Weaving Scarves on a Four Shaft Loom for the first time: Making Last Minute Gifts 

I once knew this guy who has a great girlfriend who made him several jumpers and even though he was very grateful the first thing he did was making suggestions how it could be better and that wasn't very smart of him!

Your scarves turned out beautifully! You described perfectly why I stopped weaving and learned to knit! With knitting you can just start. And you can take it with you anywhere! But I do miss the rhythmic motions of the loom. My not craft-worthy story: I knit a scarf for a friend for Christmas out of a fingering weight, emerald green, wool and silk blend yarn, in a complicated drop stitch pattern. It was gorgeous. A couple of months later, we were having lunch together, and she said, "Look, I wore the scarf you gave me." The scarf she had was a dull olive green out of a worsted weight acrylic yarn, that was obviously store bought. She didn’t even remember what scarf I had given her, or that I knit it for her. That was the end of making anything for her, and the end of giving her a Christmas present as well! harpingJanet

I bought two looms from and older friend. She and her husband shared the hobby together. I am learning to use them. And my friend passed away on December 21. I can’t wait till I show her daughters my first project ( if it isn’t a train wreck. )lol

“Not everyone is craft worthy.” Hard lessons learned by exuberant crafters. I handspun 100% cashmere Fiber for a birthday gift for my young adult daughter. I knitted it into a shawl and a couple of years later found it in a bunched pile in the cellar near the WASHING MACHINE! Oh the pain. Same with handspun socks for my husband. Now husband is asking for 100% angora socks from my angora bunnies. It has been almost 2 decades since the last handspun wool sock fiasco and he has promised to only handwashing these jewels, so here is me combing and spinning angora. We will see. These look quite different than the many wool socks that I knit for him from commerically prepared wool, so I am hoping…. Lovely video. Thank you for the inspration. I am also a weaver. I mostly weave bands some with tablets, some without and dish towels on my RHL. I’ve just purchased a glimakra bandweaving loom, so I can make extra long bands. Tomorrow we will be picking up a 10shaft 10treadle floor loom. My ultimate goal is to spin Fiber and make myself and hubs some medieval clothing with my own hand woven cloth. This will likely be wool, since I don’t have access to proper fiber for spinning linen. The linen Fiber stuff you buy at the Fiber shops are useless choppy rovings. I’m also dying to weave some textured dishcloths in an 8 shaft pattern. I’m thinking I will start using four shafts an work my way up. I will certainly be watching more of your videos to keep me company whilst I am warping and weaving. Cheers.

Only two suggestions. With steel wire heddles I have found it necessary to make worsted two-ply yarn for the warp. Get a couple temples for weaving your handspun yarn. Mine (I have three) go from 10-36 inches. Some weavers say it's against their religion to use them, but they were used in colonial times so it's not some modern crutch.

Beautiful scarves, love them both. Only two people received handmade by me this Christmas, my sister in law and my brother. My sil has crippling anxiety and hates to travel alone, I made her a little doll, funky outfits, fiddly bits in her, pom poms and the like. It's very tactile, something she can hug, hold, squish etc which sits next to her on the passenger seat of her car, my brother loves to river fish so of course I made him a ridiculously large octopus hat... Well, I didn't know how to make a carp hat 😁 They are the only people I ever make for, not even for husband or my grown kids. No one else shows the kind of appreciation my little heart requires for handmade gifts lol... or is it that my brother is as daft as me, his wife is as daft as him cos she married him so we are all just as daft as each other 😂

Oh I get it! Most of my gifting is exclusively handmade stuff. What gets me “salty” is when they never seem to use your gifts! I made a beautiful lace baby bonnet and socks out of cream baby alpaca - so delicate and lovely and soft and warm - and as far as I know they never put them on their baby… or they washed them and they became doll clothes…

It's good to see your re-knit jumper is getting so much wear 😊 I have exclusively only crafted gifts for close family, mostly my Daughter who is allways very appreciative and sweetly fond of her hand made clothes and knit garments.

If you set up some floating warp ends, you'll have better control over your edges. If you lay your weft diagonally, you'll get control over excessive draw in of the sides. And you can save time by using your reed to beat instead of a hand teaser. It will help with setting the weft to the warp and you'll have a more consistent weave. If you need help, give a shout. Caryl - DunRovinStation Tartan and Tweed Studio and it's NOT a stupid little scarf!

One year I made scarves for my 5 managers out of Malabrigo. They've never been worn or even seen again.

Sorry to hear about the socks 😢 I haven't had any really bad/painful experiences with handmade gifts, but I am the same as you - only worthy people in my life get special gifts. Less worthy people might get a quick and useful sewing project, such as reusable shopping bags or totebags. Most people like them and if not, it only took me 30 minutes to make ☺️

I don't know how to weave at all, so it seems like you are doing everything right to me! You made fabric, after all! I didn't make any christmas gifts thus year, which was a good decision because things got quite crazy in December. But, a couple family members showed their knit-worthy-ness, so now that I know they would appreciate a handknit gift, I just might want to make them something!:)

As a child up to age 17 or so, I crafted gifts for EVERYONE I knew and for EVERY possible occasion. It just brought me so much joy (and there was no way I could keep/store everything I crafted). But now, as I'm studying and working full time for my midwives degree, time is very limited... So I tend to make either things for myself that I really love, or craft for a handful of special loved ones on irregular occasions. And yes, realizing who is "craftworthy" is really useful :) By the way, I loved this video and seeing your weaving process!

I sew, and I discovered about two years ago that my sister-in-law and her husband are "not craftworthy." I asked them if they would like a table runner and matching placemats for Christmas and I was told, "That's not really our style." Everything I suggested was met with, "oh, we don't use that, that was more Mom's style, or whatever." So, no. I won't spend my time on them that way. My daughter and her family will take anything I make and will be thrilled. My son loves homemade pillowcases and quilts, and I make dresses for my granddaughter who is always asking why I make things for anyone else and not just her.

ooh first comment! Know nothing about weaving. Wanted to talk about uncraftworthy people. Crochet someone at work a beautiful scarf in 4 ply hand dyed merino yak blend. Was for a secret Santa present. I thought she would love it. I was very wrong. I popped round her home to drop something off and saw it in the dog basket. I was so upset. Never again!

You loom resembles a rigid heddle loom but 4 shafts. It looks so neat! Once I made a friend a handmade purse (I have an industrial leather machine) she told me how beautiful it was and that I should sell them....I laughed and said no one would pay me what it was worth. She then said she'd pay 50$....my material costs are more than 50$ I was heart broken. Never seen her use it ever and it was beautiful. I also made a cosmetic bag for my niece and sil and the look they had when they opened it was disappointment. It was heart breaking because they were leather. Oh and one I made a beautiful cosmetic bag for a family member (leather) she wanted to turn it into a purse and put a reused strap into the zipper by putting a jump ring into it and wreaked it....then wanted me to fix it (you can't without essentially remaking it) oh and once the same family member asked me to make her a historical costume for her work and and told me to sew a size 12.....only when I sewed it all up it was gorgeous but didn't fit her because she neglected to tell me that she only uses 1/4" seam allowance instead of the 5/8" seam allowance that the pattern company uses. So she did a hack job of "fixing it" I give up crafting for others unless they are worthy. I too bought a loom to weave fabric for skirts funny how great minds think alike

Hi Jente, I hope you're OK xx ❣️❣️❣️❣️ Thankyou so much for sharing this video podcast. Your Hand Woven Scarves look amazing. 🧣🧣 Makes the 2nd one a bit more special with having used some of your🧶🧣 Handspun Yarn.🎉🎉🎡🎡🧶🧶 Happy Spinning and Weaving Fibre Friend 🎡🎉🐑🥰 Taje care and stay safe Lots of love and Big Hugs Jen xxxx ❤️❤️❤️❤️🫂🫂🫂🫂🫂🐕

Your loom is beautiful! Your scarf was beautiful. What a great gift. I have an Ashford, rigid Heddle loom that I love. I’m sure someone can help you find parts. I have also learned the knit worthiness lesson haha, ouch.

The way the shafts and reed stabiliser are designed (no rods or overhangs to guide the reed) are very much like a ridged heddle but with the bonus of having multiple shafts. You may be able to make a makeshift castle with levers and strings to raise the heddles but you seem to be doing great!

Love both scarves and you did well to finish them on time made me get back to my inkle loom which I had wanted to do since I got home, can’t work in my studio it is full of mud due to heavy rain etc.etc for how long I don’t know I immediately moved the wheel I had in there and wiped it off ok, and the floor inkle loom and tapestry frame plus my machines, all the rest has to wait for the insurance people to sort out, I also removed all the quilt and embroidery hoops as heaters and dehumidifier have been going 24/7 since to try and dry the room out. Luckily my small inkle loom was in the house,with a half finished warp time to finish that tonight, I have plenty of craft worthy friends. I even have one sister in law beautiful knitter,who knitted me an Aran sweater ,and someone asked why ,her comment why shouldn’t she gat one even if she does knit. I wear it often it is beautiful. My family expect home made gifts from me, even down to the cookies,

I don’t think you’re missing anything on your loom! I can’t wait to try Italian hem stitching on mine and next a crazy tweed Chanel style perhaps if I have the time

Loving the Jente-face on the circus music ❤

The two scarves turned out beautifully! I actually started a weaving class at my local weaving group last week, on a louet erica, and it was amazing. Twill is absolute magic! For the first lesson the loom is set up for you, but next week we have to do it ourselves. Very curious to see how that goes! (And I hope I can use some handspun wool as well soon!)

My ex-husband asked for handknit hats. I made him a couple, even my very first color work hat went on his head. Those hats lived on the floor. He wore them each once and then didn't pay any mind as to what happened to them. I never made him anything else and he complained about that.

Interesting giant 4 shaft . Keep going, you are great!

Man, I need to warp my loom! I scored a used rigid heddle loom on ebay a couple of months ago and it is just sitting in my craft room closet waiting for me to try it out. I even have yarn picked out to make a scarf, I just need to dedicate some time to it. It doesn't help that it is missing a few parts, but I think I can get by without them. Re handmade gifts: I also make a lot less nowadays. Luckily all of my sisters in law love the pajamas I sew for their children, so I keep doing that. But I don't knit things for a lot of my family anymore. I will make little things like potholders, etc if I feel inspired.

I used to be very critical about the things i made and thought they were rubbish and i valued money over my time a lot when i was younger. For me it was nothing to spend hours making some (in my opinion) rubbish accessory for someone rather than spending actual money on them that i could be spending on myself. Now i am still generous with my gifting (especially for small items in cheap/stash yarn) but value my work a lot more

I was wondering when we were going to see that loom in use! It looks lovely, but I can imagine it is tough on the shoulders. Hope someone can give you tips, I only have a rigid heddle loom. But I am eyeing the yarn I just made and want to combine it with some older yarn I have spun and maybe warp my loom up again too!

Mooie Drowning Pool imitatie 😂

Very nice scarves!!! I LOVE weaving!! It is really nice after warping to just go go go and let the brain shut off. I have a rigid heddle loom, but I do think your loom is missing some parts

Oh noo the socks! T^T At least they are with some one who appreciates them now! That loom is so interesting to me! The way you have to handle the shafts and the reed being unattached are a lot like a rigid heddle loom, but like, a rigid heddle loom for girlies who want 4 shafts...I genuinely dont think it was meant to have peddles or levers. I dont know anything about Weviti looms but my loom has levers on the top right side and I also get shoulder pain when I weave for a long time I think it might just be in the nature of table looms. The reed holder on my loom is broken so I use a weaving sword to beat the weft which has the advantage of making me feel like a noble warrior when I must call for my sword. One day I hope to commission a weaving sword made to look like an actual sword but that would be expensive...... Im a selfish crafter, I generally only make gifts for other crafters who appreciate the time and effort! And nice quality materials!!!! My worst stories are just people not using my stuff even when they begged for it, and that was enough to make me salty!

Yay twill! I love twill, I also want to make a skirt with some, it's such a simple but fun fabric. Your scarves really do look great, each with its own vibe. I only make handcrafted presents for people who will properly enjoy them, but most of the people I give presents to do actually fall under that category so unfortunately I still have more gifts to make than I have spoons T.T (ps to Caption Jente: we love the Jente Face)

Is there a reason you are using a tapestry beater rather than the beater for the loom? I'm guessing maybe because it's heavier than I think? There are aspects of a table loom and a rigid heddle loom here and I'm fascinated. *I continued watching and got my answer about the tapestry beater. I suspect you are meant to beat with the reed but it would be on you to keep it square to your cloth.

Imagine forgetting fancy socks someone spun and knit for you o.O I was indeed wondering why you didn't use the reed to beat but i assumed you'd explain it at some point ^^ as you did. Also side note that you might have already figured out but just in case it can be helpful: I'd recommend to weave the ends in while weaving :P like cutting the thread while leaving 10 cm or so, than wrapping it around the outer most warp thread and putting it back in the still open shed and after a few cm letting the end hang out to the bottom to cut after finishing. This way no extra weaving in is required.

If it really doesn’t have pedals, maybe you could build some? Or pull handles?

I think i'm lucky and blessed that a lot of the people in my life are also crafters, or otherwise ridiculously appreciative of the work that goes into crafting, so my horror story of gifting a handcrafted gift to someone is nowhere near as horrific as some. no. instead, my horror story involves a HORRIBLE pattern of my fiancé accidentally leaving behind scarves i've made him in public places in the winter and not realizing until it is WAY TOO LATE to go back and try to find them. he is always distraught when it happens though, otherwise i'd never make him another thing.

Yes, you're missing parts. You should 100% have treadles (which allow you to move the shafts by pressing on them with your feet). It looks very much like a floor loom to me. I suspect you may be able to create some makeshift treadles, but if you know the brand of your loom, you may be able to find or buy the necessary parts.

I'm not a weaver (er, well, not _yet,_ I'm sort of tempted by the idea of spinning some flax &/or hemp and that really needs to be woven, rather than knitted or crocheted...) so I didn't have any urges to tear out my eyes at the sight of what you were doing. You were making woven fabric, so you must have been doing it right! The scarf you made for your friend is nice but I _love_ the scarf you made for your godfather. I do, however, have some sensory issues, and so I'd really appreciate it it you didn't include any sound tracks that have whistling. One RU-vidr who specialises in weaving suggested that the best way to warp a loom is to get a friend to help you. Could you inveigle your husband into assisting or do you know anyone who'd like to help or that perhaps could be bribed or coerced into assisting? "Come over to the warped side, *_we have cookies!"_* Fortunately the recipient of my hand-made Xmas gift this year was craftworthy. EDIT: Don't beat yourself up about your "inability" to count to 4. I knitted a shawl last year where one section of the pattern involved knit 4, slip 4 (or purl 4, slip 4 if you were on the other side) with the slips being offset by one stitch each row. A lot of people found that section of the pattern tricky.

That person really missed out. Did your mom end up keeping the socks? BTW, the scarves turned out beautifully ❤

Did you make a psychostick reference? lol