Sampling can be a sensitive topic among weavers. Why, when it takes you so long to set up and weave a piece, would you subject yourself to dressing your loom “just for a sampler”?
Believe it or not, as a newer weaver, those were my thoughts exactly. When I read or heard a teacher recommending sampling before beginning the actual project, I would secretly snicker to myself “yeh, right, as if that’s ever going to happen, I just want to get to the REAL weaving!”
But if there is one thing that weaving has taught me over the years is patience! Oodles of patience. And, I’ve messed up enough times to know that, at least for some projects, sampling is a super good idea.
*This post contains affiliate links. For more information, please see my disclosure policy.
So, that brings us to my recent Monk’s Belt sample. Monk’s Belt is a very old weave structure and has been used in a variety of ways, according to time period and types of looms available.
My sampler used 4 shafts and 6 treadles. The threading is quite simple, as you thread in blocks, which means there is plenty of repetition. My warp is 8/2 cotton, sett at 20 epi. The finished sampler measures 7 x 44″. Tabby is used throughout.