I visited the government’s Weavers’ Service Centre yesterday and hope to go for a two week or longer course, which they hold for a very affordable fee. This photo shows a stall the Centre had at the National Handloom Expo I went to in January. An ikat warp was being wound on the loom.

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I have my eye on a loom made in the Netherlands, which will cost more than a small car after accounting for shipping. Half my mind finds it worth the expense, egged on by the forums on Ravelry. Illogical lust, you know. The sort of thing that years later, you cringe to remember and wonder how your mind deceived you so much.

The other half of my mind cautions against extravagant (in many senses) impulse, and argues that I should not apply first world criteria to my second world hobbies, and what if I don’t want to weave any more a few years from now? I’d be left with a white elephant.

The Weavers’ Service Centre has a carpenter who’s offered to build me the loom I want. It will be a fraction of the cost. And there will always be spare parts easily available. It might not have the polish or finesse of the foreign loom, though, and would that make it difficult for me to work on, as a novice?

There’s a new little devil in my head whispering, “Get both”.