Yum

Scarf 9 (beginning of warp #3) showing some of the colours in the warp - again much nicer in person

'padding' the cloth beam

Finished the second warp this morning and got the next one on the loom this afternoon.  Since the yarn is rayon, and rayon can be fairly slippery, I'm lashing on rather than tying.  With fairly large knots at the beginning of the warp, I 'pad' the knots by inserting a couple of sticks, one on either side of the lumps.  If you look closely at the bottom picture you can just see the slight bumps from some of the knots.  I've found that this amount of bump doesn't adversely impact the cloth and after wet finishing there are no problems.  (I don't normally add sticks or paper or anything to the cloth beam - just the two sticks to pad the knots when I lash on.)

A few years ago I had Teresa Ruch* paint warps for me.  As I mentioned in yesterday's blog post, I try to produce textiles that are in some way unique and working with a boutique dyer means that I can have colours that are not found elsewhere in the marketplace.

But I ran out of her warps a while ago and with the huge increase in shipping and hassle of getting stuff back and forth across the border I thought I'd look for someone on this side of the border.  I found Kim McKenna almost literally at my back door.

After a winter that took too long to leave and a spring that has taken too long to arrive, weaving nothing but 'beige' for several weeks, I was long overdue for a blast of colour.  So it was with great anticipation that I opened the box Kim sent and discovered just what the doctor ordered.

A few people have commented to me about 'taking it easy'.  I can't.  I have far too much to do and too little time to do it.  I am also, at this point in time, as healthy as I'm going to be.  I'll be turning 63 in a few weeks and quite frankly with all the health issues I've had for the past 5+ years, I am all too aware that our time on this earthly plane is limited.

None of us know when our clock will be punched, our time will run out.  If there are things needing to be done, projects to be finished, goals to be achieved...well, the time is now.  If not now, when?  If not you, who?

And so I am adding more stuff to my plate.  It's just different stuff now.  I've learned to say 'no' to things I really don't want to do and 'yes' to the things that sound interesting.  Even though they will take a lot of preparation and I'm not exactly sure I will be any good at them.

But if I don't try, how will I ever know?

Stay tuned for news as things come together and I can reveal what's been happening behind the scenes.  :)

*Teresa will have a booth at ANWG in Bellingham, WA this June.  On this side of the border, Doug will have some of Teresa's hand dyed yarns for sale at the Olds Fibre Week in Olds, AB.