Handwoven Boxy Bag

When I got my big loom all the way back in November, I was excited beyond measure.

And then I had to set it up.

It was mostly set up when I bought it, but we had to take it apart a little bit to get it into Mike's truck, an then we had to take it apart even more to get it into my craft room. It seems that some of the door frames in our house are abnormally small.

So instead of weaving on it right away like I'd hoped, I spent a weekend putting it together. The frustrations associated with that ordeal were enough to dampen my enthusiasm. 

Still, I was determined to weave on it, if only to prove to my husband that it was well worth the (considerable) price we paid for it.

I decided I would weave a rug for my office because why not. I had lots of carpet warp, so it seemed like a good idea. And just to get good practice, I warped 10 yards and enough to fit the loom's entire 45 inch width.

As I was warping the loom, a warp thread broke. Not great, but what's one thread? As I started weaving, I struggled to keep my shuttle from falling out of the warp. And then more warp threads started breaking. It turned out that one of the harnesses was in upside down.

It was miserable.

It took me almost three months to admit it wasn't working. In that time I managed to weave only five inches. A more experienced weaver would have known how to fix it, but all I  could do was cut all 10 yards off the loom. 

It was wasteful, but it was still a good decision. 

​Because I got this on the loom. 

A three yard warp, only about 12 inches wide. The goal was really just to get something on and off the loom. Mission accomplished.

The warp is a basic worsted weight wool knitting yarn that was in my stash. The weft is handspun wool that was in the stash that came with the loom. I played with a bunch of different patterns just  for the heck of it, which seems to be my m.o. One day I'll have to pick a pattern and stick with it, but this was not  that day. 

Once I got it off the loom, I wasn't really sure what to do with it. Not exactly the right dimensions for a scarf, and the gray handspun is way to scratch for next-to-skin wear. 

I've been hankering for a bigger bag to keep toiletries in. I have one at home that I love, but my locker at work is an embarrassing mishmash of stuff that falls out at the most inopportune times. So I made this boxy bag from the instructions over at Purl Soho. My fabric was exactly half the width needed for the pattern, so I seamed two edges together. 

I love the idea of making something useful out of my weaving samples. This bag is far from perfect, but it will do exactly the job I want it to do. And what could beat that?