Learning to Weave

I've been wanting to learn how to weave for quite some time now and found the perfect opportunity a couple months ago. There is an adult education/enrichment program in the area called Tri-Community. They offer tons of classes at different locations in the area. It just so happens they offer a weaving class about 1 block from me on Wednesday nights. :D

I was super impressed with the classroom. It's pretty old and needs some major upgrades but it is HUGE with about 50 looms. The classroom was used in the 50's when they taught weaving in the regular high school curriculum. Some of the table looms date back that far too! The high school classes eventually disappeared and the adult enrichment class was born in the 70's. They've been collecting all size looms since then. They receive a lot of donations in the way of looms and yarn...the whole top area in the picture is just bags and bags of donated yarns that they let the students use freely.

They also have a small spinning area with a few wheels, hand carders, tons of spindles, and some donated fiber and fleece. The kitchen area (not pictured) is in the back and it holds an overflow of looms, warping boards, warping reel, swifts, and ball & bobbin winders. The kitchen is also used for dyeing if we choose to do so. They have a dye specific microwave and some tools for us to use.

It's a really cool class because we basically can do whatever we want during the class time. Some people spin, some just sit and knit, but most of us are weaving. I haven't done any actual weaving yet, haha! I'm still stuck on learning how to warp. Last class I tied on a dummy warp, then tied on my real warp to that. Next class the teacher is going to show me how to tie on the front and hopefully I get to start weaving!

My project is a simple plain weave scarf so I got assigned to a table loom. I'm using some cotton hand painted yarn I got in a swap on ravelry as my warp. The weft is a solid color superwash sock yarn I dyed in a purple/lilac color. I'll post some pictures as soon as I get started!

The projects are truly amazing and the people there are some of nicest I've ever met. It's fun to hang out with other fiber lovers!

Here's a pic of just one of the beautiful projects being created by one of the students: