Yesterday I got Grace to say “Hello World!” It took about six hours to finish threading, debug, and weave off her first warp, but here she is, loud and clear:

There are still a few details to work out, visible as defects in the weaving – but she is up and working!!

Here are some photos from the process:

I insisted on getting a photo with my friend Dave, who led the assembly and whose expertise was essential for getting everything together. It would have taken far, far longer without him! (And he’s one of the few people I know whose tie-dye wardrobe is better than mine.)

Dave is an electromechanical genius – not only did he help us get Grace up and going, he spent several hours yesterday putting Emmy (my AVL 40-shaft loom) onto an ingenious dolly:

The wheels of the dolly are actually leveling casters, which means they can be converted from feet to wheels and vice-versa. This should make Emmy easy to move around when I need to move her, and quite stable otherwise. (Grace arrived with those leveling casters installed – a gift from Digital Weaving Norway/Tronrud Engineering.)

So thank you, Dave – fantastic work, and very much appreciated. If you ever need anything woven, you know where to come. 🙂

Here she is, in all her glory!

Seven people (me, B., and five friends) joined together yesterday and spent six hours assembling her. My friend Dave led the assembly – he’s expert in mechanical engineering as well as electronics, and had read the manual backwards and forwards in preparation.

Here are photos of the assembly process. This is where we started: a few giant boxes.

Unpacking the boxes revealed her gleaming side frames:

We started assembling the frame, which required a couple of strong people to lift and move the side frames (which weigh 250+ pounds apiece!):

Once we got the second frame attached to the base, though, it became much more stable:

Soon we were putting on the back beams:

While it was mostly plug-and-play, we did have to figure out how to install an Ethernet cable:

And then it was time to turn her on! Here’s Dave, flipping the switch for the first time:

With some effort, we got the first warp beamed, and started threading. Here’s Susie taking a turn:

We got about 2/3 of the way through the threading before it was time to clean up for the day:

And then, of course, it was time for cake and champagne:

And here are Grace and Emmy, side by side in the garage. So different in looks, and yet so similar! I think they’re still trying to figure out what to make of each other:

And now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll run off and finish the threading! I’m hoping to get her weaving “Hello, world!” today.

Please welcome Amazing Grace!

I finally lost my patience with the freight truckers and hired a moving company to get my loom. Grace arrived in style, with an entire truck to herself, accompanied by three burly guys. And they had the sense to bring a truck with an enormous liftgate!

Here’s the debutante making her  grand entry, in an elaborate cardboard gown:

And here she is being loaded into the garage:

Five friends are coming over tomorrow morning to help me assemble her. I’ve ordered a cake for the occasion (from the best pastry shop in town!), and of course there is a bottle of champagne chilling in the fridge. Tomorrow we’ll be welcoming Amazing Grace.

That, dear ones, is Amazing Grace, nestled snugly away in her packaging. (Which appears to be somewhat the worse for wear…I hope she’s happy and undamaged.)

You’ll notice, however, that there are no thrilling photos of her in the garage. That’s because this picture was taken about two seconds before the driver realized that she was too big to fit on the truck lift gate. About twenty minutes of head-scratching later, his dispatcher told him to give up, and he drove off again, with Grace still aboard.

Someday, my loom will come…