I am in the process of setting up an old loom at the guest house. It's a great big 150cm wide traditional finnish style harness loom and it is so gorgeus! It was donated to me by a very generous lady whom I met at the community studio. She was wanting to find a good home for her old family loom since she didn't have space for it in her house anymore.
There's a lot of that going around in Finland right now, a lot of old looms being sold for cheap or donated for free, since we are living in a gap in time where modern homes are smaller and smaller (people run out of space for them) whilst the new generation of self sustenance and potential weaving enthusiasts are yet to form a large enough market to form a matching demand for these old looms.
This loom came with a brief piece of history: it was made and constructed by hand in 1953 by a carpenter called Albin Pirttimaa. He was at the time working as a carpenter for the local Border Guard and got commissioned to make a loom for a local family.
And now I have it 63 years later. I feel so lucky to have recieved this awesome gift and can't wait to start weaving with it. It's missing some spare parts and I need to get those done before we can start.
I love imagining how many meters of rug and wall cloth have been woven on this loom, how many heartaches might have healed in its comforting company, how many children have played under it, and how many dogs have sniffed its well worn pedals.
The loom is luckily in its original rustic shape and color, and has not been painted over. You can still see the markings and measurements that the carpenter has made while fitting the pieces together. I think the seat has served as a carpenting table at some point too by the looks of it. But I don't mind. I love old the paint stains!
I plan to keep count of how many pieces I make on it by markings on its side.
I shall likely be giving the loom a name shortly since I have a tendency to give names to precious companions like tools ;)
Oh yes, I hope to have a long and happy life together with this one ;) And when the time comes, I will pass her forward.
