Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Towelling Up



2/16 cotton warp with fine linen weft



2/8 cotton warp (warp twist) with rayon/linen boucle' weft




2/8 warp twist cotton warp with fine cotton slub weft


Finishing what I've woven always seems to take longer than the weaving, partly because I tend to do the tasks involved in batches. Since I do my pressing at another location I will put a load through the washer/dryer and then go to the annex and fire up the boiler. When the weather warms up it doesn't take very long before the room is far too hot so I wait for a cooler day before heading up there.

Tomorrow is Canada Day and it looks like it's going to be another cool one so I'm going to leave Doug to the final tearing up of the floor in the hall and bathroom and see if I can't get a couple more loads of towels pressed and ready to be hemmed.

There is also a stack of things already there that need their final pressing after hemming, so I'll try to get those done, too.

In the meantime I did finish some towels to the point where I could post them on my Art Fire store http://laurafry.artfire.com/

My goal in the next 10 days is to see how much of the wet finishing I can get done so that I can get things ready for the fall sales beginning in September.

It's difficult to believe the year is half over and that I've accomplished so little. :( But not feeling well tends to put a crimp in one's energy and I have to remind myself that I've done as much as I have been able to do and let it go. Frankly I've got lots of inventory, especially if I get the mound of wet finishing done.

Having a fringe twisting elf has sure helped with the scarf production, too, but I still have two large boxes of painted warps to be woven so I'm going to keep working on those.

But I also need to look to the future and see what else - other than weave - I can do. What do I want to do? There is still that e-book I was supposed to be writing and haven't had the mental capacity to deal with. Plus I have another writing project that I want to do that is unrelated to weaving.

Do I want to travel to teach more? With all the hassles re: security when one flies, plus all the extra charges for luggage and so on, travel is looking less attractive all the time. :( OTOH, once I get where I'm going I always have a great time and the people I've met are wonderful. :)

In the meantime I'm counting sleeps until we leave for Vancouver.

p.s. I'm extending the special on Magic in the Water; wet finishing handwovens - free shipping until the end of July - Happy Birthday Canada, the US - and moi!

2 comments:

barbara said...

Hi There,
I thought I left a comment, I must have forgotten to "publish" my comment! Laura you have accomplished a lot in the past 6 months, you have working on healing you broken ankle, you are working towards "a fix" on other health problems, and you got rid of the 30 year old orange shag carpet!!! I know these accomplishments don't put money in the bank - they are great accomplishments!!! Weaverly yours .... Barbara

Laura Fry said...

Thanks Barbara. I'm finally beginning to realize the truth in that phrase "If you keep doing what you've been doing, you'll keep getting what you've been getting."

I turn 60 in a few days. Time to re-think what I've been doing. :)

Cheers,
Laura