New Leclerc Colonial Loom

My current loom is about 30 years old; I bought it lightly used in 1988 and by now it doesn't owe me a thing. It's a Leclerc Colonial 60" loom with an overhead beater. It came with four harnesses and a sectional warping beam for 2" sections. After I bought it, I added four more harnesses and doubled the number of metal spacers on the sectional rakes to give 1" sections. The loom is a very functional tool and beautiful piece of furniture, made in Quebec, and something I've enjoyed and appreciated for coming up 27 years. I know it will last much longer, especially if I replace a few small parts that are wearing out.

But I'd been thinking in the last year or so that this loom would have to last me the rest of my weaving career - which I hope is for quite awhile longer - or I should splurge now and buy another one. Two looms would not only give me some variety between the warping and weaving processes, but would also enable me to have enough heddles for different setts for my full-width blankets. In other words, I need almost 200 heddles per harness for my big cotton blankets, but only half that number for wool ones. That means strategically pushing empty heddles into the warp threads to prevent a bulky mess at the end that would not be suitable for an even selvedge. (It's hard to describe but weavers will get that.)

So ... with design improvements made to the Leclerc Colonial, and a Canadian product that I knew would work well for me, I ordered a new loom from Nina Manners at Camilla Valley Farm Weaver's Supply. Nina has been great for all my yarn orders, and since she's a Leclerc dealer, it made sense to begin with her.

The shipping process was interesting to watch. Eleven pieces, total 393 pounds.

All the boxes are labeled in beautiful handwriting in kind of a traditional way. I won't get help setting it up for a few weeks, but I'm glad to know all's here for welcoming a second loom into my studio.

Thanks again, Leclerc and Nina.