Maisie the Medico Loom arrives in my studio

Last weekend was Thanksgiving in Canada, and our daughter in law’s parents, John and Gail,  drove over the mountains for the feasting

Bless their hearts, they brought me a truly wonderful early Christmas present- (yes, it’s Thanksgiving, but why not celebrate two festivals at  once? Saves time and effort!).

They brought me a wonderful old Leclerc ‘Medico’ table loom.

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay

The Leclerc Medico looms were built during and for a few years after World War 2, with the intention of providing healing to soldiers who were shell shocked and wounded.

They are sturdy as can be and are hefty. (Hefty is a polite way of saying that this baby weighs a whole lotta lotta).

I love that the levers are on the front of the loom. I can’t resist giving them a little ‘hello lever’ kerpop every time I pass by. 

I named this lovely newcomer to the studio, ‘Maisie Loom’, partly after ‘Maisie Dobbs’, who is a captivating character in a series of books by Jacqueline Winspear.  Maisie Dobbs is a psychologist and investigator who was a nurse in WW1 and who is committed to healing.

The books are written with great intelligence and compassion and are tremendously compelling, so I felt that naming a loom that has it’s roots in healing after a character that is focused on healing was a very good choice.

And, Maisie has other connections, too, having been the name of a much loved rescued canine companion – again… all about healing!

Speaking of healing, my poor Maisie Loom was rather down at the heels and in need of some TLC.

Call me the ‘Loom Whisperer’

Poor Maisie Loom had been stored in a shed off in the back 40 on a ranch- oh mercy… this is soooo not the way to treat a loom!!!!!

(I mean, really….  Hey I have this beautifully built old loom, I don’t want to use it right now, so I will just stick it out in a grotty, dirty, mousey, freezing in winter, steaming in summer shed- Yes! That ought to be good for it… yah, that’s what I’ll do! ).   ~Seriously~?

Needless to say, I had some scrubbing, waxing, replacing, restoring and renewing to deal with.

Maisie Loom is now quite nicely on her way to becoming fully functional again, and is happily enjoying her rehab.

By the way, the sticker that had been on the front of the castle was gone, so I glued on a rabbit that I had cut out of sheet brass.

Maisie Loom loves her new jewelry!  You can see it just above the green yarn in the pic below.

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay

The pile of yarn in her embrace is because I have started pulling the colors for a table runner that I will be weaving on Maisie Loom for John and Gail for Christmas. Yum!

And, I just have to share my awe at my  darlin’ husband’s capacity to still delight and astonish me, after more than 3 decades together.

I was muttering about needing to replace the crank that is  was missing from the cloth beam.

Jim impressed the living daylights out of me by turning a piece of 1/4 inch steel into a crank – and here’s the impressive part…. a crank that even has the threads cut into it so it really and truly screws into the cloth beam!

I know, I shouldn’t be all that surprised- he frequently amazes me with his ability to make something out of something else, but still… cutting threads into steel.  Oh, my! …. he is such a ‘Keeper’!

Now, if I can just entice him to turn that chunk of wood into a shelf to cap off  Maisie Loom’s noggin.

I am incapable of creating a square corner, so any attempts on my part to build her a shelf/top/cap/crown would be seriously mis-guided and end up as firewood.

Voice of experience on that one.

I  think I will just ramble off and play with string.

I can do that.

Yep.

String= Happy