Rigid Heddle Weaving

In my last post I mentioned the Craftsy classes that I had bought.  One was a weaving class for beginners on rigid heddle looms. 

About 4 years ago Kev gave me a loom for my birthday. It was a little rigid heddle loom called a cricket.  I loved it and wove about 4 scarves on it right away. Then I put it away and haven't used it much since.  

I purchased an e book a while back called Kismet from Hill Country Weavers. The premise of this book is simple weaving on rigid heddle looms combining knitting, crochet and sewing. It's a great book with some really cute and interesting patterns. There are about 7 projects here that I'd like to make.  

Like so many books and magazines I buy, I put it aside for later and I kind of forgot it about. Then one of my favorite video podcasters showed a finished object from this little book and I decided to get out my cricket. 

The project is called Wine and Roses.  You really should check out Steph's (from Must Stash Podcast) version here. http://www.ravelry.com/projects/SupaSteph/wine--roses Its really cute and so wearable. I think these would make great gifts for Christmas. 

My poor little loom hasn't seen much action in recent years. Immediately after the fire I cleaned it but even today 2 years after the fire it still smells of smoke. 

Also, the two apron rods were gone. I have no idea what happened to them. In the chaos after the fire and the subsequent cleaning I can only assume they've been misplaced. So I improvised and used two large DPNs.  So far it's working out good. 

You can see the straight knitting needle here. This was too long to wind the warp around so I found the shorter DPNs. 

If you look real close here you can see the DPN. The fringe is tied around the it. I am a little nervous that the strands will slide off the ends of the double pointed needle. 

Here is the weaving so far. I've always loved this combination of colours. When I'm done with the weaving I'll pick up stitches and knit in a solid color for 15 inches or so. I'm not sure the best color to use. I'm thinking a charcoal color perhaps. The entire piece is finished with

A crocheted edging and buttonholes. Perhaps I'll use some of the buttons from the order that I placed from etsy last week.  

Stay tuned to see me complete this piece. My tension sucks so far and you can really see this when you look closely at the edge of the weaving. I plan on making more of these or perhaps others from this book. I can only improve right?