Maker Spotlight: Loomin' Marvellous

This month we've delved into the world of weaving with Jude from Loomin' Marvellous.  Jude works on rigid heddle looms and multishift table looms to make her cloth as well as weaving bands using an inkle loom.

When did you start your craft?
I started my craft in December 2020 after experiencing pain in my hands from crocheting and needing to find a craft that would use up my enormous yarn stash.

What do you like best about it?
Having a variety of looms allows me to pick and choose how complex or easy I would like my weaving days to be.  The simple rigid heddle loom gives me the opportunity to quickly (within a day) create a shawl from a chunky yarn, whereas the complexity of using the 8-shaft loom requires a certain amount of maths and pre-planning, and a fair amount of patience to thread the pattern in the heddles, before I start to follow the treadling pattern to create a complex weave. So, no two days are the same, and no two weaves are the same, and the weaving possibilities are endless.

Do you have a favourite thing to make?
I love using a soft British wool, such as the Blue Faced Leicester in a DK weight to create a soft, warm winter shawl, to wrap around your shoulders of a chilly evening.

Why is crafting important to you?
Crafting, or more specifically weaving has now become my full-time job, though it never feels like ‘work’! Each day I enter my weaving room, look around at the yarns, look outside at the beautiful natural setting I’m surrounded by, and feel excited to be starting a new project, or continuing with a project on one of the looms, or even head downstairs to dye some yarn.  I doubt I’ll ever get tired, bored or uninspired, as there are too many opportunities to try something new, be it a new technique, a new pattern, a new yarn, or just to experiment and see ‘what happens when...’

What are your preferred products to use?
I prefer to use 100% British wool, as there are so many to choose from, and so many different fleeces to experiment with. Some breeds are perfect for garments, some perfect for Krokbragd rugs, others ideal for felting.

Do you have any advice for anyone wanting to take up your craft?
I would advise anyone taking up handweaving to try and find a weaving tutor to learn the basics from.  I had to learn via You Tube videos, as I took up this craft during Covid, and therefore spent the first 6 months learning from my many mistakes, until the ‘pieces of the jigsaw’ started to slot together.

I now teach weaving on a one-to-one basis, or in small groups and I always start the lesson with counting the Wraps Per Inch (WPI) of the yarn.  This simple part is often missed out on You Tube tutorials, and yet it is fundamental in all woven fabrics.

 What's your favourite thing about World of Wool? (A leading question? Never! :P)
The huge variety of beautiful yarns available, and the sustainability of supporting British sheep farmers and their wool production. 

I am excited to see how the yarn industry will progress in the future, with the possibility of making wool garments take more of a centre stage and plant-based fibres replacing the ‘plastic’ fibres, in order that the planet can be protected, and a fully sustainable textile industry can develop for our grandchildren.

You can find Loomin' Marvellous on Facebook, Instagram and their own website.