From Vision to Reality

First the vision. I found a listing online for a used Toika loom, and after contacting the owner, learned that it looked like the Toika Liisa. (And now I think it is a Toika Liisa). So I checked out the Toika website and saw a new version of the loom.

http://www.toikausa.com/looms/liisa.html

That's the vision.

Reality intrudes a bit. This loom has already had a long weaving career. This loom was made in Finland sometime in 1974 or later, shipped to Alaska, moved to Providence, Rhode Island, where it was in a production weaver's studio until the early 1990's. Then it moved to Saunderstown, Rhode Island, where it lived in the home of a weaver. And this week it moved to New Hampshire. It doesn't quite look like a brand new loom because it has been in use for many years.

The loom's owner sent me two pictures, so I could see the loom put together in her house.



It was a disconcerting and somewhat intimidating feeling to pay for the loom, then dismantle it and bring it home. One minute it's a loom. Less than an hour later it's a pile of pieces and parts that we're loading into the car.

Today the loom is unloaded and is in two groups of pieces. The frame and beater and other varnished Finnish birch parts are in the basement awaiting some TLC. (We're researching how to clean and care for that wood.)




Pieces with cloth attachments, like the cloth and warp beams, and parts with Texsolv attached, like the jacks, lamms, and shafts, are in the studio awaiting cleaning and re-assembly.


There might be some rusty, dirty reeds and a raddle hanging out in the garage. And a stack of warp sticks cleaned and leaning in the corner of the studio. But I won't bore you with those photos. (For completeness - for some future Toika purchaser - I will note that there are two side sections like the piece my dog is walking past in that picture in the basement, but only one is visible in that shot).

So the vision is a beautiful countermarch loom. The reality is some piles of sticks and string. Hopefully, with some help, I'll be able to get the reality to come somewhere close to the vision!