Introducing Ingrid

Last month Hands to Work welcomed a new member into our loom family. Her name is Ingrid, and she is a 100cm Glimåkra Ideal. 

I had been searching for a third loom for about a year now. I hoped to find either a 120cm Glimåkra Standard, or an Ideal. The 120cm size is just a dream to weave on and continues to be on my wish list. The Ideal is very portable, and I wanted one for demonstrations. I keep my eyes out for any used, Swedish-style looms that become available. The 120cm Standard is still made, and I may eventually purchase one from Vävstuga, but my preference is for used. The Ideals, however, are discontinued, and so when I saw the advertisement for a 100cm Ideal on the Glimakra USA website I pounced!* 

Sadly, the loom was already spoken for. I had been in negotiations with two other loom owners for their 150cm looms (which tend to be more available and cheaper, I think because not everyone has the space) which I then renewed, recognizing that I really needed to buy third loom even if it wasn't exactly the one I wanted. I spent weeks hemming and hawing about which loom to buy and taking loom room measurements trying to figure out how/if I could fit two 150cm looms into the larger room of my studio. Then one morning I got an email about the 100cm Ideal. The other arrangement had fallen through, the loom was mine if I still wanted her, AND they would be in my area the next day and could bring her most of the way to me.

Oh happy day! What a wonderful surprise! I literally jumped for joy! 

I met Mary and her husband in the parking lot of the Holyoke shopping mall. She had wrapped the loom with such care, and had labeled all the boxes and parts. Mary had purchased this loom in 1976 and I could tell that the loom was very dear to her. Meeting Mary was also a joy, and I hope that it won't be the last time. When I mentioned that this loom would be part of a little "family" of looms in my studio, and told her about my "Big Mama" and "Baby" looms, Mary said, you know, this loom actually has a name: Ingrid. 

Ingrid. A sweet name for a very sweet loom. 

Ingrid moved in to the small loom room. Baby and Big Mama are now sharing the big room. Already, having Ingrid in the studio has improved the HTW workflow. It allows more opportunity to change tasks, which means less physical and mental fatigue.

Ingrid and I are still getting to know one another, and I am working on updating her, converting her to Texsolv and the Vävstuga Tie-Up System. Our first project is a set of red and gold table napkins. 

Welcome Ingrid! 

 *Full disclosure, it was Tonya Jones, another former Vävstuga apprentice, who alerted me to this loom. Thanks Tonya! Check out Tonya's Wovens on Facebook!