Slowly

I forget how many towels are in this stack - 70?  80?  Doug went pressing yesterday so there are 20 more waiting for me to hem while these wait for Doug to have time to go pressing again.

Plus all the ones that are in the later stages of production - some already tagged, some just needing tagging.  

Let's just say I have more than enough of this style of tea towels*, probably for several years to come.

But they were just the balm for my soul that I needed for the past few months.  I have two more warps of this design in the pipeline and then it will be (past) time to deal with the rest of the warp on the AVL - 40 yards of fabric for the conference here in '19.  Some of that cloth will be used to decorate the hall(s) for the conference, some will be used in other ways and, once the conference is over, they can be turned into souvenir tea towels.  But first they have to get woven.

In other aspects of my life, things are also slowly progressing.  I have a workshop to teach in October so that needs to be dealt with.  This class has way more 8 shaft looms than usual and most of them floor looms, so that means an extreme 'tweaking' is needed for the drafts.  I have been reluctant to do such a deep editing of the workshop because it will be the last time I teach this topic and the time it takes will be significant.  On the other hand, why not go out in a blaze of 'glory'?  

I have managed to clear some things off my desk - the oral history mom did back in oh, 2005? - was kindly transcribed for me by a friend and I added some stories mom had typed out - single spaced, no paragraph breaks, ALL CAPS!  I really had to force myself to transcribe those, but I'm glad I did because I 'heard' some stories I'd forgotten, or never really knew.  I will likely print out the edited transcript because I prefer reading from a paper copy, not digital.

I am nearly 'done' with my obligations for Olds College for this year - just one more student who is scrambling to complete her last sample.  I really want to finish this so I can clear my head space of thinking about Olds for a while.

Because...next phase...craft fair season.  I pretty desperately need more table runners and shawls.  I sold out of the one and almost out of the other at Vancouver's Circle Craft last year.  It is beyond time for me to at least get some table runners done.  I'm not sure I can manage shawls, too.  There just aren't enough days left in the calendar...

*for anyone interested in the details for these towels, check out my article in the Sept/Oct 2017 issue of Handwoven