Saturday, September 30, 2017

Magic


Just a few minutes into the first part of the wash cycle the colour begins to develop


After the first complete wash cycle the brown is now a deep rich colour and the green a warm mossy shade.

You may remember seeing pictures of this warp on the loom where the difference in colour between the warp and weft wasn't great.  At all.

The weft is the Fox Fiber natural coloured cotton.  As such it looks rather bland until after the magic of wet finishing with a high alkaline wash.

This is about 1/3 of the warp being wet finished, both green and brown.  Because the yarn isn't dyed there is no danger of fugitive dye so I don't worry about mixing two different colours in the water.

In order to get the colour as deep as possible I use a fairly high concentration of detergent plus added about 1/3 of a cup of borax to boost the pH level.

Then I used the 'soak' cycle of the washing machine, plus during the long soak I actually turned the machine off so that the cloth could soak in the machine for even longer.

With such a high pH concentration, I also set the machine for an extra rinse, just to make sure all the detergent and borax got rinsed out.

Sandra Rude has done more of a scientific approach to her towels using the Fox Fiber yarns.  I didn't think to save a 'before' sample so that I could compare to the 'after' wet finishing.  

Currently reading In These Grave Times by Jacqueline Winspear





Thursday, September 28, 2017

Relative Time

Time is relative.  I am still being affected by jet lag and woke up way too early this morning at 5 am.  Eventually I got up and then had an 'early' breakfast, which meant an 'early' lunch.  

This afternoon I have a doctor's appointment and the day is dragging like it was crawling through molasses.  

I took a quick look at the calendar this morning and realized just how jam packed it is.  And my schedule won't let up any time soon because there are larger projects in the works that will demand my full time and attention as soon as the craft fair season ends, mid-November.  

In the meantime, I have weaving that needs doing.  I'm almost finished the place mat warp I left on the loom and started weaving yesterday.  My goal is to finish it today, preferably before I leave for my appointment, but if not?  After.  If I can.  If my energy lasts.    


Where much of my time and energy will be going over the winter.

Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Rolling Deadlines


We got home last night and are still dealing with a time zone change of 9 hours.  One of the benefits, so to speak, is that my body thinks it is 'later' than it actually is local time, so I got up 'early' and got started on my day.  I'm trying to stick to the local time zone schedule as closely as possible in hopes that my body clock will be tricked into getting back into the swing of things as quickly as possible.

Because I came home to rolling deadlines.  By that I mean that they are coming thick and furious for the next six weeks.

I have a full calendar of appointments and commitments for the next couple of weeks whereupon I head out on another trip (and another time zone shift) for two weeks, arrive home on the Monday, set up for the first craft fair show on the Friday and then the following three weekends they run back to back with less and less time between them.  Plus that pesky 450 mile drive to - and from - the last.  In November.  Which means possibly winter driving conditions...

At which point I may fall into bed for two weeks.

So far today I have dealt with finances - at least the start of dealing with the urgent things and preparing for the third quarter sales tax reporting - done some necessary shopping, taken care of some emails, some personal, some conference related, woven a table runner and two place mats.

Now I'm fighting the fact that my body thinks it is actually 2 am.  I still have a meeting I really want/need to attend this evening but it is fairly early so I may fall into bed again at 10 pm.  Or maybe by then my body will be waking up again because it thinks it is actually 7 am...

Ah, the joys of travel and time zone changes...



Tuesday, September 26, 2017

One More


It's just after 7 pm local time.  Body time is more like 4 am.  And we aren't home yet.  One more hop to get home.  I may be getting too old to be having this much fun...

Sunday, September 24, 2017

Heading Home

it is 1:30 and I can't seem to get to sleep.  Fortunately we are heading home in stages, going only as far as Copenhagen tomorrow afternoon.  So my inability to get to sleep isn't as awful as it might be if the alarm were set to go off at dark o'clock.

It has been a great trip, visiting first with friends in England, now in Sweden.  Getting to attend the Swedish conference, meeting people in real life.  Seeing lovely textiles, shopping.

But all good things must come to an end.  Three weeks away seems to be just the right length of time.  We didn't get to see everything but it would take a great deal longer to scratch the surface.  Three weeks is also long enough to be away from home...and one's own bed, and routine.

So I face Monday with a bittersweet sense of leaving too soon but arriving very soon to my home and studio.  Where I have work to do, deadlines to stare down, goals to accomplish.

I am also beginning to once again feel the urge to tackle the long languishing manuscript.  But that will have to wait for some weeks, yet, as my schedule until mid November will allow zero time to even think about it.

Perhaps I can try getting to sleep again.  It will still be a short night.  

Saturday, September 23, 2017

Present


Not a great photo, but I splurged and bought this hand towel for myself.  Of course it will do double duty as a teaching example.  They had many different designs to choose from, some more typically Swedish, but this one called my name so it will be coming home with me.   If you can't tell, the design is a stand of birch trees.  

Friday, September 22, 2017

Autumn


At the closing of the day, the last day of summer, the view from the window. 

Thursday, September 21, 2017

Visit

Always nice to visit other weavers and see what they have been weaving





Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Vaxjo


Wandering around the town looking for textile displays.  Found this one at the library geared towards children. 

Sunday, September 17, 2017

Tuesday, September 12, 2017

Styal, England


Mill conditions were anything but clean.  There were many hazards involved.  If you can find Tony Robinson's series The Worst Jobs in History, note how many are textile related.  

Sunday, September 10, 2017

Wednesday, September 6, 2017

Changes


There is a meme going round Facebook that says something to the effect that "I don't mind getting old, but my body is taking it badly."

So it is with me.

I actually like the age I am - my years of experience, the things I have managed to do during those years.  Oh, not all of them were wonderful, of course, but that's life, right?

As my physical limitations narrow I find myself less able to do the things I used to do without blinking.  My hours at the loom are fewer because I just can't do what I used to do.  I try not to mourn the shrinking circle of my physical capabilities but it is a fact:  between the two Big C's I live with, I also have growing issues with the Big A - Arthritis.  

The latest episode of fringe twisting made it clear that my thumbs are not happy with the firm pinching that is required and I may have to seriously think about getting rid of that huge stash of rayon chenille.  Because I don't want to wreck my thumbs doing that when I could be doing, oh, spinning?

I have recently re-discovered spinning and knitting.  Both are low impact activities and they have been bringing me a great deal of satisfaction.  Not to mention the universe kept gifting me with spinning wheels - none of which were 'right' for me.  So I bought a Canadian Production Wheel and a blending board and have been happily spinning my own blended rolag/punis.

But it wasn't 'right' for me either.  It was simply too large and too fragile for what I wanted to do.  I wanted something smaller, that would actually fit into my house instead of living in the guild room, and I wanted something portable.

So I ordered an espinner from http://questionableorigin.com/  Chad is Abby Franquemont's husband/partner and between the two of them they developed The Device - an espinner that fits into a small box, has an on board battery for when there is no power, and other features that seemed to make this the Device for me.

I sold my Canadian Production Wheel, returned the espinner I had borrowed to use at home and am looking forward to receiving my Device next month.

Because I have all this fibre that needs to be spun up...

Tuesday, September 5, 2017

Be Prepared


With both looms empty and today yet to work, I'm dressing the small loom with a place mat warp.

I really don't like leaving both looms empty when I go away, especially on a long trip with major time zone changes.  I come home exhausted and brain dead from jet lag so I really don't want to have to think.

Plus I need more all white mats as I'm woefully low on inventory.  Of course I never really know what will sell at any given season, any given show, but generally I need about 3 dozen white place mats and some runners to get through the season, so I like to have four dozen.

A friend did a study of her sales and she determined that if a textile person sold 40% of their inventory they had had a really excellent show.  So I always plan on having way more than what I think I might need.

Partly because I like to have a selection of colours for people to choose from, but also I have seen how, when inventory gets really low (like my current shawl inventory) nothing sells.  There isn't enough selection for people to choose from.

So I'm a wee bit concerned about not having much in the way of shawls, but this year really didn't leave me much time for getting any woven.  Not mentally, not physically, not emotionally.  I did the best I could and that will have to be sufficient.

I have nearly two weeks between trips and loads of appointments that can't be delayed so there won't be a lot of time for weaving.  Having the loom set up for mats means that I can squeeze studio time in between and hopefully get the two warps I wound last month woven and maybe even wet finished so I can bring them with me to hem while I'm away.  If there is room in the suitcase, which is already getting really full of stuff that needs to go.  Either that or they will get hemmed between the first and second craft fairs and ready to go to Vancouver and Circle Craft.

Monday, September 4, 2017

Road to Hell


One of the pithy sayings around the house when I was growing up was that the road to hell was paved with good intentions.

In other words, you can dream all you like, you can intend all you like but that is only just the very first step in what may turn out to be a very long road.

As I grew older the next pithy saying that started to be bandied about was the observation that someone could talk the talk but not walk the walk.  I think this is just a variation on a theme.  Saying you are going to do something is pointless unless you actually DO the something.

So my life has been filled with doing.  

My mother modeled how to walk the walk by volunteering for organizations she felt were deserving of her time and energy.  My earliest memories are of her volunteering at the church, catering events, teaching at Sunday school (then volunteering me to do the same).  Then she got involved with the Hospital Auxiliary and worked tirelessly for that organization, locally, regionally and provincially.

She taught kindergarten, then when schools absorbed kindergarten into the school curriculum, pre-school.  If there was something needed doing, she pitched in.  Helping establish the Child Development Centre for children needing assistance due to cerebral palsy or other issues.  Getting behind the drive to establish a university here - the first in about 25 years to open in the country.  And so many more.

My energies have been more focused on weaving - the doing of it, the teaching of it, the writing about it.  I have been an active member of the local guild since the first day it was organized.  I volunteered first by doing the newsletter, then moved through various other positions - library, workshops, programs, chair.  And then started doing it all over again after a couple of decades.

I have chaired conferences, organized textile exhibits, sat on various organization boards.

Because good intentions are all well and good.  But they don't actually accomplish anything.

One of the things I see on social media is that people seem to feel that if they share their concern (thoughts and prayers) or outrage (how can XYZ do this!) they have done all that is needed.  But that's not how it works.  That is just the first step.  Outraged about something?  Work towards change.  Sending thoughts and prayers is a pretty empty sentiment when people are losing everything, up to and including their lives.  Concerned about people fighting fire and flood?  Donate to an organization who is boots on the ground.

There are so many areas that we as citizens need to work towards solving.  In Canada we are not immune to this.  We need to open our eyes.  We need to - if necessary - open our wallets.  We need to urge our governments to act, not mouth empty platitudes.  Because that's all they are - words without action are just one more cobblestone in the road to hell.

For obligatory weaving content - I am over the 40 yard mark on this warp.  Because intent without action accomplishes nothing.  Show up.  Do the work.  Eat the elephant.  Be the change you want to see.  Set an example.  Walk the walk.

Saturday, September 2, 2017

Goals

(the lines on the cloth are shadows from the loom)

My stated goal - for far too many years - is to weave down my stash.

I can say that little by little my stash is actually being used.  I made a good dent in the Legacy from Lynne yarns over the past year finally using up all (well, most - there is still a box of tow linen I have no idea what to do with...but it's linen!) of her linen and cotton/linen blends this spring.  Also some cotton flake, including some of mine that I had purchased for resale.

Some of my yarns are harder to part with than others.  The weft for this warp, for example, is Fox Fibre naturally grown coloured cotton.  As such it is more expensive than 'ordinary' cotton.  It is also fine, so you get a lot of play value using it.

In other words, it takes more time to weave up than a nice 'fat' 2/8 cotton.

Since it is more expensive, I am not really getting my money's worth out of it because I just can't charge enough to cover the cost of purchasing it, then the labour of weaving it off.  But, the time had come to deal with it.

I carefully sorted the cones because I had several different shades, calculated how much warp I would need to use it up and started planning.  My math figured I had about enough yarn to weave 40 yards so I thought I would go ahead and put 45 yards on and any warp left over I would weave off using some of the nice half bleached singles linen in my stash.

And then I found more cones on another shelf.

My warp grew to 50 yards.

I'm now about 40 yards into that warp and I will have Fox Fibre yarn left over.  Not much, maybe a cone or two.  A friend has spoken up saying that she would love to have whatever is left over, so what I don't weave myself will go to her.

But I am one step closer to my stated goal of weaving down my stash.

Not that I'm in any danger of running out - and even if I were, I know where to get more!

But all those bits of yarn that were too...precious...to use?  I'm going to finally get them woven, one way or another.  

Now, what to do with that silk...