You've Gotta Love What You Can Weave with a Four-Shaft Loom

Probably like a lot of you, I started weaving on a 4-shaft loom, and I still marvel at the variety of patterning you can get from these rather ubiquitous and versatile looms. In the Loom Theory Four-Shaft Scarf Collection 2019 lookbook alone, you will find beautiful scarves woven in twill variations, shadow-weave, plain weave with twill, plain weave with warp floats, and a summer and winter variation with basketweave.

Loom Theory Four-Shaft Scarf Collection 2019 is a collection of 5 beautiful scarves woven by designers that we picked specifically to work with some pretty amazing yarns. Not only are the weave structures interesting, but so are the yarns. Some of them are well-known and loved by weavers, such as Lunatic Fringe Yarns' Tubular Spectrum 10/2 cotton, Jagger Spun’s silk/wool Zephyr, and Treenway Silks’ Alirio Thinner Silk Noil. A couple were new to me: Suzie Liles wove with Bockens’ Marled Linen, an interesting yarn made up of two colors twisted together that creates interesting patterning when woven, and Nancy Dunlap used Borgs 20/2 Mora, a thin wool from Sweden that comes in 74 colorways and works well for both warp and weft.

How long have you been wanting to weave with Lunatic Fringe Yarns’ Tubular Spectrum? Here’s your chance, with Cynthia Newman’s Skipping Rocks scarf.

Why Loom Theory?

When we moved to Long Thread Media in August 2019, we received a lot of support and suggestions for our weaving publications. Many of the suggestions were in near direct opposition to others, such as “more 16-shaft patterns” versus “more rigid-heddle patterns.” I weave on both types of looms (and all the looms in between), but I can understand why sometimes weavers want publications specific to one type. Enter Loom Theory.

The three Loom Theory pattern collections in 2019 are each specific to one type of loom. In July, we released Loom Theory Rigid-Heddle Scarf Collection 2019. In a month or so we will be publishing Loom Theory Eight-Shaft Shawl Collection 2019.

Looking to add some color to your weaving? Look no further than Nancy Dunlap’s Vertical Motion scarf in Borg’s Mora.

Check out this latest edition of Loom Theory. All 5 scarves can be woven on a 4-shaft loom, and they are all great examples of 4-shaft weaving. WIFs for all 5 are included with the pattern downloads.

Weave well,
Susan

All photos by Harper Point Photography