Gifts With Meaning

 

Doug and I didn't give each other 'gifts' this year.  Truth to tell we really haven't bothered with 'holiday' gifts for years.  If we needed/wanted something, we'd announce to the other and they would say 'happy birthday' or whatever.  So we don't bother with a tree or any decorations really.  We have our string of dragonfly lights hung in the living room window and they stay on 24/7 (unless there is a power outage.)

The string of lights was given to me by my brother, and we would turn them on during the holiday season, or if there was a particularly dreary day and I needed a little 'extra' light.  The night he died I turned them on and told Doug they would stay on.  He nodded.  

I don't know that I was a 'bah, humbug' person as more of a very tired person by the time xmas finally rolled around.  And we rarely had cash to spare to buy gifts anyway.  It was fine by both of us if we just bought as something was wanted - or needed - and go ahead and buy it, whenever we needed it.

The past few years I've been buying jigsaw puzzles and more of my friends have taken note and this year I got a bunch of jigsaw puzzles from friends.  I use puzzles as a coping mechanism, especially during the dark o'clock hours when I can't sleep due to the pain.  Focusing on a box of pieces of cardboard with pretty colours that I can build into a pretty picture, helps.

One friend gifted me with another 'special' gift - completely unexpectedly.  We are good friends and we share what we are doing so I knew when she was making this towel and followed along on her decision making process and when she ran into oopsies, or wasn't satisfied with her results so she pivoted.  She shared photos, but you know that photos never really do textiles justice, right?

So when I opened the envelope last night (if we have gifts to open we do that Christmas Eve, then I write out my holiday cards), and slid this beauty out onto the table and picked it up...wow.

As a towel, it is...perfect.  (Yes, I know about the oopsies she encountered and dealt with them - they are immaterial, really.  Nor did I look for any repairs, which would be rude!)  

This towel will go into rotation with the rest of the handwoven towels we routinely use.  But this one will go into the tea towel drawer because it truly is a 'perfect' tea towel.

I know so many people don't want to use their hand wovens, or their friends don't want to use them.  But when someone makes a useful item, the whole point is to honour their labour, investment in time, equipment, knowledge and materials, and make use of them.  If you wear it out, you can make more.   Or ask for more, or just buy more. Frankly I don't think we've come close to actually wearing out any of our hand wovens.  

So don't think they are 'precious'.   What is 'precious' is the memories they bring with them - I got this towel from that person.  This one is another person's, I remember the day they gave it to me, we had such a good time that day.  And so on.

I remember when Terry Pratchett died - a bunch of people started typing a closing on their emails, I forget the line, maybe GNU - Terry Pratchett.  It was a way to memorialize Sir Pratchett and keep his name floating along the internet connections for many years to come.  I sort of feel like that about my stacks of hand woven towels.  Each time I use one, the person's name gets activated in my memory.  And their memory is a blessing.

Season of Holidays

 

In the Northern Hemisphere, it is the season of darkness.  It is a time to bring light.  Light a candle.  String up the lights. Build a bonfire.  Hunker down until the returning of the sun.

Whichever 'holiday' you celebrate, if you live in the northern hemisphere, it generally includes the bringing of the light, one way or another.

I was raised Christian, and left the church in my teens - a decision I cemented as an adult.  I read about various religions, eventually deciding that I didn't 'need' a formula to follow, or have someone else interpret the scriptures to me.  (Most of the interpreters were male, which irked.)  But I was well-versed in the scripture, the Beatitudes, the teaching of Jesus.  During my exploration of the major religions, I realized that most of them espoused very similar teachings, just phrased differently - different cultures, different languages, different words.  But similar meanings.

By the time of the winter holidays, I was usually burned out.  The grind of preparing (all year) to make about 3/4s of my income during the 4th quarter of the year, then hope like hell whatever was left after I paid my bills would be enough to get me into the 3rd quarter, when the money started to begin coming in again?  I suppose I should not be surprised that my cortisol is much higher than it should ideally be.  I lived on adrenaline and stress and carefully timed deadlines and hoped like hell I didn't get sick at any point in the year.  If I did, I was usually back at the loom before I was completely recovered because the deadline just kept getting closer and there was (usually) just me to meet them.

When I did hire someone to help in the studio, they usually got more cash in their pockets than I ever did because the bills never stopped, either.  No electricity, heat, a/c (in the summer) and no water, and no income.

Now that I'm retired I can't be bothered paying a lot of attention to Christmas (or any other holiday, frankly).  It's just a day.  There is just the two of us and we are perfectly happy if I make a big pot of a hearty soup (more stew, truth be told) and fill a bowl and heat that for xmas dinner.  

Last year I don't think I sent out cards until well into the new year - something about a brain bleed and zero energy to cope with it.  When I do send out cards, they tend to be generic - Happy Holidays!  Because I tend to write my cards out between xmas and new years and mail them in the new year.

But all year round, I tend to pay attention and when and wherever I can, I try to light candles for others.  Because lighting someone else's candle does not extinguish my own.  It takes so little to be the spark for someone else, and then you will have two sources of light.  Even better if a host of people find that their candle gets lit.  

Because we only banish the dark by bringing light.  And if we all focus on being light rather than dark, we will all get through this season of darkness better than without.

So I wish you in this time of darkness a spark to light your candle.  So you can see more clearly.  So you can see where your personal contribution to others might be best spent.  Whatever your belief, believe in the power you have to spread light.  

Best wishes to all for the season.

Plugging Along

 

a peek at the backside of the cloth currently on the loom - the selvedges are not 'perfect' but are pretty consistent - they also tend to curl or roll at the selvedge, which I don't fuss over, just leave them to do what they will do under pressure from the highly twisted weft yarn...

I will frequently weave a cloth 'upside down' because I can lift fewer shafts that way.  It means I see the back of the cloth while I'm weaving, but that's ok.  You can sort of see that in the photo, the cloth that will be the 'front' is visible underneath and the side I see is almost all white.  The image is the 'reverse' from the front, so the back is mostly white with blue, the front will be mostly blue with some white.

The yarns are not the same grist (or thickness); the warp is 2/16 cotton, the weft is single 6 cotton.  Getting the proper 'balance' between the two thicknesses took some time (yes, samples) but I think it's turning out quite well.  Of course, I didn't know for sure until I wet finished the samples, but now it's just a matter of weaving.

The next warp will be the same combination as I continue my quest to weave down my stash.

I was a production for most of my career, so I didn't just buy for 'a' scarf or 'a' set of placemats - I was weaving multiples, offering them for sale for years at craft fairs, and for about 10 or so years via an industry 'show' for gift shop buyers.  

And largely, that is what I am still trying to use up.  Once I've done this run of tea towels, I will pivot to my silk and my cashmere stashes.  I collected a fairly large stash of cashmere, making a few now and then using silk as warp.  And then I inherited a silk stash, which is largely far too fine for me to use these days (eyes are not as good as they once were), and which I've gifted to a couple other weavers who like to work in fine silk.  Since I will never get to most of it, it will be passed to someone else, I suppose.

The thing is, fine threads go a very long way.  In some cases, the silk yarn has literally miles per pound.  (Yes, it does.)  I don't have the time, energy or spools to try to wind the skeins off and try to ply them to make thicker yarn, so I honestly don't know what I will do with it.

But I hear that another weaving workshop will be offered locally in February, so hopefully the weavers will increase.  And maybe some of them will be interested in working with finer threads?

I didn't make it to the loom yesterday - getting the rayon chenille was more taxing than I expected (never underestimate the emotional ties we develop with our yarns?) and then I had a lovely visit with a friend.  We are looking forward to a more relaxed visit after the holiday.  The weather is very...winter-y...and they are on the road to visit family.  Our entire province is being assailed by winter - if you have spare time to send some positive energy our way, it would be lovely.

In return I send out gold dust to all who need it, with best wishes for 'better' in the new year.  The past couple of years have more than enough challenge for me, at least, and I know I'm not alone.

Happy holidays, whatever you celebrate.

Does It Bring Joy?

 

just some of the bags of the rayon chenille yarn being donated for the stash busting sale at the guild next month...

We spent some time today clearing off one shelving unit of rayon chenille, bagging it up after sorting into the 3 'sizes' represented there. and labelling the bags of yarn with the number of yards/pound for easy identification.

l have agonized for months (years!) over this yarn.  I used to make rayon chenille scarves and sold them as part of one of my 'lines' of scarves at craft fairs.  People tended to love them.  The bright saturated colours, the texture, the drape.  But they were not a lot of fun to make, honestly.  I got pretty good at working with colours, usually in stripes of one sort or another.  And I learned a lot about how colour mixes in a woven cloth, so it wasn't really a hardship.  Just limited in scope.  Plus I grew to really dislike the fringe twisting because it was hard on my fingers/hands.

But I loved the colours.  I like working with saturated colours, and having a shelf full of nice bright colours of all sorts (because I had to make a range of colours, ones that weren't my personal favourite, included.)

As my health deteriorated, I would glance at the shelf full of yarn and quickly look away.  The more I thought about it, the worse I felt about hanging onto it.  Some of it was likely getting too old to be useful as warp - and of course you can't tell until you get it into the loom.

I toyed around with selling it on, but I had dribs and drabs as well as full cones, too much of some colours, not enough of others.  I offered it on here for free if someone would save me the emotional toll of packing it up and taking it away.  

And then I heard that the guild was going to offer members to recycle their stashes by having a 'stash busting' sale in January.

I asked if I could donate my rayon chenille and the guild could have the money and was instantly accepted.  The time line isn't long, which was even better.  No time to re-think.  No time to select some of the yarn and keep it in case I wanted to weave with it again.  Just a nice short timeline to deliver it all to the guild room in the new year and clear it out of my studio.

Intellectually I was more than happy to do this.  As it was happening, however, I found that I still had an emotional tie to the yarn.  I have a pretty good idea of how much money it took to invest in that yarn - in production quantities.  I have a decent idea of how many scarves a person could make with it.  Or to replace it if I should desire to do so (I don't.  I won't.)

But I cannot.  It is beyond my capacity to do.  And even IF I can recover more of my physical fitness, do I really want to spend what little time I have left on making more rayon chenille scarves?

The honest answer is...no.  Much better that I let someone else have the pleasure of making something with the yarn, than let it degrade further so that it won't be useful for anything much?

I have no idea if there are enough weavers in this town to buy even half of the yarn that will be delivered to the guild room in January.  But the guild has a 'yarn by donation' corner, so perhaps it will eventually find a home.  

And one less thing for me to see in the corner of my eye and feel guilty about not using.  One way or another - my stash must shrink.

Stocking Stuffers

 

The solstice cometh, and the turning of the sun from travelling south, to returning north.  A time of change, of returning of the light.

This month has pivoted to a renewed effort on my part to try and deal with the copious amounts of clutter in my life.  I was also reminded again that NA society generally takes this time of year to give (and receive) gifts.  With everything so uncertain now, it is possibly time to remind people of certain things that could be used a stocking stuffer as a 'last minute' gift.

If you want my books (available in print in the US, no tariffs, or pdf everywhere) they can be found at blurb.com

If you want online classes I have 4 at School of Sweet Georgia.

Classes are also available through Long Thread Media (Handwoven).

If you are interested in magazine articles, I continue to write for WEFT magazine.

And today I begin bagging up my rayon chenille stash for delivery to the guild room after the holiday, freeing up a whole shelving unit to store woven goods that have outgrown the two other shelving units.

It is snowing today and parts of the province are still labouring under snow advisories and warnings about being prepared for winter driving conditions.

As the solstice represents the 'new year' to me, I will send all my very best wishes for the coming of the light and the new year.

Dealing with Mistakes

 

I mentioned last time that I had a couple of threading errors that I fixed while I was still in the threading stage.  One meant I had to hang an 'extra' end, and in another I had a couple 'extra' threads that I removed from the warp.  

The 'extra' end is the tag end of a tube that I threaded into the heddle and reed, then passed under the rail above the back beam, then over the ceiling bar and let down so that as I weave, the tube climbs up as the warp advances.

The other tube I tied the 'extra' ends to a bit of yarn left on the tube and hung it off the ceiling bar and the excess yarn drops as the warp advances.  After weaving for 30 minutes they are about at the same level.  When I go back to the loom I will raise the one and lower the other and keep weaving.

Since I cut off the web partway through, I will need to remember to set the tube with the replacement end so that it won't pull out of the reed and heddle and fall to the floor.  But it's kind of hard to forget it when I have to keep moving it each time I weave.

(But not impossible!)

Here's the thing with weaving mistakes.  They happen.  I don't focus on the fact I made the mistake, but on how to fix it.  Or if I will even bother to fix it.  I am no longer exhibiting my work, and most of my mistakes are not very obvious.  If they are too obvious, I label them 'seconds' and either gift them or mark them down to recoup my financial investment of yarn.

Mostly I've been making tea towels, and even ones that have minor mistakes will still dry the dishes.

And I *can* still weave (so far).  And right now that is a lot more important to me that I make only 'perfect' textiles.

"Forget your perfect offering.  Everything has a crack in it.  It's how the light gets in."  Leonard Cohen.

Rough Patch

 

Life is full of rough patches.  We think - assume - that we have total control over our lives but the reality is that we do not.  What we have is the power to react to what happens, and then try to chart a path through those rough patches.

To be honest, I have pretty much bluffed my way through the past 15 or so months.  I'm pretty good at staying positive, looking for solutions, making plans, sticking with them (until I can't), pivoting when what I want to do simply cannot be done.

I try to not let 'positivity' turn toxic.  Swallow hard and change direction when something is clearly not working.

I had such high hopes of the new pain management plan, and the past month has been...awful.  I am no stranger to chronic pain, goodness knows.  But I am run ragged with trying to manage something that simply refuses to respond in a way that is helpful to me.  In a way that allows me to carry on doing what I love to do - teach, write, and above all, weave.

I have managed to continue to weave, but nearly every warp has been a challenge in one way or another.  I have managed a series of tea towels that all have 'issues' - some obvious, some not so obvious.  But since I have been using weaving primarily as therapy as I try to recover from the brain bleed, I didn't worry much about the 'flaws'.

A few days ago I told a friend that I have been holding onto the knot in the end of my rope for so long I'm not even sure it is actually attached to anything, or if I am down a hole hanging onto a rope that can never help lift me out of that hole.  

I have tried (so hard) to come up with something that will help and I'm exhausted by the trying.  How does that song go - if that is all there is, my friend, then let's keep dancing...

When I retired from production weaving, I made a serious effort to get rid of things that were no longer needed in the studio.  But I still had a gigantic yarn stash.  Since the end of 2019 I have steadily worked to weave down that stash.  And I have been successful, by and large.  I have given some yarn to friends, but most of them already have large stashes of their own and are in the same age bracket as me so they don't want much of anything.

I offered on this blog to give my rayon chenille stash away, but yesterday I met with the guild treasurer who brought me up-to-date on the guild activities, and they are planning a big 'stash busting' sale in January, to I asked if I could donate the rayon chenille to the guild and they could sell it and derive the income for guild activities.  She agreed with enthusiasm, and for the next couple of weeks Doug will help me by a) bringing my unsold inventory back to the house and help me sort and put the inventory away, b) sort through the rayon chenille, and bag the cones/tubes up in clear plastic bags then carry them up to the guild room once they have moved into the new, enlarged guild room in the new year.

I even have a scarf I can provide woven with Brassard 2/16 bamboo as warp and the rayon chenille as weft so weavers can see the quality of cloth that is possible with those yarns.

While I did manage to use up some of my rc stash, what is left still takes up one entire shelving unit.  Once that yarn is gone, I can take some of my plastic bins, currently on the floor, and get them put up on the shelves.

In the meantime I am nearly finished setting up the next towel warp.  I have enough 2/16 cotton to do one more warp after this one, and then I am essentially 'out' of 2/16 yarn and if I want to do more towels I will need to buy more yarn.  Before I contemplate that (gazing the boxes of towels that will be coming home from the sales tomorrow) I will begin working on the silk and cashmere.  Now that is a combination that I really want to enjoy working with.  

In the meantime, after talking to the pain doctor on Monday, I have one final Hail Mary to try and of course we are heading into the holidays so I'm having trouble putting my hopes/plans into action.  But I have a path forward.  I don't know what that path looks like because I cannot see into the future.  But I have a plan.  I have connected with a couple of people that I need to talk to.  I have some things I can do myself until I can connect with professionals.  

It seems I am not done yet.

When Progress Is Measured in Millimeters

 

Weaving is one of those crafts (like many others) where the prep work is all done in order to *get* you to the fun part - the shuttle throwing.  And all of it has to be done *before* you can have the fun.  It's rough for some people to do the stuff that needs to be done, I assume because society (in North America, at least) has gotten used to the instant gratification of so many things.  Somehow human beings have become accustomed to pushing a button, or whatever, and voila, out pops a finished item, all perfect.

But the prep work is what makes the craft especially interesting - to me.  Making minor tweaks, trying this, that, making samples, wet finishing them, re-assessing them.  Deciding what to do.  It is a constant state of questioning, and then trying to find the answers that will get me the results I desire.

I'm nearly finished with the singles 6.  Two more warps and I think I will declare that I am 'done' with it and pass whatever is left onto...anyone who wants it?  I'm not sure how much will be left, but I'm tired.

I'm beyond the point of wanting to put up with the clutter and mess in my studio, my life.  I want to weave down other parts of my stash.  Get rid of it.  Clear the shelves off so I can put some of the boxes and bins *still* on the floor, onto shelves.  I want less.

I never thought I would come to this place in time, but my body is saying 'enough'.  

To that end I made a decision today - if any local weavers want to come to my house with boxes and clear out my entire rayon chenille stash?  They are welcome to do it.  I have many pounds of the stuff, but I've made as many rayon chenille scarves in my lifetime that I can't even look at it anymore.  Some are partial cones, some are full.  Most is in the 1450 to 1300 yyp range.  Some is a bit finer, some a bit thicker.  But I am just done.  So 'locals' (you define 'local') you get first dibs.  No charge, but you do all the packing up and carrying it away.  (email laura@laurafry.com)

In the meantime I made at least two threading errors, which are now fixed, in part because I keep the entire threading draft to hand, and then I group each repeat as a bundle, so I knew exactly what area the mistakes were in and I could easily locate the area and double check to make sure I'd make it proper again.  It means I needed to hang an 'extra' thread in one location, and 3 threads will be put onto a tube.  The excess ends will feed off as I advance the warp, and the repair 'extra' warp end will rise as I advance the warp.  I'll lower the one and raise the other as I go.  Since I have a rod in the ceiling to suspend them from, I only need to stop when I'm done weaving for the day and adjust them.

My last warp is now wet finished and ready for their finishing press.  They have a wee oopsie, but since more of my towels are being given away these days, I'm not bothered about it.  They will still dry dishes.  Or whatever.

Tomorrow I am supposed to talk to the pain doc.  I'm hoping to get some more information and see if he has a Plan B.  Once I have more information I will be making some more Big Decisions about things.

Life is never easy.  But it is endlessly fascinating.  

Endings

 

This morning as I sat drinking my coffee and reading through social media, I was served up a meme with a quote by Brian Cox, the scientist (not the actor). 

Over the years I've enjoyed his programs on science, so I was interested in this quote:

"The ultimate paradox, of course, is that even though we're all going to die, we've all got to live in the meantime."

Given I am in the 'twilight' of my years (and privileged to be so) I have spent a fairly long time working out how I am going to live before it is time to die.

I've made mistakes.  I've done stupid things.  I've said hurtful things, and had some hurled at me.

I hope I have learned from those.  I have tried to be a better human as a consequence of messing things up.  To fix what I can.  To walk away when things have not worked out, and done that without flouncing.  Just...go my way and try to do better next time I mess up.

Which is a whole lot like weaving, too.  So many ways that weaving and learning feed my life.  

But I'm still here - long beyond when I thought I would be.  Frankly, given my family history, I wasn't sure I would make it to 75.  My father and brother both gone in their 50s.  Many others gone long before I hit my 70s.  Mom was an outlier in her family, living to 90.  

I could have died last year.  But I didn't.  But the past few years have not been, well, kind to me.

And so I am left with that one crucial task to tend to:  figure out how I will live the rest of my life.

Expectations have fallen by the wayside.  Energy is practically non-existent.  But I keep working to try and make things 'better'.

And while we rarely know the day of our death, it is a good idea to keep in mind - no one gets out of 'here' alive.

I talk to the pain doc next week.  I have no idea what - if anything - more he can do for me.  But I've got a warp on the loom.  I still (oh my gawd, yes *still*) have yarn that wants weaving.  I have an article I've tentatively begun for WEFT, and possibly another in the wings.

These things are carrots I hold before my nose, like you'd do to a horse, to keep them coming along.

As I go through my days, I try to help others, as best I can.  I try to encourage others.  

And if that is all I can manage in a day, well, it's better than sitting around feeling sorry for myself and *not* doing anything.  Because one thing I've come to realize, the pain is here and it's not going to go away - probably.  I cannot wallow in the mire of the fields of pain.

Today one of Santa's helpers delivered a gift, which means I have some new puzzles to build, too (two arrived a few days ago, personally delivered.)  

As for my house?  Yes, it's a mess.  But even in that we have managed to tame a few piles of clutter.  It's too little to make a dent, but *I* know that we've tried.  And if my energy 'holds', if my desire to leave less clutter and mess behind continues, there will be less of my mess to toss when I shuffle off this mortal coil.

And if this post is too morbid, I'm sorry.  But just like oil and gas will run out, my life force will, at some point in time.  If we don't deal with oil and gas and get alternatives, humanity is going to have to do some fast turn arounds.  As for me?  Well, again, no one gets out of here alive.  And I'm embarrassed at the stuff I've accumulated over the years.  It's hard to let some of it go.  But I will have to when the time comes.  Might as well take the burden of my spouse and friends and deal with it myself.

And who knows?  Maybe the pain doctor will have another strategy up his sleeve.  It's harder to remain hopeful and optimistic, but I'm trying.  And I will know more next week?  One way or another...

Quiet Milestone

 

Probably the first 'meme' I ever made...

The other day this blog had a quiet Milestone - viewership is now over 4 million page views.

I kind of stopped counting when I realized that bots were 'raiding' sites like mine, selling the active URL addresses so they could start making comments on posts and advertise their own product.  Some of them, at least, made a comment that was 'appropriate' (sort of) to my content, but most didn't bother, just added their name and a link to their website to 'advertise' to my readers.

And then I had the harasser, and started moderating comments.  It meant a little more work on my part, but it was worth it, I felt.

Now we are dealing with AI scraping content.  I suppose some bright spark will eventually figure out how to scrape blogs for their content too.  I'm hoping the whole house of cards collapses before they get to that point.

As usual humans have taken what was once a good idea and fouled the waters so much it's getting aggravating to even participate.

Someone asked me when I would get back to playing Scrabble - something that filled many hours while I was recovering from the brain bleed.  But the ads were irritating so much I couldn't enjoy playing the game anymore.

I still have a couple of games I'm playing, but they keep changing the rules and I'm wondering when they start increasing their ads.  

As we enter the holiday season, I'm seeing lots of independent creative folk (like myself) trying to get the word out about the things we sell.  And I find myself adding to the noise, because I do still have books that people be interested in, classes they might find helpful.

And I am torn.  I know so many people are hurting in so many ways right now, do I want to add to the noise?  

Current events continue to run like a flooding river and the uncertainty is...overwhelming...at times.  But I'm pretty sure that the world will not end with a bang, but a whimper.  And it won't be everywhere, all at once.  And so, for some of us, life will go on, one way or another.  Plus weaving may very well become a survival skill once again, not a hobby.

I see new weavers popping in on groups, quite sincerely wanting to know more, learn how.  And so I keep trying.  To reach out.  To make new weavers aware.  To remove the stigma of perfection that kills good.  To pause and reflect on what they are actually doing.  And that to be good is, quite frequently, good enough.

Yes, yes, we all strive for 'perfection', but weaving is complex and takes years of learning to get even close to good *in every circumstance* - because change one thing, and everything can change.

Not to mention our bodies age, wear out, get injured.  Sometimes, one needs to face the facts and adjust what and how we are doing something.  And go back to 'beginner' mind and feel frustrated.  Just like I felt when I dressed the small loom and had road blocks and things go wrong the whole time.

But!  It's ready now.  I've just run out of spoons to try and weave on that loom today.  So I'm going to stop for the day and try to relax and not worry too much about what comes tomorrow.  And the day after that.  And the day after that.  Trying to stay in the moment.  For someone who used to use planning calendars because I needed to plan things 6 and farther out from 'now', it's a bit of a challenge.  The most important thing is to remember that things *have* changed and I need to change in response *to* those changes.  

But I can still weave.  Hopefully I can keep writing.  And most of all, I can keep lighting candles.

And that's not a bad thing.  Not at all.

I think I posted all the links for my stuff yesterday.  Scroll down if you want to use them.

No Mistakes!

 

Borrowed table top loom

From time to time I hear/see newer weavers exclaim that they can't wait until they don't make mistakes anymore.

Yeah, about that...

Well, not all of the challenges I had to deal with for this warp (and I'm not even finished dressing the loom - yet) were of my making.

I'm doing a 'thing' and the best way forward to get the 'thing' done was to borrow a small table top loom.  I planned a warp (I'm weaving 'samples') and based on the yarn and weave structure (2/8 cotton; Bronson Lace) decided a reasonable density was 20 epi.  Although 24 might be better.  I didn't know, but figured 20 was a good place to start.

Crunched the numbers.  Decided I wanted an uneven number of units so that any motif I wove could be centered, recalculated to make sure I had the correct thread count, then set about winding my warp.  All went well and the warp was waiting for me.

Then when I went to rough sley the warp (as I do), the *only* reed that would fit into the loom was the reed that came with it.  Which was 12 not 10.  Sigh.  Oh well.  

Re-calculated for the narrow sample I was making, the % of lace in the cloth (on average), how difficult lace can be to beat in (consistently) on a looser warp, decided that probably 24 was better than 20 anyway, and recalculated to make sure that by tightening the density I would still wind up with a decent (very narrow) warp.  Yes.  Just barely.

Today I thought I'd quickly beam the warp, but it's been a while since I worked on such a small loom and I was out of practice pulling on a warp.  Frankly, I'd have rather used my 4 shaft floor loom, but am not feeling up to weaving on that loom right now and was the reason I had borrowed the table top loom in the first place.

I had to figure out warp packing.  Such a small loom won't take much length and my warp packing of preference (which I couldn't find anyway - think I donated the bamboo mats to the guild) so I had to switch to brown paper.  Not my first preference but since I would likely be cutting off and retying a few times, probably would be ok.

The beaming on went ok, but then I had to transfer the lease sticks to the back of the loom (because rough sleyed reed) and then things fairly quickly fell apart.  The lease sticks came out entirely, but ta-da!  With the warp rough sleyed in the reed it was a quick matter of picking up the cross again.

I knew that the loom didn't have all that many heddles and Bronson Lace requires 50% of the heddles on one shaft.  Oops.  There were not enough heddles on any one shaft.  

But!  The loom has 8 shafts, so shafts 1 AND 2 were designated to work together as one, and then the draft was threaded as 'usual' on shafts 3, 4, and 5.  It meant I had to pay close attention as I manipulated the threads onto the appropriate shaft and remember to thread the weave structure correctly based on the conjoining of shaft 1 and 2 for the tabby a.

Doug agreed to drive me up to the guild room so I could look for a reed before I sleyed the warp, but the guild doesn't have one the right length, so hopefully tomorrow I can finish the last few units and then sley the reed and tie on.  And then wind some bobbins.  I need to decide on what I will weave for the samples, but that can happen in the next day or two.

So, not really any terminal 'mistakes' on my part, just a project that is proving to be more challenging than I'd hoped.  Kinda like life, really...

Unseen Forces

 

Thinking about 'unseen forces' in weaving, it's time to remind people that if you live in an arid climate, or more especially, one where the relative humidity swings seasonally, you may run afoul of the issue of low humidity in the air.

When that happens, things go 'wrong' and it may be difficult to tell why that is so.

When the relative humidity in the environment drops, weaving can become a challenge.

If you have an electric bobbin winder, you might start getting static discharge shocks while winding bobbins.  For some yarns, just winding a warp on a warping board or mill can see the generation of static discharges.

When the relative humidity drops, wooden equipment can develop issues as the wood shrinks.  The loom or whatever might develop squeaks, and screws become loose so the loom can go out of alignment or wobble.

Some yarns will behave poorly.  Linen and other cellulose yarns can suddenly stop co-operating.  Linen in particular will become stiff and unruly, and not want to feed off a rotating bobbin nicely.  

In the case of linen as weft, I wind bobbins ahead of time and store them in a 'humidor'.  And I don't fill the bobbins higher than the flanges on the bobbin because linen is dense and a very full bobbin can create excess drag that might be too much stress for selvedges.

If it gets very dry, other yarns will become less co-operative as well.  

If the relative humidity drops below 40% in the house I run a humidifier.  Everything just behaves 'better' and I have fewer issues with dry rough hands.

I still have a little linen yarn left that I need to use up, but I'm trying to work on a few other things right now.  Even though I'm not weaving with linen at the minute, the humidifier has been running for over a month, and will continue to run until spring when the relative humidity returns to higher than 40%.

Sometimes it's not you, it is an unseen force at work.  But now?  You know to take that into consideration if you experience wild swings in relative humidity where you live.

Soap Box Time

 

upright posture (recommended)

not upright (not recommended)

Once again I see someone pictured online sitting in a way that isn't 'healthy' or kind to their body.

Generally they are sitting in an ordinary kitchen chair, too low, having to lift their shoulders in order to weave.  Oftentimes they are weaving on a table top loom, which means neck/shoulder strain, needing to reach well above their shoulders to change the sheds, adding more stress and strain, and crane their necks awkwardly.

They weave for a while and then they hurt.

Instead of changing their physical surroundings, they think that weaving is too hard on their bodies.  Well, when it's done in a way that ignores the ergonomics of body function, it's true.  Weaving hurts.

The same with floor looms, though.  Generally people sit too low, in a chair than isn't engineered to be used for weaving, and their hips and lower back hurts from treadling, their shoulders and neck hurt from the shuttle throwing and beating of the weft.

People complain about their shuttles, ask for advice, which people are delighted to give.  Without ever mentioning the considerations that need to be kept in mind - are their hands small or large?  What kind of weft are they using?  They get tired of needing to change the bobbins so they opt for one of those huge rug weft shuttles which weigh a lot more than an 'ordinary' shuttle and then find their arms hurt after throwing and catching it for a while.  Their shoulders and neck hurt too, if they stop and think about what they are doing - using muscles that haven't been used much, and certainly not in that kind of motion, over and over and over again, until fatigue makes them stop.  And sometimes they wind up with soft tissue injuries.

Weaving is *physical*.  We use our bodies as an integral part of the process.  Keeping going beyond the body capacity for that motion, done hundreds of times, is damaging.  And it is much easier to prevent soft tissue injury than it is to heal from soft tissue injury.  Plus, once injured, those muscles are prone to further injury.

As a new weaver my best advice is to learn from someone who is experienced, *and who follows ergonomic practices*.  I know lots of weavers who have been weaving for decades in a way that would lead someone else who may have a history of inflammation, to develop soft tissue injury.  Just because it doesn't hurt *them* doesn't mean that others might not fare nearly so well.  

If anyone wants to know how I do it, I have video clips on You Tube, or if you want a more detailed explanation, both my classes on School of Sweet Georgia and Long Thread Media discuss what I do.  I cover the information in The Intentional Weaver.

If you want good information, find a good teacher, not AI.  Just sayin...

School of Sweet Georgia

Long Thread Media

The Intentional Weaver (use coupon GIVINGTUES25 until Dec. 11 for discount)

Winding Warps

 

Warp winding station

Close up of cross

More angst on line about warp winding, warp beaming, general dissatisfaction with the whole warp dressing process.

Warping is not difficult, but is *is* complex.  It is a process fraught with invisible considerations - a combination of physics and well, what appears to be 'magic' when someone who is good at it, does it.

But it isn't magical.  It is a precise series of steps that needs to be done in order, consistently, applying tension when necessary and controls that do not hinder the process, but enable the weaver to precisely get the job done.

It is not helped by getting frustrated, but examined and adjusted to better suit the situation at hand.

In other words...it depends.

I see all sorts of comments and they are all fine - as far as they go.  But hardly anyone tells why they do what they do.  

Here is my attempt to explain what I do, and why.

1.  Warping station

I place the board so that it is solidly against the wall.  It doesn't shift around or wobble. I can wind with some tension (not a lot, just to keep things happy) and press each pass of the yarn down towards the base of the peg.  I do not overlap the threads but place them beside the ones that have gone before which keeps each pass of the yarn pretty close to even - in tension and therefore length.  When I press them towards the base, some of the threads closer to the base might overlap, but they do that by increasing their tension in order to climb over/under the previous ends.  Once they are released from that path, they go back to the same tension and length as the other passes.

2.  Generally I use two ends at a time.  In the first photo you can see the two tubes each standing on a peg to keep the yarn stable and evenly winding off the spool because each end is threaded through a reed that takes the yarn up off the tube, centered.  Each yarn can balloon outwards without catching on each other or anything else.  This keeps the yarn from spiraling out evenly tensioned, not catching and jerking on its journey to the warping board.  I set each tube so that it empties in the same direction, in my case to come off the tube in a counter clockwise direction.  Whatever you do, be consistent.

3.  I keep a finger between the pair of ends as I find the yarn comes off the tubes smoothly.  Some people don't and say they don't have any issues.  Personal choice.  The cross is a 2x2 cross.  By doing two ends at a time I halve the time I need to spend winding the warp.  I find that using 2 ends in a pass generally makes things go more smoothly, especially if the yarn is a bit hairy or textured.

4.  I count out as many threads as I need in an inch or so.  In this case the epi will be 20 so 10 passes or 20 threads in a 'bundle'.  I use a counting string of a thicker yarn, contrasting in colour.  The thicker yarn is made even thicker by trebling or doubling and doubling (for 4 strands in the bundling yarn) and then as I complete each bundle of one inch (or whatever is appropriate for the warp) I twist the two ends of the bundling string to create a X between the previous bundle and the next.  Continue to done.  (If more than 15" in width in the reed, I will wind two chains.)

5.  When the warp is wound, I tie a single 'knot' to secure the counting string.  The yarn is hairy enough that is all that is required, so it is easy to pull gently on one of the 'strings' to loosen the knot and quickly and easily removed the string when it is time.  

6.  Tying the cross is done by tying the entire (half) warp above or below the cross with a single string, bundled in the same way as the counting string.  I do not tie the actual waist of the cross because I find that compresses that area and makes it more difficult to separate the threads later.

7.  Then the choke tie is tied, about 18" or so from the cross.  See second photo for a close up shot.

For this tie, the whole point is to secure the warp chain and discourage it from sliding around and becoming messy.  So I do the same thing with the choke tie and introduce a twist into the chain about 1/3 of the way through, then another 2/3s of the way into the chain, and then I pull very firmly on the tie to make sure the yarn is trapped as much as possible in the tie.

8.  Take one more close look at the warp chain.  Does it look correct?  All the ties have been tied?  Then cut the warp yarns off (they can be loose, the counting string will control the threads).  Pull the bottom peg out and then carefully drop the warp into a box/bin for the next step.

No, I don't chain the warp.  Notice I did not tie any other part of the warp.  This warp is only 5 meters, and really doesn't need any gathering ties.  Notice I did not say 'choke' ties.  When I *do* tie along the length of a longer warp.  I don't tie them very tightly, just enough to prevent yarns from straying from their path, too much.

Also note, I do not have studio pets that will be tempted to stick their nose or claws into my yarns.  Your mileage may vary.

Truth be told, it is taking me longer to type this out than actually winding the warp.  

If anyone wants more info on warp beaming and warping valets, I have plenty of posts - just use the tag in the long list of tags and click on warping valet.  I've written multiple times about the process I use, and people constantly question why I do what I do.  Isn't it annoying?  Fiddly?  Confusing?  No.  No.  No.  What it does is give me consistent results that provide for happy weaving.

What will that look like for you?  Don't know.  Everyone gets to choose what they want to do.  So if something I do doesn't resonate with someone else?  I am not the weaving police.  If you are happy, bless you.  If you are not?  Maybe think about what you are doing and start to examine your processes, maybe change a few things.

One last thing - I don't aim to control every single individual thread in a warp.  A warp is a collective.  There may be tiny differences, but for most handweavers in the 21st century, they are not end of the earth failures.  Most times a little faith will go a long ways towards successfully completing a project.  And take some time to be thoughtful about what you are doing.  Only then will you really learn what you need to do.  And of course, change one thing?  And everything can change.  

Understanding that one simple principle will go a long way towards understanding what you are doing, and when you might need to change something to better serve your objectives.

The End of the Year

 

I must be a pagan from another age because the solstice as 'end of year' makes a lot more sense to me than Dec. 31.

For decades I would arrive at the solstice completely exhausted.  The bulk of my income for the year would be generated, one way or another, by the time of the solstice and I would tend to go into a kind of stasis and begin to re-charge my batteries for the coming new year.

Things have changed little since 'retirement' (for certain values of) and frankly I have almost no energy or desire to grab the new year and let it drag me along with it.

Yesterday was challenging.  It was not unexpected, but draining, nonetheless.  And it will lead to more 'work' for Doug when he's already taking care of me full time.

I had hoped by now to be feeling better after the last procedure, but I'm not.  Every day is more of a challenge than I prefer to deal with.  Beginning to feel like Sisyphus, dragging myself out of bed, grab that gigantic rock of my life and start rolling it up the hill.  (Typo made that 'hell' and I nearly left it.)

The grey dreary days don't help.  The current political climate (not to mention the actual climate) make the days lengthen before me.  I hold onto the thought that beginning in about two weeks the sun will begin it's return journey northwards and spring surely awaits with its promise of life and renewal. 

I am preparing to begin work on the next article for WEFT, but we got sidetracked by doing some de-cluttering, then yesterday happened and we have to re-calibrate to accommodate the events that wound up taking up most of Doug's day.  

But I am reminded there are good people out there, willing to lend a hand, lighten the load.  If we listen to a certain segment of the people, you would never know that the kindness of strangers, as well as neighbours, still exist.  But it does and we need to remember that, too.

Today I'm going to see if I feel up to winding the sample warp for the article.  Plus I'm hoping to get to the loom.  But we'll see.

Sending light and love to all.  

GIVINGTUES25

 

From time to time Blurb will offer a discount on book purchases.  Just now got an email saying that if someone uses the coupon code GIVINGTUES25 between now and Dec. 11 they will receive a 25% discount.

Considering that they do NOT take the discount away from the authors, this is a very good deal - for me and anyone who wants a copy of my books.

And of course, Magic in the Water.

Just yesterday I saw a question from a new weaver asking how to wet finish their handwovens, so if you know a new weaver, maybe let them know about this discount?  

(Any questions or issues with Blurb, do contact *them* not me.  This is a Blurb initiative, not mine...)

PS - figured I should put the link here....