At the last weaving class one of the students brought a Louet Erica loom for us to look at. I’ve seen a Louet David before, and I like the brand’s aesthetic. I got chatting with another weaver about the other looms in their range. She has a Spring on order. I think she has a Jane, too – the 8 shaft table loom.

In class we wound the warp for the next project during the afternoon, and I realised that this and the following project were 13 inches wide. The maximum width I can weave on the Katie is 12 inches. I asked if I could do the next project at home on my floor loom, and the teacher agreed.

When I got home, I decided to visit the Louet website. I compared the weight of the 16 inch Jane (8 kg) with the Ashford Katie (6.5 kg – plus a bit more for mine due to modifications). For 1.5 more kilos the Jane offers 4 more inches of width. I prefer the way the Jane folds up into a less awkward suitcase shape, but I like the way the entire front of the Katie folds down for warping. The Jane is more expensive, however, and newer on the Australian market so finding a second hand one would be pretty rare indeed. But I checked eBay just in case. Nope. Nadda.

I wasn’t seriously shopping for another loom, however. I could make do with what I had.

That night I started my usual forum reading on Ravelry and there it was… a post advertising a second hand Louet Jane for sale that had only gone up an hour or two before. So I asked if was still available, and several messages, emails and txts later…

Now I have to decide if I will sell the Katie. It might not be a bad idea to keep it until I’ve finished the 8 Shaft Weaving Certificate course a year after next. I have all the parts I took off it when I modified it, and can return it to it’s original state. But if I do sell it, I will give a buyer the option to acquire the altered version.