One thing I’ve noticed about weaving is how few really complete resources there are out there. I’m working on one myself as I get started on this adventure but I thought I’d share some observations.

Even lists or blog posts that are headlined “what do you need to get weaving?” are bizarrely incomplete. Why is this? Why don’t stores that sell weaving equipment have a handy list posted? They would sell more items. I ended up buying from a few different stores but would have happy to have bought it all at once and been done with it. Weaving is a very expensive hobby and if you are already going all in and buying a new loom, maybe make it easy so when it arrives, the person 100% knows that they have everything to get started.

Every step of the way in my weaving journey when I’ve thought I was ready something else popped up.

I ordered a Baby Wolf back in mid-November and was told it would arrive in early December. That got pushed to almost the new year and then again to the end of January. Totally understandable.

I went to the Red Stone Glen sale the day after Thanksgiving to get some yarn and supplies because I was expecting the Baby Wolf to arrive any day. While there I ended up buying an used older model Wolf Pup at an extreme discount because I figured the smaller size would be good for hauling in my car for lessons or events or to share with a friend or my husband. I had hoped for a used reel (the real reason I drove the hour and half there) but they didn’t have any used, just new.

I told them I was new to weaving and had ordered a Baby Wolf and wanted to get a reel after seeing someone use one instead of a warping board, a shuttle, some bobbins for the shuttle, yarn and a beginning weaving DVD. Did anyone suggest I get a bobbin winder? No! Did any list of what to get a new weaver include one? No! Did I realize I needed one when I went to wind the yarn onto my new bobbin? Yes! They aren’t cheap! But I would have bought one right then.

I did ask if the Wolf Pup needed anything that wasn’t with it and they very nicely did throw in a reed for it. But why not suggest something else a beginning weaver might not know about?

I was hoping to get my Baby Wolf and we had put up our Christmas tree where the looms would go so I basically unloaded the Wolf Pup and put it out of the way. When I was told the Baby Wolf wasn’t going to arrive until almost February, I pulled out the Wolf Pup and rewatched the DVD. In the DVD they used apron rods to warp the loom that I realized I didn’t have but normally come standard with the pup. I ordered them online.

I decided to wind some bobbins for my new shuttle and realized that…I really need a bobbin winder! Unlike my rigid heddle shuttles, I can’t really do it by hand very well. So I had to place another order from the only place I could find them in stock, an Etsy shop that makes their own. Waiting for that now. But I only realized I needed one after googling “winding bobbin for weaving tips”.

I decided to put together the reel and chain some yarn while I waited. Then I ran into the same problem I had when I was shopping for rigid heddle looms—the reel was unfinished. Now this is a $300+ reel. Why can’t it be finished? It was sold to me in person, in a generic box sight unseen so I didn’t know until I opened it up.

I live in a city and it’s winter. I can’t be using mineral spirits in my bedroom. I’m just going to put it together now and finish it in the spring. Fingers crossed that’s fine. The directions for the reel are a little vague and again, seem to assume some sort of familiarity with using a reel or assembling one. It required a lot of sanding! Someone at a weaving store could really make some extra cash if they would offer to assemble and sand all these things before they they sell them. Or for online stores to offer it as an extra service (and shipping) fee. Or you know, the companies that make them could sell them finished like every other piece of furniture I own.

I get that many people get into weaving because they have family or friends who weave. But I can’t be the only person who is doing this basically on their own or who doesn’t have a woodshop in their backyard.

I don’t think it’s gatekeeping exactly but even the “beginning” instructions and guides really expect you to be pretty familiar with what to do or have other resources. Meanwhile I can’t get the Greater Baltimore Weavers Guild to respond to my basic, polite emails.

I found this to be true even in “easier” weaving circles like the pin loom. It is assumed you know and are proficient in other yarn crafts like crochet in patterns or in videos they don’t show all the steps, just the first few and expect you to extrapolate from there. I don’t see the point in posting these patterns and videos if you aren’t going to do a good, complete job of explaining things. Luckily my husband is willing to watch the videos and try along with me which is a big help. But uploading a video on YouTube where you are blocking the loom half the time or speed up after step one is helping no one but those who already know what they are doing.

Should I have to have a woodshop or 20 year old film canisters to use as weights in order to get started weaving? I say no.

These sorts of impediments are why it is going to be difficult to continue to attract new and urban weavers.