Today I drove out to Red Stone Glen weaving center for their first ever sale. I was expecting to get some yarn, a weaving reel and shuttles because I ordered a Schacht Baby Wolf(!) to be delivered around the new year but they had a Wolf Pup for a reasonable price and I just went for it.

I know, bonkers. It’s the older model with four treadles and four shafts (this is the 2020 version) but they gave me a new reed and assured me it was in great shape and wonderful to learn on.

I have been thinking about applying for a Maryland Folklife Grant for weaving and tracked down a woman who is about an hour away who has a weaving studio on her farm and is heavily involved in Maryland Sheep and Wool. I visited her and she said she really recommended getting a floor loom, specially a baby wolf because they are easy to use, fold up and can be transported. I took a deep breath and ordered one because I can find them used much cheaper. She said she could help me learn even if she wasn’t my official “master” for the grant.

So why buy the smaller Wolf Pup then? Impulse? Really, when I saw them in person I realized I’m not sure if I could actually wrestle a Baby Wolf into my Matrix by myself for a class or to hopefully work with the woman I talked about above. This is much lighter and a bit smaller. Folded up, it’s actually smaller than my 32 inch Kromski rigid heddle on the stand! Heavier, but a smaller footprint.

Worse case scenario, I could always sell one myself, the resale value is really good on these smaller looms. I could find a Might Wolf pretty reasonably but I really don’t have room for that.

Now I have to figure it out! I bought a copy of the Tom Knisley video I had out of the library before (Red Stone Glen is his family’s studio and he actually lifted the loom into the car for me!) which hopefully will help! I’m nervous but excited.

I’m really excited about the reel. Warping my 32 Kromski has been rough and the boards seem confusing. Gwen, the experienced weaver, uses the reel and it made more sense to me when she demo’d it.