Challenges

 

after wet finishing

loom state

Someone asked about weaving something that resembled ribbing.  I suggested something like the above, which isn't exactly what they wanted but what might be experimented with to get the effect they wanted to achieve.

Then I suggested that if they kept their stripes narrow enough, they might be able to encourage the cloth to 'collapse' and wind up with something even more 'rib' like.

Today was the first time I felt able to agree to doing a zoom presentation.  They had chosen the topic of 'Weaver's Toolbox'.  I spent a lot of that time explaining how the 'main' types of handlooms work, because if something is going on, it's good to know if it is a 'weaver' problem or a 'loom' problem'.  One of the things I missed talking about is tightening the nuts/bolts/wedges of a loom which is primarily wooden.  

Relative humidity has been on my mind a lot lately because we are in the depths of winter, where the relative humidity drops, significantly.  Doug mentioned a while ago that he went round the loom and tightens the bolts.  (He knows how difficult I find such things right now, so I was grateful he took care of that for me.)

Anyway, the presentation this morning seemed to go well, once I'd sorted out the technical issues yesterday (thanks Microsoft - NOT!) and the next one is in 4 weeks time.  Once I'm done that I'll assess how they went and decide if I begin promoting my giving more.  I feel hopeful that if people find things of interest, maybe things they were not consciously aware of being issues and that they needed to pay attention to.  

As usual, I went beyond  the time allotted, but people were asking really good questions.  Usually when that happens, I know I've opened some possibilities for people.  Helped them think beyond the 'usual'.  

And bottom line, that's why I do this.

My website is still giving out 'danger' warnings, largely because my security certificate has expired or something.  But I don't collect your data so hopefully you can just click on through, if you are interested in my zoom topics.  Just scroll down the page a bit and they are listed.