# Cricket Quartet, pricey!



## wordancer (May 4, 2011)

Cricket Quartet


Enjoy the best of both worlds! Convert your 15″ Cricket into a 4-shaft loom! 15″ Cricket Loom and optional 15″ Cricket Stand sold separately.




schachtspindle.com




Of course all fiber tools are pricey, but
The cricket quartet is. $450, introductory price $395
That does not include the loom or stand


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## sngbrd (May 10, 2012)

I saw that. I have a 15" Cricket and a 15" Schacht Flip loom and stands for both. Have never had any experience with a 4 shaft loom. Is it hard to learn? And would 15" give you a wide enough piece to make it worth it?


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## MMWRay (Dec 2, 2016)

I use a floor loom and 15" is too narrow for my projects.


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## spinningjennie (Jul 30, 2012)

You can always piece together. Japanese kimonos are made from 14” width fabrics.


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## gardenpoet (Jun 24, 2016)

wordancer said:


> Cricket Quartet
> 
> 
> Enjoy the best of both worlds! Convert your 15″ Cricket into a 4-shaft loom! 15″ Cricket Loom and optional 15″ Cricket Stand sold separately.
> ...


That was my sentiment exactly! For $500 you can get a really good used floor loom if you are patient and look around. Sometimes people even give them away just to get rid of them, or, as they say, because they want to make sure it gets a good home.


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## gardenpoet (Jun 24, 2016)

sngbrd said:


> I saw that. I have a 15" Cricket and a 15" Schacht Flip loom and stands for both. Have never had any experience with a 4 shaft loom. Is it hard to learn? And would 15" give you a wide enough piece to make it worth it?


My floor loom is 36" and sometimes it's still too narrow (I've been weaving rugs and blankets) ...BUT I learned to double weave--that is, having one side connected while weaving, not a hard process to learn at all -- and when I take the work off the loom, it opens up to double wide. Right now I am weaving a blanket and it will be, after loom shrinkage 54" wide or more. It almost is magic and is such a cool technique to learn.

Learning to weave on a multi-shaft loom is no harder than learning to weave on a RHL. It's just more steps. But so worth the effort. I would highly encourage you to not spend more to evolve your Cricket iso a multi-shaft loom, but to look around and find a good floor loom. You won't regret it. Join your local weaving guild and there are always members who want to sell a good used loom here or there, or check out Craig's list for your area (so you can pick it up). The first loom that came up for me that was available when I was wishing for a floor loom was $500, a Macomber (sp?). I thought there must be something wrong with it, but over time I learned that it would have been perfect for me and would have saved me a lot of $ that I spent getting a new one. You'll easily pay that or close for the additional piece to turn your RHL into a 4 shaft loom, once you cover taxes and maybe shipping. And then, I can only imagine, after a while, you will get really tired of using your arms constantly to change your shafts as you work. It's so much easier using foot treadles! 

Back to widths: 15" is not too narrow at all to weave scarves, table mats or runners, placemats, pillow covers, material to sew things (piecing together, if needed), tote bags, material to sew hats, belts, small rugs or floor mats, and of course, things larger that you can easily seam together in the same way you do for knitted items. I've pieced together blankets and several rugs, all very successfully. But again, I encourage you to get a floor loom instead of adding on to your RHL's with attachments that require you to weave using your arms to change the shafts. You will use it more and for the rest of your life. I wish I had gotten a slightly larger one than the 36" one I did get, thinking that would "fit" in the space I had in my studio. Now that I really see it in there, I know a 40" would have been just fine. (Though double weaving takes away a large part of that regret.) 

Let us know what you decide!


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## sngbrd (May 10, 2012)

gardenpoet said:


> My floor loom is 36" and sometimes it's still too narrow (I've been weaving rugs and blankets) ...BUT I learned to double weave--that is, having one side connected while weaving, not a hard process to learn at all -- and when I take the work off the loom, it opens up to double wide. Right now I am weaving a blanket and it will be, after loom shrinkage 54" wide or more. It almost is magic and is such a cool technique to learn.
> 
> Learning to weave on a multi-shaft loom is no harder than learning to weave on a RHL. It's just more steps. But so worth the effort. I would highly encourage you to not spend more to evolve your Cricket iso a multi-shaft loom, but to look around and find a good floor loom. You won't regret it. Join your local weaving guild and there are always members who want to sell a good used loom here or there, or check out Craig's list for your area (so you can pick it up). The first loom that came up for me that was available when I was wishing for a floor loom was $500, a Macomber (sp?). I thought there must be something wrong with it, but over time I learned that it would have been perfect for me and would have saved me a lot of $ that I spent getting a new one. You'll easily pay that or close for the additional piece to turn your RHL into a 4 shaft loom, once you cover taxes and maybe shipping. And then, I can only imagine, after a while, you will get really tired of using your arms constantly to change your shafts as you work. It's so much easier using foot treadles!
> 
> ...


Thanks so much for your input! It's given me a lot to think about and now I have new avenues to explore. I can do double weaving on my flip loom, but haven't attempted it yet. A floor loom now looks very tempting, although space is limited in my studio.


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