For my small tapestry work and for teaching on small looms, I have used Hokett looms for many years. Jim Hokett retired in 2019 and though I will use my personal stash of these looms forever, those of you who didn’t manage to get one before he retired are looking for other options.
Why would you want to weave on looms like these? I’ve written about this a lot on this blog, but the short answer is that small looms are less intimidating. They tend to allow us to play with yarn and ideas without feeling like we’re making something monumental. I think that helps us drop our own expectations and allows us to learn without shame because what we’re doing might not match the image we had in our head. They’re also portable, less expensive, and they don’t use as much yarn as big looms. (BTW, My Weaving Tapestry on Little Looms online class is a great introduction to using these small looms.)
I have four great options for you and I am sure there are others out there. I’ve woven on all of them and I can recommend them all for various reasons.* All four of these looms are made in the USA, many of them completely by hand. Please remember if you’re ordering a hand-made loom from someone that they most likely won’t be able to get it to you as quickly as a large commercial operation could. Be patient. Make or buy another loom while you wait for your treasured heirloom equipment. For example, you could purchase a Schacht loom or make a copper pipe loom (links below) while you wait for one of the other three looms.
Looms from left to right: Handywoman loom, Schacht Easel Weaver, Made Kits by One-one thousand, solid arched loom from Weaving Rainbow
Handywoman Looms
These looms are made by Janet Fox. They come in several different sizes. The one pictured is a medium sized loom, 8 x 10.5 inches. They come at 6 or 8 dents per inch in various woods. The ends of the bars where the teeth are are rounded somewhat and the wood is cut with the grain. The teeth of this 8 dent loom seem exceptionally sturdy. I love the gorgeous wood. I am really excited about this loom. It is beautiful, functional, and such a pleasure to weave on. I’ll be ordering other sizes!
Handywoman Shop’s website is: https://www.handywomanshop.com/
Handywoman tapestry loom
Handywoman loom detail
Handywoman loom with small tapestry on it. (More images of this loom and some thoughts about travel weaving on small looms HERE.)
Made Kits by One-one thousand
This is a loom I just found recently. It is another solid little I-shaped loom that is very well made. This loom has acrylic teeth that are set at 6 dents per inch and the loom comes in a couple sizes. The larger size is the one pictured here and is 6.4 x 8.25 inches. The acrylic piece does come in a few different colors and could be replaced if you broke it. Acrylic is sturdy, but can break if you drop it on something hard (so can wooden teeth of course). These looms are handmade in Madison, Wisconsin.
Their website is here: https://www.madekits.com/shop
Made Kits loom, acrylic teeth are replaceable and come in colors
Made Kits tapestry loom
Made Kits loom by One-one thousand with a test yarn tapestry on it.
Weaving Rainbow Arched Loom
Weaving Rainbow is a small shop run by Jessica Ostrow (you might know her from the Ravelry Tapestry Weaving page). She is carrying a solid-backed loom that is arched. When this loom first arrived I thought I wasn’t going to like it because of the solid back, but for small things, the curve of the wood leaves plenty of room to get your fingers behind the warp and it was fun to weave on. The one I have pictured here is 5 dents per inch and I have warped it double for 10 epi. The loom is adorable, sturdy, and I’ll definitely be choosing it for small things at 10 epi. It is also available in 8 dents per inch.
Arched loom from Weaving Rainbow
Schacht Easel Weaver
And if you are at a weaving store or want to order online from a larger retailer like The Woolery, Schacht Spindle Company makes an I-shaped loom called the Easel Weaver. Schacht is a larger company with retailers all over the world—”larger” when compared to the other offerings in this post. In the world of business, they are still a small business run by the owners, Barry Schacht and Jane Patrick.
The little easel foot folds into the body of the loom. While it isn’t really stable enough to weave on with it propped up, you can set your weaving up and admire it between sessions. Or you could leave your piece on the loom and use it as a frame. The one caution I have about this loom is that the wooden structure is flat. This means that unless you push your warp forward on the pegs (which is easy to do and does work), there is no space between your warp and the wooden center post. Having some space behind the warp makes it easier to weave.
The teeth on this loom are the same ones the company uses on the Schacht School Loom and the Lilli Loom (the latter being another good small loom option). They are set a little wider than 5 dents per inch. Doubled you’d get a sett of between 10 and 11 epi. I talk about how to warp these kinds of looms for different setts in the Weaving Tapestry on Little Looms online course.
Schacht Easel Weaver
For this post, I was focusing on looms that have the I-shape, but there are many other small looms out there that are useable on your lap. Lost Pond Looms is a company that makes nice sturdy wooden looms and of course you can always make your own copper pipe loom which has the advantage of providing warp tensioning.
Update, May 18, 2020: The Saffron Pocket Loom from Mirrix is here!
Mirrix Looms released a new loom called the Saffron Pocket Loom in spring of 2020. This is a small peg-type loom that has tensioning. This loom comes apart which makes it infinitely packable for travel and the tensioning works very well. The sett is 8 epi but it can be warped at other setts as I describe in the Weaving Tapestry on Little Looms online course. More information is HERE. Did I mention that this is a very small loom that comes apart even smaller that has tensioning? This is a great loom.
Mirrix Saffron loom. I was weaving on this loom while broadcasting Change The Shed this month.
*None of these companies pay me to say this. I just want to provide you with information about what looms you might use and where to get them. If you have other favorites, please post them in the comments!