I'm not using a hoop because that would, I fear, distort the canvas too much when one part is pushed down over the other, but am using one of those wooden frames with rolling split dowels on teh sides.

I think the linen has enough structural integrity on its own. My goal is to do what i call 'open canvas' needlepoint - tent stitch but not covering everything- so when I'm done I will wash it and it'll be more like regular embroidered fabric. It is pretty stiff right off the loom, though the holes are not absolutely fixed. So far I haven't sized/ starched the fabric I'm treating as needlepoint canvas, but haven't washed it either. That's probably way more than you wanted to know, but I guess I didn't know this till I started to write - so thanks. Each kind of loom has strengths and only by allowing each to be part of my current practice can I fully appreciate each for what it is. I now feel somewhat confident that my interest won't vanish, so I'm contemplating setting up a pipe loom and having a couple of weaving projects going at once - unusual for me, but not unheard of. That said, I had an inkling of this earlier in the summer, so in June, after my show was open and the Fiber Festival over, I informally committed myself to using only a backstrap loom for a time - first just for the month of July, and then extended through August. Indeed, it now feels like there is a whole pool of work, much of it involving a backstrap loom, waiting to be done and the only way to find out what the work actually is, is is to keep exploring.

I'm also surprised by what those answers prove to be. The five months were a surprise - that is to say, I have kept being surprised by the questions the loom generates, as well as my willingness to seek answers.

Inklet loom