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Creative Weaving

1 rating: 5.0

A book by Sarah Anderson

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Tags: Books, Crafts & Hobbies

Author: Sarah Anderson

Genre: Crafts & Hobbies

Publisher: Lark Books

Date Published: January 01, 2008

1 review about Creative Weaving

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FINALLY! ANOTHER BOOK FOR RIGID HEDDLE LOOM WEAVERS! Creative Weaving

Mar 26, 2008

by Caprig
posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More

Rating:

Pros: lots of color, wonderful photos, imaginative, creative

Cons: could be hard to find locally, no other cons

The Bottom Line: FINALLY! A RIGID HEDDLE WEAVING BOOK! This book is a long time coming and well worth the price.

When I first got a rigid heddle look, I was shocked at the absence of books out there on the topic. There was only one book that I found except for one other one from a manufacturer of a loom that I saw.

I was horrified. I got this loom to make lovely things on and there was not a word out there for anything creative to do with it.

I bought the rigid heddle weaving book, but it did not inspire me at all. I was almost sorry that I tried going in this direction.

Eventually, a friend and fellow fiber artist talked me into just DOING it, without instructions or planning- just weave.

So, I did.

The results were gratifying. I did not follow any rules- I did not have any. The first piece I did was really creative and fun.

I just saw a few weeks ago that another weaving book for rigid heddle weavers came out- FINALLY! It is called CREATIVE WEAVING by Sarah Howard and Elisabeth Kendrick.

WHAT IS THIS BOOK LIKE?

This book is very interesting. About 9"x9" in size, it is a paperback book with 112 pages. It is published by LARK books.

INTRODUCTION
Loom Weaving
(breakdown of rigid heddle weaving)

Yarn Basics
(washing fabric, warp yarns)

How Much Yarn?
(wraps and reeds, warp calculations, sample calculations (UK&US))

Winding the Warp

Setting Up the Loom

Plain Weaving

Auxiliary Techniques
(making the header, arching the weft, keeping even selvage, interlocking threads at the selvedge, joining in a new weft thread, mending a broken warp)

Embellishments
(warp finishes, overhand knots, plait, twisted fringe, unspun fibers, turkish knots, float patterns)

Other Types of Weaving
(card loom weaving, Peg Loom Weaving)

REMAINING CHAPTERS IN THE BOOK

This book is set up a little differently. Each chapter is based upon a color- and in each chapter, there are three or four different projects based upon the color.

Each project has photos of the finished weave, and each yarn used in the weave so you can see the thickness and substitute if you like.

Instructions are on the page, with lovely nature inspired photos of something reminiscent of the title of the project. For example, one page has a project titled, Cherry Blossom so it has cherry blossoms on the page.

Here is a list of the color titled chapters

Red
Orange
Yellow
Green
Blue
Purple
Recycled
Naturals

The FUN EXTRAS chapter has weaving with different things like unspun fiber, chunky wool, and found objects from a beach.

The last chapter is A GALLERY OF WEAVING which shows entire projects, not just a close up of the weaving pattern.

WHAT I THINK OF THIS BOOK

This book is very visual. It has luscious photographs, lots of color and is very well laid out.

I think that this is a must have for anyone with a rigid heddle loom who needs inspiration.

There is even a project using old grocery plastic bags to make a welcome mat in front of the door.

I am very thrilled with this book. Many people frown at the term rigid heddle loom. Many say it is not a REAL loom. Others say that compared to knitting and crocheting that it is totally boring and not given to creativity.

CREATIVE WEAVING shows that the humble rigid heddle loom is a WONDERFUL tool, and makes you want to go give it a new project to work on.

Although there are not a lot of over the top artistic techniques in this book, I still find it very motivational and inspirational, and I like it very much.

You can find CREATIVE WEAVING at amazon.com, Borders, Barnes & Noble, many weaving/yarn stores, and other sources for craft books.

The retail price is $14.95.

Recommended:
Yes

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