Ghosts 2.0…

I’m one of those fibery people who believe that their equipment has a soul, or at least a personality of its own.  Looms are something that have a voice, and a strong relationship with their owners and are things that need regular attention and feeding and care.  I always feel my heart skip a couple beats when someone “scores” a loom on eBay and writes to one of the Yahoo Weaving Groups about how they have painstakingly restored their found treasure and now need to learn to weave.  Almost every loom can be brought back to life, and when that happens, I can hear a collective cheer from the loom gods.

In fact, not every loom works for every person.  Case in point.  I have, as many of my long time readers know, seven Tools of the Trade looms, various sizes and shaft configurations, and both table and floor models.  One of my recent acquisitions was a 36″ model, eight shafts that I bought from a weaver acquaintance who told me honestly that she had bought the loom used, and never quite felt the “marriage”.  They never really hit it off, and knowing these looms the way I do, I decided to purchase it from her.  Turns out that our personalities (the loom and me) were a perfect match, we bonded instantly and truth be told, it is my favorite loom in the studio.  Looms are like that…

I got involved in an email string about a month ago, brought in because of my long association with Peters Valley Craft Center, and close proximity to William Paterson University.  It would seem that the University has decided that the remaining 10 full size looms in their possession were just taking up space and not serving the needs of the direction of the textile department.  They had the wisdom to not throw the looms out, but seek out Peters Valley to see if they wanted a pretty substantial donation.

Substantial is an understatement.

There are 2 Nilus Leclerc four shaft looms, and 8 full size Macombers, ranging from 8-10 shaft.  If you aren’t a weaver and have no idea what this means, let’s just say that Macombers have been around for a long time and are pretty much the work horse of the old fashioned production weaver.  They are solid heavy looms, with a lot of metal parts, and are pretty indestructible.  They can weave fine threads, rugs and everything in between.  And if cared for , they can last a number of lifetimes.

Sigh.  Those are the magic words.  In a setting in academia, getting little attention and use over the last number of years, they have sadly begun their decline.  So I’ve spent the better part of this week, back and forth between Peters Valley prepping the studio there, and William Paterson, disassembling and packing some pretty dirty and declining looms for a mid-month move by a professional moving company, to Peters Valley.  I had the most amazing help from my former college textile professor Carol Westfall.  She hauled and packed and shifted and moved and disassembled right along with me, trying to put heddles back on shafts, which we eventually gave up on because I quickly realized that the heddles were not all facing the same direction and each of the 70 some shafts  over these 8-10 looms would have to be taken out of the looms at some point and re-heddled because every weaver knows what a pain in the butt it is to thread heddles that don’t face the same direction.

Still, as we worked, I felt the sleeping spirits in each of these looms slowly wake up in anticipation of moving out of that dirty neglected environment anticipating a move that could bring them back to life.  I’m cheering them on and feeling a bit overwhelmed at the same time. Meanwhile, the weaving community is pretty amazing at stepping up to the plate when it comes to saving a loom or two, and I was so encouraged when 10 members of the Jockey Hollow Weavers Guild immediately signed up to help in any way they could with the rescue.  It will be a long process to restore all these magnificent looms, but I’ve agreed to take on the challenge and I’ve got another strong Peters Valley supporter, one of the wood workers associated with the Valley, standing by to help with any of the actual hardware and wood restoration needs.

There are even a dozen benches to go with the donation.

When all of this is finished, Peters Valley weaving studio, affectionately known as Hilltop, will have 11 working 42-48″ Macombers, all eight or ten shaft, (they already own three) capable of supporting any class they might offer, and that would put them as the most well equipped weaving studio in probably a couple hundred mile radius.  But we have a long road to go…

Just sorting through the bins of mixed up tangled heddles is a bit daunting.  Carol and I sat on the deck for the first time this spring and chatted and sorted the flat heddles from the wire ones.

If anyone of my readers lives in the northern NJ, northeastern PA area, and would like to assist in any way with this huge undertaking, toss me an email, and I’ll include you in the string.  No obligation, I’ll let you know when I’ll be out there and if you are available, wear old clothes, bring rubber gloves, and be prepared to get dirty and at the same time bring a bunch of amazing looms back to life.

A huge thank you to the head of the art department at WPU for believing that these looms needed a place to thrive and not taking the easy way out by calling in a dumpster. The loom gods are smiling…

PS, I’ll be teaching a garment construction intensive at Peters Valley the last week of June.  Click here for more information. And come celebrate with Peters Valley at the annual Spring Open House, May 4th from 12-5.