I love my Fanny!

The one I started with was fairly  small.  But after a few years – having a bigger one seemed,  – natural.

Photo of small floor loom
27" Fanny

You can see a photo of my other Fanny here.

(So much for my first attempt at writing an attention grabbing headline, eh?)

Other proud owners of Leclerc weaving equipment will recognize  Fanny as the name of a floor loom.   But it’s not a current favorite  – especially with new weavers.

Someone browsing through ads in weaving magazines is unlikely to come across a picture of one.  These days, the Fanny seems old-fashioned.

Which is part of its appeal for me.

If you’re unfamiliar with weaving:  – The system that creates a space for the shuttle to move back and forth between the warp threads in this loom is a counter-balance system. It looks and acts a lot like the looms in use a couple of hundred years ago.

My other floor loom, a Leclerc Colonial, really does look like what you might imagine an Early American, Colonial-type-person using – to produce household and clothing fabrics.   (Though maybe not in a room this color).

Photo of LeClerc Colonial floor loom
My 45" Leclerc Colonial

Sometimes I imagine myself as that person – laboring to improve the well-being of my family – making useful cloth.

I know that I feel a connection to certain periods in history – when the work of the family included weaving and spinning.

Working in, on, at, and around these looms, I feel very comfortable.    And at home.

If you love to weave, – what ever the make or model of your loom, whether it’s old or new, big or small – you’re likely to feel intimately involved.

Yikes!  Maybe this conversation needs to contiue – with another attention grabbing headline, like:

Who’s got the biggest one?

Joanne's blog signature, Pine Ledge Fiber Studio

Lightweight Cotton Scarves

Photo of hand dyed blue and natural cotton fabric on weaving loom
Hand Dyed Cotton, blue and natural, tied resist. Hand dyed and handwoven by Joanne Littler, Pine Ledge Fiber Studio

This is one of my favorite fabrics.  It’s 100% cotton and hand dyed to create a random plaid effect.   And it’s fun to weave because the pattern is so irregular.  Areas of color and no-color seem to appear out of nowhere with each pass of the shuttle.

Finished  dimensions:  78″ x 13  1/2 “.   What I would call a wide scarf.  It works well as a pulled-through-the-loop neck piece and equally well as a narrow shawl.

The same lightweight cotton yarn is also quite beautiful in its natural, un-dyed state.   Against the dark background you can see the thick and thin threads crossing each other –  creating pattern in this plain weave fabric.

Photo of woven fabric, natural cotton, with slub yarn creating plaid effect.
Pattern created by the yarn itself, 100% cotton, woven by Joanne Littler, Pine Ledge Fiber Studio.

I’ve woven two of these  natural color pieces to sample for length.  One will remain as-is and the other I plan to dye.

Joanne, Pine Ledge Fiber Studio