Loom with a View
I have Margot to thank. En route to a break in Northumberland last year we met up at her studio in Gateshead. To have dedicated space to bring all the making bits and pieces together and to share the building with other 'creatives'; it made such sense!
Not sure why I expected a similar studio space to throw itself at me in Suffolk; it didn't, and I've spent some months since completing the final project trying to find something that would suit. It all got a bit 'Goldilocks' - too big, too small, too far, too expensive.
'Just right' arrived in August. Ten miles from home, through wonderful Suffolk countryside, to the lovely village of Earl Soham where one of the local landowners rents out small business units across two sites. I chose the bigger of the two because of the tall ceilings and great light.
There has been much ferrying of looms, knitting machines, yarn etc etc. Then the setting up. It's about ready for work to start, just in time for a mad spurt of production before the Christmas British Craft weekends at Blackthorpe Barns begin.
The idea was to reduce to two looms - my 24-shaft Magic Dobby and a floor loom that would be used predominantly for rug weaving. Looks as though I'm now up to four looms. How could I resist the Berga Savonia that was set up for shaft-switching. And I've yet to part with the portable 8-shaft Ashford.
The view from the loom is a pastoral delight. A pair of brown and white skewbald horses just put into the paddock on the drive, four squirrels busily gathering acorns from the magnificent oaks at the back of the barn, all against a backdrop of glorious autumn colour.
And we have our house back! No longer can all my worldly making goods be found in every room other than the shower and bathrooms. Happy Days!
