Not Done Yet

 

not very far from my house

Seems winter is not done with us yet.  Honestly mid-February truly is too early for spring, so I am not all that upset with the fine snow coming out of the north this morning.  OTOH, I'm not the one who has to deal with it, so I have the luxury of pretty much ignoring it.

I'm well into the current warp and it's coming along nicely.  Plus I'm using up some of that huge cone of 16/2 cotton I inherited from a friend.  It won't all get used up, but there will be a good dent made in it, so there's that.

I'm still struggling with adverse drug reactions and I'm unsure what to do 'next'.  It seems I am to be crippled by some sort of pain.  I'm not ready to accept that - yet.  I've emailed the pharmacist to see if she has more information on a 'long shot' drug as I'm not finding fact sheets for it being used for nerve pain.  And asked if there is something else that I could try 'next'.  But it seems the nerve blockers all come with muscle pain - for me (spechul snowflake that I am) - and so far none of them have brought relief without the side dish of muscle pain.  

And the shenanigans politically continue.  I need to remember that the people doing these things are banking on people becoming exhausted and giving up.  That it is always much easier to 'burn it all down' than it is to build functioning societal benefits.  Oh well, it's 2025 and here we are, no one knows when it will all come crashing down.

Since I can do very little to prevent any of this, I continue to head to the studio and try to produce something, anything, creative/productive.  With the additional benefit of an increase in endorphins and ability to shut the world out of my thoughts for a couple hours a day.

So far this week I've wet finished the samples for the current article.  Now to 'marry' them to their loom state samples so that the finished woven samples can be compared to the loom state, and see how the wet finishing has transformed the samples.  What I had on the loom was, to put it in one word, disappointing - as cloth goes.  And yet when I took the finished samples off the drying rack after being wet finished, the transformation was remarkable.  :)

For me, at least, the journey of 'finding out' continues.  I've just agreed to write another article, and letting my thoughts percolate on the back burner while I finish up the current warp.  And get the next one set up.  I still have to finish doing the math (number of ends/picks).  Last night I started hemming the tea towels I just wet finished and I continue to be pleased with them.  

As for my ko-fi shop, since no one knows if the tariffs will be applied - or not - or if US mail will accept parcels from Canada (as a further way to 'squeeze' Canadians) I will just leave my shop open and go with the flow.  

What will be, will be.  And we'll all just have to figure things out as the circus continues...

Taking Stock

 

Yesterday I pressed the white linen on natural merc. cotton warp and no, they are not 'perfect' but I'm quite pleased with them.  They have the linen 'stiffness' but the cotton flex, and woven of fine threads they should be really nice tea towels.  I only wound up with 11 of them, but I still have about a pound and a half of the singles linen, so I decided to change directions and the next warp will be wound of the merc. 2/20 cotton at 40 epi and woven in this tried and true draft.

It's a fairly simple threading, just point progressions over 16 shafts with straight twill progression borders and since I'm still playing pain med roulette, keeping things simple is probably a good idea.

I've used this draft many times over the years.  I like the visual 'pun', which actually won't be obvious with the white/natural yarns.  It will look like damask even though it's a block twill.  I usually get around 18 or so towels per warp, but I will make them a bit smaller and may get 20.  

The yarn will last longer than just one warp so there will have to be one more to finish off the linen, then perhaps some of the white 2/20 merc cotton.  During my digging I found not one but two huge cones of the stuff.  Not sure what that will look like, yet.  Maybe the draft I showed the other day.

I've also been asked to do another article for WEFT so I'm mulling over what I will say for that one.  In the meantime I have time to do at least this warp before I start working on the article.  

The US continues to live an 'interesting' life.  Will the tariffs be forgotten about?  Or will he just go full on with plans to annex Canada (and Panama, and Greenland, and, and, and...)?

One thing about weaving so many samples is that I'm not producing so many textiles for sale.  So that's a win-win situation given the state of the world right now.

Doing the Same Thing...

Two yarns, spun to 3360 yards per pound.  Are they the same?  Will they behave exactly the same in the cloth?

One of the definitions of 'insanity' is doing the same thing, over and over and over again, and expecting different results.

Also, that people who do not know history are bound to repeat it (while those of us who *do* know history watch them do it.)

We have been inching towards today's 'reality', while historians have been warning us, and climate scientists have been warning us, and somehow, too few of us were paying attention.

Another post I saw yesterday was someone making the observation that ignoring what we don't like doesn't prevent what we don't like from happening.

All of these things are applicable to present day politics, but also?  Weaving.

I don't think there is another, better, metaphor for life than weaving.  Maybe it is why I find it endlessly fascinating.

As I have explored the craft for 50 years (next month), I have tried various things, read loads of books, taking classes with various instructors.

I learned that all of the 'best' advice was based on very specific circumstances, not necessarily 'true' in every way that can be found when dealing with fibre, string and cloth.

Over the years I became less rigid, more open to other possibilities. allowing for unique specific aims and objectives of the weaver.

And this is what I have found endlessly fascinating about weaving - the width, yes, but also?  The depth.  The information can be interpreted in so many different ways, depending on the aim, or intention, of the weaver.

It was the challenge of writing books.  Pick a set of circumstances, then give as much information and possibilities as I could think of.  As I look at the literature surrounding the craft, I see other authors have made similar conclusions, and moved to address them in the way that made sense to them.

But that's the thing - we all process information in different ways.  We all respond to circumstances according to who we are, our core values, and our level of knowledge and/or understanding of what it is we 'know'.

Because we don't know *what* we don't know until we finally know that we didn't know it.

A new weaver expressed frustration about learning to get consistent results - "Well, it seems like you just faff around and find out!".   Yes, my dear, that's exactly what *I* do.  But I do it based on the layers of knowledge that I have already figured out.  And then, every time I learn something new, that information gets installed into my foundation of knowledge.  So I'm not beginning from square one, now, but much further down the rabbit warren, with 50 years of knowledge, practice and experience, to extrapolate from.  And the 'failures'.  Because finding out what *doesn't* work teaches you where to look next for answers.

There are very few 'clear' answers in weaving (and I suspect in other crafts that rely on natural materials) and my goal now is to try to present as much as I can for anyone who wants to be exposed to my experience.

There is a meme that says a good teacher will tell you where to look, not what to see.  I try to be 'that' teacher.  (so, what is it you 'see' in the above photo????)

Books available at blurb

Classes available at Sweet Georgia and Long Thread Media

My Ko-fi shop - for towels and such

Soon to come - articles in WEFT

A Little 'Simple'

 

The current warp was designed to do the samples I needed for the current article, but I never do just short warps if I can make longer ones and have them do double duty.  So it was with this one.

The 'easiest' way to do the samples I was designing was to do a straight draw, most especially to accommodate doing towels on whatever warp was left once I'd finished weaving the samples.

Of course, once I declared I was 'done' I thought of another approach to trying to figure out what was going on, but the article only has a 1200 word count and I'm going to have a hard time keeping to that - I anticipate heavy editing.  :D

So, instead, I will toss out some ideas for people who may want to take what I've done and go further with it.

In the meantime, did I rethread to weave the left over warp with one of my more usual 'fancy' twills?  Nope.  Sometimes it's just good to go with 'simple'.

The warp is natural white 2/16 cotton threaded in a straight draw at a density appropriate to do a twill so I decided to do a very simple block progression that will create a 'wave' or undulation as the motif.

Yesterday I wove the first towel, found and fixed a sleying error, edited the treadling so that it comes closer to the dimension I want, and started thinking about the next warp.

I have about 700 grams or so of the singles linen, which will do one but not two warps.  In an effort to use up that stash I rummaged through Ars Textrina and decided to return to a 'fancy' twill I've used before but messed around with the tie up.  I'll let it 'sit' for a bit and see if I'm ok with it or if I mess around with it more.

Once I've done the current warp I'll beam the next one and increase the density to 36 instead of the current 32, and weave as much of the linen up.  The warp after that?  Don't know.  Yet.  I will have to set up something to weave off the linen, then get back to using up the fine 20/2 cotton I got from a friend's stash when she died.  I have a few options that I can turn to if the density is off, or I can manipulate the tie up, increasing or decreasing the interlacements.

Plus, they will 'just' be tea towels.  They don't have to be 'perfect', just functional.

In the meantime I've floated another idea to WEFT.  But I already have samples woven for that one so it will be 'just' writing.  Beyond that, I'm not sure.  The list of subjects has been sent in, but I feel like I need a bit of a break.  The saga of the search for pain meds that actually help instead of hurting continues.  I started a new pill on Thursday and right now I'm not sure if I'm having pain because of the med, or because I'm not taking enough of it yet, since I'm only on the introductory dose.

Sigh.

Anyway, if you want a wee peek at what is stewing here 'tis...

To Be Determined if it makes it to the loom in this format or?

Flag Day (politics)

 

One of the big differences I see between Canadians and USians, is that Canadians aren't generally big flag wavers.  

As such, we wound up mounting a smallish Canadian flag over our front door during one Flag Day, when they were being given away to anyone who wanted one.  We mounted it that year, and then left it because it was such a great 'landmark' if anyone was looking to visit - 'white house, flag mounted over the front door'.  At the time we were the only house flying a flag in our neighbourhood. and since then it has faded and been replaced.

We nearly took it down when the 'convoy' folk grabbed the flag for their 'parades' as they coal-rolled down the streets, but we figured we were flying the flag long before they were, so we kept it up.  Now the entire nation appears to be metaphorically flying the flag, and the 'convoy' folk are being out-numbered.  

In point of fact there are still very few private homes that fly the flag, so our direction to strangers is the same 'flag mounted over the front door'...

If the US administration continues the way they are going, I will speculate that once the current cold spell is over, there may be more private homes with flags flying.

And that's the thing that happens all the time - people who are not Canadian tend to underestimate us.

Unless they have benefited from Canadians serving them.  As we have benefited from service from others - most recently the exchange of fire fighters between countries.  We have seen crews from African countries, also battling wildfires during their hot season, usually able to come here during ours.  We have had Australian and Mexican crews, too.  And just last month Canada sent crews to California.  We know that being a good neighbour is to help each other.  Something lost on the current administration, who isn't doing their own citizens any favours.

We are in a time of upheaval, and where it will all end, no one knows.  Let a bully win, they will keep pushing.  Keep punching down.  We are in the fight for our country's survival right now facing huge odds.  Maybe Canada should thank the current president for the unification?  For being a 'bad' example?  

Let's just have a moment to think about Canadian author Margaret Atwood's observation that The Handmaid's Tale was a warning of what could happen, not meant to be a playbook...

Stick Shuttles

 

Yes, I still have - and use - stick shuttles.  Yes, they are slower than boat shuttles.  Sometimes it is faster to your goal to work more slowly.  And when the tool is the 'right' tool, then I use it.

A lot of people don't realize that if you wind your shuttle as above (a figure 8 on just one side of the shuttle) you can use your shuttle as a beater.   Very handy on a rigid heddle loom.  Also, by winding the yarn this way, the majority of the yarn sits on the 'top' of the shuttle making the shuttle easier to slide through the shed.   The yarn package builds up in a 'wedge' shape that fits the shed more closely, and reduces the abrasion of the weft yarn on the warp threads.  If you are working with 'tender' warp yarns, this can be a significant benefit.   

When I was weaving 40 yards of 'sashes' for the local Ukrainian dance troupe, the stick shuttle eventually turned out to be the 'best' tool to use, and by going slower by pick, I arrived with the (nearly) perfect sashes with a lot less hair pulling than trying to use a boat shuttle on such a narrow warp faced warp.

The samples that I have been weaving for the next WEFT article also benefited from the use of a stick shuttle.  However, I don't know that anything more will be said about why I used a stick shuttle than a passing note that I did, so I thought I would go into more depth here.

The samples were being woven with bundled weft threads.  The number of threads in the bundle was changed to show how bundled yarns at different numbers in the bundle changed the nature of the cloth.  

In some of the samples I used up to 7 fine threads in the bundle; some had as few as 3.

Part of the approach to do these samples was to use *bundled* threads, not *plyed* ones, so the object was to create a bundle and then reduce the number of twists that were applied to the bundles.  Winding a stick shuttle meant I had the ease of quickly changing the number of threads in the bundle, and applying very little twist.  I used my spool rack to mount the tubes on, which meant that by carefully - and consistently - pulling the yarns off the tubes and placing them on the shuttle as shown above, the yarns did not tend to pull off inconsistently causing loops and went on with few twists along the length.

I just pulled the last sample off the loom, and now I need to re-sley the warp so I can weave the rest off to make tea towels.

The samples need to be cut/serged, tagged so that they can be identified easily (especially after wet finishing) and frankly, the yarn 'tags' I'm using take me longer than the cutting and serging.  But these samples are not just for my benefit (curiosity killed the cat; satisfaction brought it back) but I need to write up what I did and describe the results.  And I will be making further suggestions for anyone who wants to take what I did further.  Because I could weave another whole set of samples, but I have a word count, and besides, might as well leave something for others to do?  :D  

I can't be having ALL the fun!  

I forget which issue these are intended to be in - if what I've done pass muster.  

The other day I mentioned to a local weaver I had all these samples and I'm mulling over the possibility of having a show and tell for anyone interested to attend and show the magazine and the actual samples for people to get the Full Meal Deal.  I don't feel like I'm doing enough to encourage local weavers and - if they all agree to wear a mask to protect me against the various viruses floating around these days - I would feel safe enough to attend an in person 'study group'.

Plus, maybe by April I'll not be stuttering/stammering etc., so much.  Most people say they can't tell how hard I'm working to speak, but it's exhausting to try and find the words I want to use.

Which means I am probably done with doing 'remote' presentations.  But small groups at my local guild?  I think I can manage that by spring.  We'll see.

Quiet Days

 

Megado computer assisted dobby loom

The last few days have been 'quiet' days.  First I had to beam the warp, something I can do in a day, if I pace myself, and then thread it.  Also something I have to pace myself to accomplish.

Over the weekend, I listened to music, as I always do, and found myself wanting - needing - music that was gentle.  Quiet.  

Fortunately I have a rather (ahem) large selection of CDs I can play, but yesterday I settled for a compilation of Cat Stevens songs.  Most of them are from the 70s, a time when there was a movement towards 'peace and love' and people were hopeful that things would (could) get better.

It was a balm for my soul and a welcome change from the music I usually listen to when I'm weaving, which is a bit more, energetic?

I have woven mostly on a dobby loom, which I changed to a computer assisted dobby in the late 1990s.  I had already been using hearing protection, due to the rather loud clatter from the AVL fly shuttle mechanism, so nothing much changed when I got the computer assisted dobby and realized how loud the solenoids were.

When I exchanged the AVL for the Megado, I was a bit surprised that it was just as loud as the AVL.  Solenoids will 'bang' no what brand of loom you use, apparently.

In March of 2020 I finally got hearing aids.  When the audiologist tested my hearing, there was no doubt - a big chunk of my hearing had been damaged - all consistent with working in a noisy environment.  Even though I'd worn hearing protection while weaving, there were other mechanical devices that I'd run without the hearing protection, and after decades of that, here I am.

The world is restless right now.  It threatens to get very 'loud', and a lot of people everywhere are getting very concerned about what is going on, not just here, but pretty much everywhere.

If you find yourself overwhelmed at the chaos and uncertainty, pace yourself.  Take breaks where you can wallow in some quiet, and peace.  Something that brings calm to you.  Lets you breathe deeply.  Maybe put on some 'peaceful' music, whatever that means to you.  Rest.  What is happening is not going to be over any time soon.  We need to pace ourselves.  Spend some time in creative pursuits, if that is something you do.  Help someone else, even one person.  Write a letter (or email) and let your elected officials know your thoughts.  Be polite!  Remember that such things get read by workers first.  But be clear.

Today I will sley and maybe weave the first sample on this warp for the article.  I spent some time yesterday doing some math (shudder) and have a 'plan'.  Time to get to the loom and begin.  There will be more Cat Stevens (2nd disc!) while I sley and tie on, then figure out how many 2/16 threads to bundle for the weft.  Little by little, the bits of knowledge get observed, then crammed into my foundation of knowledge.

These 'interesting' times threaten to continue for the next while.  Stay strong.  Which means resting when you get tired.