Macomber Hat Trick

If I had to have only one loom, the Beast at 56" would be the keeper, as he allows the most versatility; however, the 32" Lil Miss is hard to beat, as she is easy to treadle.

Fortunately, I have room for both and need not choose between them.

In my dream world, three looms would be the way to go with a sweet little 24" that I could dedicate to tea towels.

Unfortunately, in the last four years I have been searching for just such a loom, only two have come across my screen.

The first one was an hour away in Austin, Texas. I almost bought it, but the week before I had purchased the 32" Macomber from a lady in Oregon and was in the middle of working out shipping. I hesitated a scant ten minutes too long, and someone snapped it up.

The second one was an eight-shaft in Northern California. The price was right, but the lady was not interested is working with me to ship it (and I do not blame her, it can be a huge hassle). After a brief discussion with the wonderful husband, we decided I could fly over, rent a vehicle, pick it up, and drive it home.

Crazy, no?

Well, that's exactly what I did. I flew to San Francisco on a Saturday and drove over to Turlock, California for the loom. The seller could not have been more gracious and kind. She had a stable of looms, including a custom 12-harness Gilmore made a short distance away at the Gilmore Loom Company for none other than THE Mr. Gilmore. It was stunning. As I drove away, I felt as though I had also made a friend.

Fortunately, my daughters were willing to fly to LA to meet me after I acquired the loom and the amazing husband sprang for an upgrade to the rental to accommodate the three of us and the loom comfortably. I picked them up at the airport on Saturday night. We had the luxury of a brand new Ford Expedition to tool around in. The older daughter found us a great Airbnb for the night.

Sunday, we spent the day enjoying some of the tastes and sights of Los Angeles. We had breakfast at Sqirl, which was delicious. We visited the Home Depot with the best view of the Hollywood sign from its rooftop parking garage before heading over to the Melrose Trading Post in hopes of a few vintage finds. We spent some time at the Santa Monica Pier before a fantastic late lunch at Gracias Madre.  From there we took a scenic tour of Mulholland drive before heading to Arizona for the night.

Monday saw us drive through Arizona and most of New Mexico. We spent a night in Las Cruces before driving straight back to New Braunfels on Tuesday. We made it home about 6:30 in the evening.

It was a lot of driving, but I had great company and we listened to several interesting podcasts. I was so grateful my daughters were so willing to spend time with me. I am truly a lucky lady.

Wednesday, we returned the rental, and I drove to College Station to help my younger daughter get settled into her new apartment. It was evening when I returned, so I did little more than wipe down the new (to me) loom, hereinafter named Meg.

Thursday, I was entirely focused on Meg. She received two coats of Howard's Feed & Wax. Once I checked her out thoroughly and made a list of what she needed from Macomber, I decided to go ahead and warp her, even though her homemade aprons looked a bit sketchy to me.

While beautifully sewn, the fabric was really light and I did not think three tabs were sufficient to keep even tension on a warp. I almost aborted the warping attempt, but Macomber indicated it would be several weeks before they shipped new ones. 

I had a 12-yard warp ready to go. 

After literally HOURS of trying to beam the warp, I gave up and cut at least half of the beautiful warp off in absolute frustration. 

I should have followed my instincts and waited. 

I knew the aprons were crap and would not hold even tension, and they did not. 

Despite my continued doubts, I decided to go ahead and thread the heddles with what warp was actually beamed. 

Threading the heddles went well. Luckily, it is something I enjoy. 

I knew from my exchanges with the seller the loom would come with an 8-dent reed. I prefer 12-dent and ordered one before I left. It arrived Thursday afternoon, not long after the heddles were threaded.  YAY!

I then sleyed the reed and lashed onto the front rod

It was a joke.

The front apron was less square than the back one. I knew if I continued, I would be weaving parallelograms...

However, I had already considered this warp a throw-away, so I continued.

As I tightened the cloth beam to weave, I heard a ripping sound.

My opinion of the apron went from crap to craptastic!

I wanted to become angry, but I knew what I was getting into when I started. The only hope was for it not to completely tear off before I could get the fabric I was weaving to wrap around the beam just once.

The more I wove, the more I heard the occasional rip...

For point of reference, this is a photo I found on the internet showing what a Macomber apron SHOULD look like. They are also made from heavy canvas with ties every two inches and two rods.

However, I won!

The grape weft looked good, but the yellow slub 8/2 cotton looked better!

I actually do not know how many yards I have on this little loom, but if none of them are square, I will still hem them and use them. I could not love the colors more!

There is not enough room in the studio for sweet Meg, so she is occupying an empty corner in the dining room, the least used space in the entire house.

Her heel rest is borrowed from the 32" Lil Miss. Meg's is on order, along with new castings to hold it with longer tines. The ones she has now are too shallow and do not keep the rest in place, thus, I had to tie it down. 

I did a straight draw threading of the heddles, but I only had 9 free super hooks for the tie ups, 40 more are on order, as well. Thus, she is only able to do even weave at the moment. I had one super hook left over. 

Like the other two looms, I outfitted her with a matching lamp, two round earth magnets with  holder (one for snips and the other to secure a pattern), and an adhesive ruler on her race. 

The bench I am using in the very first picture above is borrowed from a friend (Thanks, Lee Anne!). However, the husband has promised to make me one to go with Meg. 

The bench in my studio is a Macomber, as well. It is adjustable and looks like this:

The seat on it is 40" wide. 

Meg does not need a bench that wide. I have asked the sweet hubby to make the seat 24" wide and similar in design to this one; however, as I know how high it needs to be for me, it is not necessary for it to be adjustable. 

In other weaving news, the 32" Lil Miss Macomber has a 25 yard gradient warp on her, which I beamed sectionally a few weeks ago. The original threading was for a Strickler pattern (#728), which I have woven before:

The pattern looks much better with a solid warp.

Also, it did not lend itself to even weave. 

After a couple of towels, I decided I needed to change the threading and tie up for another pattern, which meant I needed to cut off the woven fabric, secure the threads in order, and re-thread/re-sley the warp. 

To be honest, I had never done this before. 

I simply secured the threads behind the harnesses with painters tape.

and cut off the fabric. 

It took a couple of hours to re-thread all 576 ends and re-do the tie-ups. 

I finished that part last night.  This morning, I sleyed the reed and lashed on. 

This is a process I have been itching to try because I want to use the sectional beam on the 32" (and the one I have on order for the 24") to warp 50 or more yards. My concern was becoming completely sick of a pattern well before exhausting the warp. Now I know it is no problem to cut the warp at any time and simply re-thread for a new pattern. I am thrilled!!

If anyone is interested, the draft I have defaulted to is this one with several treadling variations that I found on Pinterest; however, they appear to have originated here. 

Lastly, my FB and Instagram feeds have been clogged with Teema Towels for six months now. I bought one several weeks ago, the Labyrinth in Navy.  

WOW.

Sincerely.

I love this thing. As hot as it is in South Texas, I routinely wear sarongs around the house nine months of the year. I wear this Teema towel as a sarong, and it is the softest thing imaginable. I took it with me to California to pick up the loom. It is perfect for a light blanket or a shawl. Also, I am funny about sleeping on hotel linens, etc. Let's just say I am weird about it. I used the Teema over the pillow to sleep while we traveled, as well as a cover one night in Arizona when it was over 100 degrees at 10:00 pm. I am completely in love with this thing.

Before I left for Cali, I counted the threads per inch and warped the Beast in 10/2 cotton to try to reproduce it for myself, as well as gifts. 

I even figured out how to add plain weave along the selvages with pattern in the middle. 

The younger daughter requested one in pink. 

This is how it is weaving up:

This is only a ten yard warp and at 38" x 86" (under tension), I only anticipate getting three finished towels; however, I cannot wait!

Instead of fringe, I think I will hem them.

Whew.

If anyone stuck with me through the end of the post, THANK YOU!

Happy crafting!