Friday, June 26, 2009

Unveiling My Studio Set-Up

By Leigh

This is actually a duplicate post. I published almost the exact same thing on my homesteading blog because it's appropriate for both blogs, though for different reasons. That part of my life is certainly demanding most of my attention these days, but I am still a weaver and fiber person at heart.

After a lot of thought and some trial & error, I've finally settled on a set-up for my studio. This was formerly the "sun room," claimed as my studio on first sight.


The room is long and narrow, about 9.5 by 20 feet, and this presented some challenges. My loom takes up roughly 6 by 5.5 feet worth of floor space, so where to put it took some deliberation. I finally decided to start with it near the living room entrance, as the width of the double French doors afford a little room there.


Part of the problem is having enough floor space to walk around all sides of the loom. With this set-up I have 18 inches of space in back of the loom, and 20 inches on the left side. I'm going to work with this awhile, and if it's not adequate I'll make adjustments.

The long tube on the floor behind the loom is a reed holder. It was handy previously, but it's in the way now. I'll have to come up with another way to store my reeds.

To the right of the loom I left the floor open, and used a book shelf to define both studio and office space for myself without blocking the windows.


All of my spinning, dyeing, knitting, crochet, sewing, and design books are on those shelves, along with a few weaving books and a box or two of equipment. Behind the bookshelf .....


.... is just enough space for my desk and computer (currently both in Dan's addition.)


This will be my "office" area.


That's not a permanent home for my warping board, just a handy place to keep it. Eventually the closet will be replaced with more shelves.

My Sterilite stackable drawers (full of weaving yarns) are in front of the door which goes out to the screened in front porch. Though I like the idea of being able to use this door, I really don't need it. In the corner between the closet and my stackables is my tri-loom and raddle.


These shelves were left in the house. I was able to get a lot of my yarns out of boxes and stashed here. I really like being able to have at least some of my yarns visually handy.


The other little shelf unit contains most of my weaving books and is handy for my bobbin winder. Hopefully the space between this shelf and the loom will be adequate for entering and exiting the rest of the room.

The rest of my stash: weaving yarns, handspun yarns, commercial knitting yarns, and all my fleeces and other spinning fibers, (as well as my sewing machine, serger, and dye equipment) are in the spare room.

Being a "try it and see" sort of person, I figured that the only way to know how well this Hopefully I'll have something to show you on that front soon.


Related Posts:
My New Studio
The State of My Studio
Studio Progress

Thursday, June 04, 2009

Studio Progress

By Leigh

I have no progress to report on the socks, even though I got some very helpful suggestions to my problem. However, I made some headway in setting up my studio.

I decided that the first order of business would be to assemble my loom. Since it is large and the room is narrow, it's placement will determine where I put everything else.


When I was packing, I thought I was being very clever to set the loom handbook and set-up video aside, so as not to pack them away and be unable to find them when I needed them. Unfortunately, with all the moving mess, I don't have a clue as to where they are. *sigh*


Related Posts:
The Move
My New Studio
The State of My Studio
Unveiling My Studio Set-Up