Every weaver has their favorite set of books that they always have at the stand by to help answer questions or to just spark their imagination. One of the books that I learned to weave from is Learning to Weave by Deborah Chandler. Tonight I'm going to share with you why I love it so much.
When I first started weaving, or even getting interested in fiber design, my mother gave me this book. I really didn't sit down and read it until a couple years ago because I was weaving, but not knowing what exactly I was doing. I was following direction, but did not understand what those directions meant. I finally sat down and read this book. At the time a lot of it didn't make sense, but now that I have gone back and read it a few times (just to keep fresh) it has become an invaluable resource for me.
This book covers the basics like: "What is weaving?", basic weaving vocabulary and moves along to how to read a draft. There are also problem solving solutions, like how to repair a broken heddle, or how to mend a broken warp thread. The diagrams are very clear line drawings that help to maintain the clean look of this book.
This book is definitely for a wide range of weavers, from the very early beginners to move seasoned weavers. It does not contain information on more complicated structures, or move beyond 4 harness drafts, but it still a great foothold to maintain when learning how to weave.
She also has step by step on how to plan a project, using a set of placemats as an example. This book is not project based, but more as a tool to help you plan your own projects.
I love this book and I always keep it within a couple feet of my loom when I am starting a new project. There are many great learning to weave books, this is just the one that I have had since the beginning and it has meant a lot to me when trying to figure out why my warp is too short, or why my sett isn't right. It takes making mistakes to learn how to fix them, but it takes a really good resource to teach you how.
Learning to Weave will fit right in with all those other fantastic weaving books you have in your library.