Gilmore Loom Follow up

The last post described our new (new to us) Gilmore Loom.  We had put a test warp on the loom and wove a short piece of yardage in plain weave using the same material for the weft.  The yarn was an ancient donation of coarse rug wool in an off white with a slight fleck of orange in it.  The yarn had been passed over for earlier guild projects like a wall flower at a dance.  Too plain and too coarse to excite any interest.  The yardage was pretty blah as well and felt a bit like sandpaper but no real weaver ever threw out a piece of weaving without at least trying to improve it.

So the yardage was stitch and pleated and tie and tie again and finally coiled up and thrown into a dye bath and heated without stirring.  All this in a deliberate attempt to end up with an uneven dye pattern that would disguise the blah yardage.

The result was a trip back to the 60's when tie dye and macrame ruled.


Wet finishing and brushing took off the sandpaper texture and a bit of simple sewing turned our ugly duckling into a decent pillow and a bag that show of the patterns from the dye.

The moral of the story being that even quite nasty looking yarn can have a useful ending with a bit of imagination.  So don't overlook the plain jane yarn especially if you are willing to experiment.

Our New Loom

We have added a new loom to our guild studio.  Thanks to the generosity of Ann Walker, we have acquired a Gilmore Compact 32 inch jack loom.  Ann decided to set weaving aside to concentrate on her writing and poetry.  We are very grateful that she wanted her loom to go to a group of weavers where it would give pleasure to many and it certainly will.  Some of our weavers are limited to using table looms because they do not have enough space for a larger loom.  They will be able to use this floor loom for larger projects. 

Here is the loom half assembled sitting in my garage.  Bob Allen of Gilmore Looms in Stockton California was very helpful in identifying the loom and providing tips for refurbishing it.  His web site at http://www.gilmorelooms.com has some great tips for evaluating older looms and for making repairs.

Our loom has travelled many miles.  It was built in Stockton California in December of 1976 and shipped to it's first stop in Jamacia Plains, Massachusetts.  From there, it emigrated to Nova Scotia and finally it made the cross continent journey to Vancouver Island.  Now it resides at the Via Train Station in Qualicum Beach.  Here it is in a bright alcove in our studio in the process of being dressed with our first warp. 

The final picture shows the yardage that we have just finished weaving on the loom.  I am happy to report this little work horse performed beautifully.  The finished product will show up in a future blog.  It is all pleated up and headed for the dye pot in the near future.

Our next project has already been planned.  We are going to weave a chenille rug.  The warp is ready to go and the chenille that we wove earlier is sitting in a basket ready to become weft.

We plan to use the Gilmore as a teaching loom and for group projects. 

Gilmore looms