I believe in one God, Angels, and Saints. I have no doubt that God and one of his sweetest angels, teeny Great-Grandma Lula Belle Ward were watching out for me the past two weeks.

The table-top loom that I’ve been building, while it wove a few inches in an hour, required alot of babysitting to make a good weave. While perusing Ebay pictures for ideas on changes I could make to my loom, I ran into this ad (you can click the picture to view the link):

I sent the link to Michael. We laughed and said why don’t things like this come up when we have money? I kept drawing out plans. About an hour went by, when he comes in and says, “What’s the chances? The two text link ad companies just sent me my payment two days early and it’s a dollar more than we need to get the loom. Want a loom? Interested in a road trip to TN? WAS I???? DID I????

With baited breath, Michael waited until the last possible moment to bid on the loom. I thought for sure that since our maximum bid was so low that the other person bidding would win it, so I did not get my hopes up. Michael’s maximum outbid the other person by 2.50. He paypal’d the money right away and sent an email asking if we could pick it up the next day.

We heard back from Mrs. Smith the next day around 12pm, that we could come and get it, so we were rushing to pack pb&j sandwiches, milk, and coffee and off we headed to Del Rio, TN. About 6 hours away. We arrived just as it had gotten dark. Del Rio is a small town that you reach by winding roads crossing over rivers. There are alot of abandoned buildings which proclaim the difficult times keenly felt in alot of these small communities.

We met Mrs. Smith at a parking lot and followed her to her home about 12? or was it 20? miles into their small town until we came to rest in the driveway beside the loom. Mr. and Mrs. Smith and ‘Grandma’ were the nicest people one would ever want to meet. It was just like going back to Gauley Bridge, WV to visit family. ‘ Grandma’ was so tiny and looked soooo much like my great-grandma Ward that I just knew Lula Belle was smiling down from heaven at me!

Mrs. Smith gave me a copy of a letter from a lady that helped her in determining what type of loom she had and how best to sell it. She also reminded me again that there was a loom just like it at Red Clay Park. We were definitely going to check it out. We arrived home around midnight.

The boys were total angels on the trip. I was surprised, tho, to hear Michael asking the next day, if I wanted to make one more drive up to TN to see the loom at the park. The boys were excited and said – Yeah – c’mon Mom – let’s go. (They were hoping for a chance to bird watch in TN), lol So again, it was 12 in the afternoon, we packed more sandwiches and headed back up. This time, we made it to the park with 45 minutes to spare before it closed at 4:30pm, thanks to a shortcut up to Cartersville that Michael discovered.

The loom is upstairs in an employees only section, but the lady at the desk was kind enough to allow us to go up and take pictures. Afterwards, we hurriedly walked to each of the buildings, took a few pictures, and then it was back into the truck to see what we could see before dark. There had been an ice storm a few days before. We went to ‘rock city’, stomped on a few snow burms and bought some rock city fudge for a return home treat.

This is the loom that resides at Red Clay park:

There are a great deal more pictures of it and all the other looms, which I will upload in the next few week into my flickr albums and at antique spinning wheels and looms. This loom had some neat features. The rawhide straps used in the castle’s rods, the turquoise blue dyed heddle strings to readily identify the dent spacings and the original reed made from true reeds. It is a beautiful loom! It has a rag rug on it, put there for show. While the reed is sleyed, the heddle strings are not.

Red Clay loom from the back

Red Clay loom from the side

I think my favorite is the rawhide straps – such a creative solution that is! I’ve found that barn looms definitely offer the most creative solutions! Also notice the beams’ ratcheting holes with the dowel?

And, now, my new baby…… She and I have come a long way, together, these two weeks.

Loom Front (she has a 6 dent, 22 1/2″ carbon reed that I brushed and sanded most of the rust off of. There is room for a longer one on each side)

Loom Side

Plywood Ratchet and Pawl at warp beam

Ratchet and Pawl at front beam

Lambs and Treadles from the front

Lambs and Treadles from the back

Beater Peg

The loom was still warped with a wool two ply yarn. I made a time capsule of sorts, in a brown paper lunch bag (my momento of our trip to get her) and placed inside it the following fragments which I was able to save when cleaning her up:

one of the apron’s tied sections

two fragments of a broken heddle bar cord (notice loop is tied with sewing thread and not the usual metal clasp) and a section of the warped 2-ply wool yarn

A small section of the fabric woven that was on the cloth beam

and, last but not least, the only intact 11″ heddle string remaining

I will attach this bag to the inside of the loom so that whomever should get her again one day, can glimpse a bit of the life that this old loom has led.

The only item missing from the loom was the very top counterbalance bar, and since two of the heddle bars were made from broomsticks:

I’m continuing the broomstick tradition and have used my own at the top.

She stands as a time capsule in and of herself, a lovely tribute – to all of the creative, loving, and kind people who have tugged at her apron strings to give them comfort when they needed it most and…..

I LOVE HER!