Learn Better Ways to Weave Rugs with Tom Knisely

After you've done anything for a long time, you get set in your ways, including in your weaving. Consider the whole back-to-front versus front-to-back warping discussion and you know what I mean. You learn a method of doing something and then stick with it no matter what. I'd like to invite you to abandon your usual weaving mind-set and let Tom Knisely teach you some new ways to weave rugs through his new video, Weave a Good Rug with Tom Knisely: From Fiber to Finish.

You might be surprised at what you didn't know and what you could be doing differently to weave better rugs. I've been weaving for more than 20 years and I still learned a lot from this video. If you are a beginning weaver and haven't woven rugs before, this is the perfect place to start. Use the video to learn best practices from a weaving expert and launch your own pursuit of rug weaving excellence.

Tom starts at the beginning by explaining that most rugs are imbalanced weaves: that is, either the weft or the warp dominates in virtually every type of rug. That imbalance makes rugs sturdy and thick, but it also requires rug weavers to use tools and looms that are rug-specific, and to make adjustments in their weaving technique. In Weave a Good Rug, Tom discusses the warp/weft imbalance and demonstrates which looms work best for rug weaving because of that imbalance. He demonstrates using the different tools such as shuttles and temples that work well for rug weaving and the gives tips about the best yarns to use for warp and weft.

A Boundweave Rug by Tom Knisely, Handwoven November/December 2010, Photo credit: Joe Coca

Once he has finished with the basics, Tom shows best practices for rug weaving as he weaves on a variety of different beautiful rugs and looms. He offers tips about laying in weft and weaving headers, techniques specific to warp-faced weaves such as rep, and finishing methods for all types of rugs.

Sometimes weavers need to be inspired out of a rut so they can try new methods and expand their weaving repertoire. Tom's video will pull you up and out of your weaving rut!

Weave well, Susan

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