I have been away so long!

...and I'm not sure exactly what I've been doing. I've been doing a spinning commission--somebody brought me the prepared fleeces of her pet llamas. I've also really been working on a new living history project.

I have a small, primitive loom, made mostly of wood and rawhide. It has two harnesses and needs string heddles. It's *really* basic, and it's also fairly plausible, I hope, for 17th century Scotland. At the very least, it is a good example of just how primitive a loom can be.

So, I wanted a project for it. I've never woven linen. In our period, (1630, highlands of Scotland)
shirts and shifts were of linen. I want to weave reasonably fine linen on this primitive loom.

So, I've been making heddles. LOTS of heddles. I have 6000 yards of linen; that's enough to weave 22 threads per inch over 16 inches, or 176 heddles per frame. I have been making them by just tying waxed linen thread around a block of wood; that puts them all at the same size within a small fraction of an inch.

After I make the heddles, I take them off my block of wood and mount them on the loom. The bottom photo is the loom with some of the heddles on.

Off I go to the Weaver's Guild where I will be able to make a warp of 352 threads, each 7.5 yds. long. Wish me well!