New Year, New Warp

 

Over Christmas and Boxing Day I did what I love - dressed the loom with the next warp.

Things did not go...smoothly...however.  There were some minor issues, but nothing that will negatively impact the cloth in any significant way.

However, it put me in mind of all the new weavers who lament all the mistakes they make, declaring that they can't wait until they don't make mistakes anymore.

Um, about that...

The first issue with this warp was that one of the tubes of yarn broke a couple of times.  I assumed it was just settling in issues, and didn't worry about it too much.  Mistake on my part because at some point the yarn broke again and I am 'short' some ends.  How many?  Didn't bother to try and find out. 

Instead I edited the draft to reflect that there were fewer warp ends.  No big deal - all it means is that the selvedges are not identical.  However, the difference will be slight and only another weaver would notice.

Christmas day here was a very dark and dreary day and in the end, the sections are not filled as 'perfectly' as I would wish.  However, the slight differences will be unnoticable once the tea towels are cut/serged and wet finished.  There may be a slight impact on the actual weaving, but again, a little extra attention and care as I weave ought to let me ignore them.

Recently I saw a thread somewhere about poor tension on warps.  I read through the responses, but the answers pretty much covered anything that was needed to be said, so I quietly left and didn't add to the conversation.

It's all well and good to aim for 'perfection', but truth be told?  Minor issues can sometimes be worked around.

As weavers we have to remember that what counts is the cloth after it is *finished* - and by that I mean wet finished, not just the myriad steps to get us to an interlaced web.

Mastering a craft is knowing how to work as perfectly as possible, but when things happen that are less than perfect, knowing how to fix the issues or if it even really needs to be 'fixed'.  Because hand weavers weave at a much slower pace than industrial looms do.  As hand weavers we can adjust ourselves, as well as the loom.

But once again, weaving has delivered a generous helping of 'humbility' (as Hercule Poirot says) and reminded me that I may hold the title of 'master', but essentially all that means is that I can usually identify a problem when it arises, when it needs to be fixed, or when I can create a 'fudge' fix-it.

Because the other thing that happened over the holiday was that my tiny little 'danger radar' voice urged me to check the brake cable on the Megado.  Sure enough, one of the strands in the metal cable had broken.  (You'd think I weave a lot, or something...)

I asked my in-house loom doctor to take a look and he agreed - it needed to be dealt with.  This morning he ordered a couple of 'thimbles'.  These are little gizmos that fit inside a cable loop and prevent wear on the cable itself.  I could have ordered a new brake cable from Louet, but I don't know that they carry such in stock or if I'd have to wait until one arrived from Holland - at who knows how much cost?

The metal 'thimbles' cost 61 cents each, so he ordered two.  The shipping is a lot more than the value of the parts, but well worth it to protect the cable and prevent the expense of buying a new brake cable.

My lesson going into 2024 is a familiar one - be not dismayed by things going wrong.  Look instead to the solution, the 'fix'.  And above all?  Pay attention to that little inner voice when it urges you to look at something, check it out for wear and tear.

The goal for today is to sley the reed and tie on.  (I finished threading yesterday.)  I have to cut/serge the last of the towels I cut off the loom on Dec. 24, then wet finish them and press tomorrow.  Then add them to the never ending hemming pile.  I'm hoping to at least get weaving for one session today, but we'll see how my energy holds out.  I had a bad night (I suspect an allergy - now to try and figure out what to) and I don't know how much energy I will have for weaving.  But I'm also really looking forward to seeing how this draft (one of the 'tile' variations) looks when woven.  

Keep weaving.  Keep learning.