Inkle loom weaving and a cheerful band design to share

Hello, friends. Thank you for checking in. It is lovely that you’re here. You may have seen on my Instagram page that I have been enjoying my newest acquisition, an inkle loom made by Schacht Spindle Company. I purchased this loom because I thought it seemed like a reasonable thing to know about; like, shouldn’t I know about the basics, in case I’m asked about inkle loom weaving at a show or something? I wasn’t sure I’d actually enjoy weaving on the inkle loom. Boy! Was I mistaken!

I did a lot of inkle loom weaving over the last few days. Our power was knocked out after receiving 39″ of snow coupled with strong winds. Since distractions were relatively minimal (except for watching the snow and then moving it out of the way and keeping our wood stove going), I was able to consider why I found weaving on this little loom so satisfying. Here are just a few reasons:

• Inkle looms don’t require a lot of yarn. I was thrilled to use up bits of 3/2 and 5/2 mercerized cottons that I couldn’t bring myself to toss but were not sufficient for long warps.
• Short warps mean that you can refresh your weaving often. I am finding this feature to be particularly important, especially since the warp on my big loom is close to 20 yards. I’ve been looking at this same warp for quite a while now and having the opportunity to step away from it and work on something new is refreshing.
• Inkle band weaving is a great way to see how colors really play together. I like the aqua/copper/gold combination so much that I might see how this would translate into a larger warp rep piece. Hmmmm….
• Inkle weaving is so quiet. No clanging, banging, or ratcheting sounds. Heavenly.
• I haven’t even scratched the surface of the possibilities with this little loom. I’ve been perusing The Weaver’s Inkle Pattern Directory by Anne Dixon and GOOD GOLLY. Between pick-up techniques, warp rep, and krokbragd, you can just keep learning new things on the inkle loom.

Here is what’s on the inkle loom this morning:

Here is the pattern for the “Garden colors” inkle band. I used 3/2 mercerized cotton in a pretty leafy green, magenta, and white. There are 39 total ends. Here is the color order:

This inkle loom plain-weave pattern generator is a fabulous tool. Check it out! It is really fun to experiment.

Happy weaving and here’s to Spring. Spring will come.

Be well,

Kate K.