrap foam, put in the short screws, short
enough not to damage the new top, and it was done.
A good
afternoon’s work and for a very modest outlay, I’ve now got a warping valet and
a neat weaving trolley. Not only that, I realised that my DIY skills were up to
the task and that gives me confidence to tackle the next DIY project.