Hiatus

 I fell and had a brain bleed.  

It looks like I can go home today.  

And Now, Twill

 

before compression

 after compression

Yesterday I did the twill example.

Now, plasticine isn't a true example of what happens in the cloth.  Plasticine is, for one thing, not thread but plastic and 'stickier' than yarn would be.

But when trying to upscale to show what happens, I had to make choices about what to use to illustrate the effects.

The thing missing from this example, is, of course, the fact that the threads did not get agitated so that they could move to areas of least resistance.  The plasticine has zero twist energy so there is no hidden 'engine' driving the movement of the threads in the cloth.

Even so, the before compression looks 'thready' while the after looks more cohesive.

When I pulled the 'finished' samples off the plastic, they did, in fact, stay together, not fall apart like they would have done without the compression.

I'm not saying all cloth needs compression.  All I'm saying is that weavers need to consider the role of compression in the wet finishing process, then do what is 'best' for their cloth.

After doing a Zoom lecture last week on wet finishing, I'd like to bring the options and advantages of wet finishing to the attention of all weavers.

To this end, there are the classes on School of Sweet Georgia and Long Thread Media, plus my book, Magic in the Water.  The current book doesn't have the actual fabric samples, but close up photos of the samples.  The original copies of Magic do come available from time to time, usually in weaver's estate sales, and they usually sell for about what the person paid for it.  If you can get it for less, you should buy a lottery ticket.  :D  Or get the book without the samples as per the link above, either pdf or magazine format.

Hard to believe it's been 22 years since Magic was published...

Under Pressure

 

plasticine woven into plain weave*

after compression

I bought some 'proper' plasticine yesterday and today I rolled out some 'threads' and wove a bit of plain weave with them.

The goal of doing this little experiment was to try to show how the threads flatten and spread out into the empty spaces between each other when they are exposed to compression.  They also get squeezed together and 'lock' into each other, like a log cabin with the rounds of logs notched so that the structure becomes a lot more stable and secure.

The other thing that shows quite clearly, I think, is how the two sets of threads undulate as they curve around each other.

Now, plasticine isn't thread, but the point is, it behaves in much the same way once woven and compressed.  I haven't tried lifting the compressed sample off the table yet, but I suspect that it would not immediately fall apart like the uncompressed version would, now that the warps and wefts are locked into each other.

In this photo the crimp that develops in the threads after compression is clearly visible.

And this is why I am so careful with my terms.

Wet finishing - the very first time the woven web hits water, gets scoured and agitated, and even, perhaps, compressed.

Hard Press - is not ironing, but the application of pressure to the cloth while still damp from the initial wet finishing.  You *can* apply compression later, but it is easiest done while still damp, in my experience.

No, I don't use a pressing cloth.  Yes, I apply the sole plate of the iron (with a Teflon cover) to the cloth.  Yes, this increases the shine in the cloth - if it isn't desired, you can spray the cloth down after compression and the threads will absorb the water and swell which will lessen the flatness of the surface and reduce the shine.

Hard pressing is not a difficult job, but like so many other things about weaving, a time consuming one.  If you have a lot of pressing to do, put on some lively music, or an audio book, or binge watch a favourite tv program.  Keep pressing until the impression of the iron is no longer a sharp imprint.  

And a reminder that the majority of fabric in a fabric store has already been wet finished.  If it has not (and there are some off shore manufacturers who don't) it is a really good idea to run the fabric through the washer/dryer (as appropriate) and apply a good hard press to it before starting to work with it.  Because one of the things that happens in that first exposure to water is the dimensional loss - something you want to have happen *before* you sew something with it, not *after* you've spent all that time sewing the thing.

*I plan on doing a twill example, but rolling the plasticine out into 'threads' is hard on my hands, so I'll do that tomorrow, maybe...

Reflections on Failure

 

So, if yesterday's 'experiment' was such a failure that I am looking to re-do it, why did I share it?

Because that's what life and learning is.  Failing, re-thinking, re-doing, until you get the results you desire.

After the failure yesterday I found a home for the 'bad' plasticine I'd purchased, and checked at a local toy story for the 'real' stuff.  They carry it and I'll go get some and re-do the experiment.

What the 'failure' did was show me that what I was thinking was possible - I just needed different materials in order to make it work the way I wanted it to.

And this is why most experienced weavers tell new weavers to sample.  I can tell people what I do, but then it is down to the person doing it to do what they do - and what they do might be different in some way.  Their loom may be different (have a lighter or heavier beater), they may have different shuttle handling capabilities, the yarn they are using might be a different quality, etc.

The only way to know what your results will be is to...weave it.  Try it.  Find out.

Pretty much like life.  And probably why so many 'fairy' tales have some sort of reference to textiles - Hansel and Gretel (in one version, they have a ball of yarn to mark their route through the forest), Sleeping Beauty (pricking her finger on the spindle), the Swan Princes (where the princes must collect, spin and weave nettle shirts for her ensorcelled brothers to turn them back into human form) Rumplestiltskin (spinning linen into gold) etc.

There are so many lessons 'true' for weaving that are also 'true' for life.

Learning from your 'mistakes' - or poor choices - is just one of them.  But a very valuable lesson when all is said and done.  And sometimes you just don't know that you have made a poor choice until you weave (or do) the thing.

So, no, I wasn't discouraged, or even particularly displeased that the experiment didn't work.  I found out that it *could*, if I had the proper materials.  

I'm busy tomorrow and have a visiting weaver coming on Friday so it will likely be Saturday before I can do the next iteration of the experiment.  And that's ok.  It is just to satisfy my wanting to be able to show what I mean, not just talk about it.  If I can't make it work, it will be back to words.  But not everyone learns just by words alone.  So I hope this will work.  At least I will have tried.

Failed Experiment

 

plain weave, not compressed

plain weave, compressed

I have been thinking for a while how I can illustrate what compression does to cloth and came up with the idea that I could 'weave' some plasticine 'rods' into plain weave and then compress them to show what happens when threads undergo compression during wet finishing.

Unfortunately the plasticine I had was really 'wet' and extremely 'sticky' and it was a nightmare to work with.  So it didn't work very well.

However, it worked well enough that I think if I get some better quality stuff it might show what happens in a more informative way.  I'll look around and see what I can find at a toy store or art supply store.

If you squint, you should be able to see that the 'threads' have flattened and spread out into the spaces between the 'warp' and 'weft'.  It should also be apparent if you look hard that the surface of the compressed example is shiny in comparison to the uncompressed.

If you don't succeed, try again?

Reflection

 

Maybe it's all the health issues I've been having for the past while.  Maybe it's the fact that the high school reunion will be happening next month (and I'm not going, even though I still live in the same town I grew up in - because I don't 'do' large indoor gatherings - because Covid), maybe it's just that I've reached 'that' age.

Maybe it's the fact that I wrote a 'memoir' last year and published it this year.  Maybe I just never grew out of the 'what's it all about Alfi' stage and I've always kind of, sort of, wondered why I'm here and what I'm 'supposed' to be doing.

I certainly have not chosen a life that society deemed was appropriate for me.  And even now there is a huge slice of the population trying to tell me again that - because I'm childless, old, and broken - I'm useless.

What value do we put on life?  Anyone's life?  Is ours the most valuable?  Maybe.  Mine is certainly of value to me.  But is it of value to others?  

Covid has caused a lot of people to ask themselves how much they care about themselves, and others.  And some of them just don't. 

Climate change is another turning point - literally.  On the news nearly every night there is a litany of 'unnautral' disasters - flooding, wildfires, hurricanes, tornadoes, landslides, sinkholes, diminishing glaciers, rising seas.  And every single night, the big 'news' is how governments are going to mitigate the damage, and never, not once, does anyone say 'wait, maybe, just maybe we should be working at fixing the problem instead of the symptoms'.  Instead one politician is stumping around Canada (and why is he doing that, he's not supposed to start campaigning until the writ drops) chanting Axe The Tax!

I'm far too old now to care much about what others think of me.  Maybe because I chose a different path while in my 20s and abandoned society's expectation that I would have 2.5 children, keep a spotless home, have a 9 to 5 job that was killing my creativity/soul.  

I watched my father die slowly from a nasty cancer, far too young.  And I asked myself, was I willing to put nose to grindstone and do what was expected of me or was I going to feed my soul and do what *I* wanted.

It didn't hurt that I could joke about it.  After all, you have to be warped to weave, right?  So I embraced that.  

I chose the road less travelled.  What I didn't expect to find were so many others who also found that road less travelled more interesting than what society had deemed imperative.

As I look back on my life, I have done more, accomplished more, met more people, been more places, than a blue collar kid growing up in the middle of the province had any reason to expect.

Regrets?  Well, I have a few, but I suspect that had I NOT chosen the road I did, I would have been a very unhappy person.  Instead I have helped, encouraged, and promoted others.  I have tried, in every way I could think of, to teach others, point them in the direction of more information when I could not provide an answer myself.  And every day, I get to create something new.  Something that has never existed before.  I focus on creating things, not destroying them.

And all in all, that seems like enough, even if I have to do it at a much slower pace than I used to be able to maintain.

Stay warped, my friends.  

Picking Away

 

Am making my way through the current warp.  Today I will cut off and re-tie and then it should take about 5 more days to finish the warp off.  So, it's time to start planning the next.

I have enough fine linen for about 6 warps and the current warp is #2, so I have some leeway to experiment and explore more of the fancy twills I enjoy so much.  This draft is a fairly plain one (so to speak) because I'm still dealing with uncomfortable pain levels that interfere with my sleep and therefore my brain is a leaky sponge.  No point in doing anything particularly difficult and invite catastrophic 'mistakes'.

This is based on a counter change kind of motif although changed somewhat in order to make it different from other iterations.

One of the things I enjoy doing is designing cloth with motifs that break out of the linear - undulations, to my mind, give a flow to the cloth.  And of course twills are more flexible than plain weave.

The challenge right now is that the linen is stiff and a lot thinner than the 2/16 warp, so I have been adding a bit of plain weave into the tie up which gives the cloth more stability.  So far I'm liking the results, so we'll see how this new one does.  

The colours will be the darker blue and the green for warp with the white linen weft.

On the writing front, I will be reviewing the 2nd article in the next few days.  I find giving myself some mental space before I try to do revisions gives me better perspective.  And another reason why I'm trying really hard to not run myself headlong into the deadline but get everything done in plenty of time.  Then the editor can decide if they are satisfied or if they want more changes, or more samples, or...whatever.

I also need to do something about a current headshot for the magazine.  I truly dislike photos of myself but the only ones I have are years old by this point and it's time I did a new one.  

In the meantime, I have one more towel to weave today, then cut off and re-tie.  And then if I have spoons left, I had a light bulb moment about how to illustrate what happens to the cloth when it gets compressed in the wet finishing.  Perhaps I will have the energy to begin setting that experiment up?

TBD.

Clean Up Time

 

some magazines in which I have articles

Writing several articles on various topics over the past 2.5 months means I've pulled a lot of resources out and now need to put them away again.  As part of my dive into my library, I had a stack of Handwoven Magazines that also needed putting away.  This morning I sorted through the pile and pulled out the ones that had articles I'd written in them and set the rest aside.  I may offer them for sale.  We have some new weavers who may want to beef up their libraries.  Or not.

I'm letting the current article 'rest' for a few days so that I can have some perspective on the text.  I've already read through it several times, plus had a friend alpha read and catch more grammar oopsies.

Yesterday I got the contract to write another article.  The due date is December, but I'm not going to wait very long before I start on that.  It's short (400 words) so I'm going to have to be really concise and clear in what I write.  Plus I've stuck my hand up to write a 4th.  

We continue to have a smoke pall over us.  It's 'better' this morning after some rain, but still not great.  I have zero plans or incentive to leave the house.  I have library books to be picked up but Doug will likely do that for me since he has to be out and about today.  

It's halfway through August and frankly I'm ok with autumn arriving whenever it does.  I rather suspect that this winter will be a repeat of last - zombie fires that sustain themselves over the winter and spring back into life when the warmer weather comes.  At least we are below 400 fires now, but still...

We are truly well into the 'find out' part of climate change.  Weaving may become a survival skill again?

Evolution of an Article

 

Welp, here it is, more or less.

I wove the samples, wet finished them, tagged them for easy identification, analyzed them, wrote up my notes and conclusions, including my resource materials.  I sent the text file to a friend who I trust to run an analytical eye over what I've written and make sure I'm making sense, then applied their corrections, finding yet more things I needed to hone.  Today I went through the samples one by one (each group of them) and wrote up my observations and analysis.  Since I referenced beyond the remit of the contract (because I wanted to follow the thread further), I added some other samples from my teaching kit(s) as examples of where the road might lead others.

Now I'll let the text sit for a few days so that I can come back to it with fresh eyes (and brain) and if I don't find anything else to include or change, I'll send the text file to the editor and see what her feedback is.  If she wants more, there is plenty of time to do more.  If she's satisfied, I'll box up that heap of cloth and send it to the photographer.

All in all, I have spent the better part of two months either thinking about, or weaving samples for this article.  Fortunately I was able to double dip, so to speak, and some of the samples for article one were done on the same warps as some of the samples for this article.

I've agreed to write another article but for that one I need to get a volunteer to help.  Since the weather has been so...unco-operative...I haven't felt much like starting on that one.  Yet.  

Plus the smoke pall has continued for almost a week and there is no end in sight.  My allergies are kicking the snot out of me (literally) and increased inflammation from allergy responses are also taking a toll on the rest of my body.  Hopefully things will begin to calm down soon, but it's only halfway through August, and the latest reports are warning that fire 'season' is now expected to last well into the autumn.  As in October.  :(

Climate change is real and it's time to stop mitigating the effects and stop changing the climate?

Just saying...

Goldilocks Zone

 

A magazine article isn't a book, but some topics almost cry out for longer explanations and deeper dives.  

Weaving isn't hard, but it's complex.  How do I approach writing an article that is actually very 'layered' and nuanced, within a strict word count?  How many tunnels in a particular rabbit warren do I go down, and how much detail do I include?

Do I whet someone's appetite for more so that they go exploring or do I lay it all out?  

When is too much information too much to absorb?

These are questions I have been wrestling with as I try to tease out the end of this particular thread and follow it - as logically as I can - for the current article.  It's one reason I wrote Magic in the Water - what I wanted, needed, to say could not be contained within an 'article'.  It needed a deeper dive in order to cover the topic.  

For now, I think I've covered what I wanted to cover while leaving room for others to poke around and discover more on their own.  Will it be enough?

Guess I'll find out?

Stalled

First two books available here

 

I've woven the samples I felt needed to be woven, and am beginning to dive into my bins of teaching samples to add to what I wove recently.  But I've hit a roadblock.

There is a shittonne of information in those samples.  How do I distill it out for others?  So much of weaving is in the *experience* of taking the threads and turning them into cloth, and all the steps along the way.  The conclusions are 'in the hand' - better felt than described.

How can I convey the knowledge I gained in the doing for someone else to benefit from?

Normally (ha) I don't have much trouble setting down in words what I want to say, but I've really hit a road block on this article.  Until I figure out how to express the knowledge gained in the doing I suspect I'm going to continue to wallow.

My effort to do this has not been helped by continuing pain which robs me of the ability to think beyond very simple things.  I can weave, I'm fine with that.  But can I think?  Unfortunately, not really.

However, I finally decided to run an experiment and see if I could tweak my pain meds.  I can say there has been a slight improvement, but the experiment continues and this coming week will tell me if I have got the right end of the stick (so to speak) and if I can get my brain working better.

As for the weaving, it's pretty much all of the same.  The process of weaving is just that - a process that needs to happen in order to obtain cloth at the end of it.  It all looks pretty much the same, day in, day out.

I'm fine with that, but it makes for pretty boring writing/reading!

Today I will cut the first 7 towels off the loom, re-tie and get ready to do the next section.  I'm hoping to have this warp off the loom in about 10 days.  Last night I decided on the colour combination for the next warp, and have an idea for the draft.  It will be a re-working of a draft I did last year, adjusted for the different weave structure.  Until I put it all into Fiberworks, I won't know if it will actually work, or not.  

Today's goal is to sit down and start listing the woven samples and choose the samples from my stash.  Once I've got them all organized, then I should be able to begin writing.  Thankfully my alpha reader seems willing to continue with that 'job'.  I just don't trust my own brain right now.

Like an Onion

 

view of two towels from the 'side' - upper is loom state, lower is wet finished

We 'know' things in different ways.  There are things we know consciously; there are things we know subconsciously; there are things we know intuitively.

Consciously, I know that wet finishing a web will change it, sometimes radically, sometimes subtlety.  

The things I know intuitively are based on marrying both the conscious and subconscious and extrapolating what happens when I think through all my choices and make an assumption on what will happen when I change certain things.

One of the challenges of teaching weaving is articulating all of those ways of 'knowing' in a way that someone else might understand.

The photo above doesn't really do what I'm going to talk about justice because it is really hard to get a good clear picture of something that is better felt, but here goes...

Over the years I've woven I have noticed changes that happen during wet finishing.  Most of the time I don't spend too much time analyzing, but file the change away in the deep recesses of my mind.  But now that I've been writing again, and doing deep dives into the craft in a more organized way, with an audience I *hope* will be as interested as I am in going deep, I have been weaving samples.  Weaving samples in much the same way I did for my GCW master weaver certificate.  Weaving and then analyzing the results in a much more organized and conscious way.

I have subconsciously noted many times that the change in the web includes the fact that it becomes thicker after wet finishing.  It was not something that was particularly important to me until now, when I'm looking at the cloth from all the angles.  And a lot more obvious with thicker yarns than thinner ones.

And I know the photo doesn't really show it, but it is *obvious* in the hand that after wet finishing *including a hard press* that the wet finished cloth is thicker than the loom state.

Why?  I can think of lots of reasons, but it reminds me of this simple fact - it is very difficult to make thin cloth from thick yarn.

When I started weaving I came to the craft with a broad base of textile knowledge from sewing my own clothing, to knitting, embroidery, and that one year class in spinning and weaving on small looms.  It was only after learning to wet finish my webs that I became completely absorbed in trying to make cloth that *I* would want to use.  I soon realized that I needed to work with yarn a whole lot finer than most weavers to achieve the quality of cloth I wanted to make.

It was largely that goal that spurred me into becoming as efficient as I could possibly become, doing time studies, then tweaking my processes to iron out road blocks in the processes.  

And I did it, for a while.  I used 2/60 silk to make clothing fabric, and loved the results.  But people were not willing to pay me to make that, so I scaled up again and largely worked with 2/8 cotton for most of my production.  

warp 2/60 silk, weft very fine rayon chenille - fabric won 2nd place in the fibre exhibit, Convergence 2002

Even now that I'm 'retired' I still work as efficiently as I am able, and even though I have had to slow down and cut back on what my body will tolerate, I can still weave fairly quickly.  

I've been working on tea towels using 2/16 cotton for the past few years and I know how long it takes me to beam a warp, thread/sley it and how many picks I can (usually) weave in a 45 minute weaving session (the most my therapist will encourage me to do in one sitting).  

And I can confidently say that using 'friendly' linen or cotton weft, I can throw 1000 picks in 45 minutes.  That includes stopping to advance the warp and change bobbins.  That's about 22 picks per minute.

Should everyone be able to do that?  No.  Everyone should do what is 'best' for them.  What I have hoped to do is let people know what is possible, and then let them decide if it is desirable - for them - to work towards their own goals.

I taught a workshop somewhere that had a brand spanking new weaver in the class.  I was told that she was so new other guild members had helped her dress her loom and I thanked them for letting me know so that I could adjust what I was focusing on with her - keeping my advice more direct, simpler, allowing for the fact that she didn't have a base of knowledge others in the class had.  At one point I asked if people wanted me to demonstrate how I wove and when they said yes, I sat down at one of the floor looms and gave a demonstration of holding and throwing the shuttle, discussed how to beat, control the weft, treadle, etc.

Later, that new weaver approached me and thanked me for showing that weaving didn't have to be painfully slow, that if she kept at it, she could become more efficient, and less 'clumsy'.  I encouraged her to keep going and find out what would work best for her.

And so I hope that with the things I've written, here and elsewhere (you know where to find my books and classes, right?) that people will find the best way for them.

Recently I've had a couple of my Olds students contact me and reference the earworm 'what would Laura do'.  Heart; cockles; warmed...

 

Organization

 

repeat photo as I explain my identification process

Yesterday I mentioned I was having to track a large number of samples, and because some needed to be wet finished, it took a while to figure out how to do that.  Someone asked what process I was using.

I'm not supposed to talk about the content of the article, but decided I could share how I am tracking the samples as that is outside of the article content.

Most of the samples are either plain weave or twill.  Most are done with the 'same' warp yarns, but different weft yarns.  Some are done at different densities.  And I knew that a lot of the samples would only show subtle changes after wet finishing so I had to come up with a way to easily and accurately identify each sample.

I grouped the samples according to their shared features and chose a colour to indicate that group.  Then I used different numbers of 'tags' of yarn in that colour for the variations.

For example, the samples woven at 18 epi in plain weave with two different yarns were all marked with colour A.  The loom state for the first variation was marked with one tag; the wet finished for that variation had two tags; the loom state for the alternate weft was given 3 tags, and the wet finished 4 tags.  A similar set of samples woven with the same yarns at 20 epi were given a different colour.

Mostly I can tell the difference between 18 and 20 epi, but I'm sending these away to be photographed, and the person processing the samples to be photographed needs to be able to accurately identify them, too.  I will include a 'legend' for them to consult to make sure of what it is they are photographing.  I don't know what all they will use for the article, so I'm sending everything I wove for them to choose from.

I wove one more variation for the article on the tag end of the last warp yesterday, then wet finished that and the other two I'd overlooked when I did the rest.  When I'm working with So Many samples, I'm not surprised that at some point I got 'confused' and put the samples into the wrong pile.  The good news is that the samples to be wet finished were put into the loom state pile, which meant all I had to do was double (triple!) check and then ensure the samples to be wet finished got tossed into the load of towels I was doing as well.  Much worse if I'd wet finished the loom state samples!!!

Today I will finish beaming the blue warp, then start pressing the stuff I wet finished yesterday.  If I have enough spoons left after that I might start threading.  It's a fairly 'simple' threading so I'm hoping I can get it done quickly.

Once I have the last samples pressed, I will begin analyzing them, and begin to draw conclusions - if I can.  The thing with weaving is that sometimes the 'obvious' conclusions are...less than complete.  I have the magazine articles I'd been looking for thanks to my guild library and the guild library of a friend who scanned the pages and sent them to me.  :)  Yes, of course they will be listed as resources.

This article is the second one for issue 1.  I am honoured to be included in the inaugural issue.  I've also stuck my hand up for issue 2 and 3.  TBD if they are interested.  

For anyone interested in articles I've written previously, the back of Stories from the Matrix has a list of everything my editor could find.  The reason she had to go digging was because I stopped keeping my resume up-to-date back in the 1990s.  It was becoming...overwhelming, trying to list everything I'd written and I was writing Magic in the Water with zero time to do that kind of record keeping.  Once I'd stopped keeping it up-to-date, it was too much work to go back and add in all of the things and keep it current.

In 2008 I started writing this blog, and if you use the labels, you can search for posts I've written on those topics.  Those posts are all available for free.  Articles for Handwoven can be acquired from their back catalogue (digital copies only, now, I think).  Other magazines I've written for have ceased publication and don't likely have archives.

In September my high school reunion is coming up.  I won't be going (still immune compromised, avoiding large groups in buildings with no filtration, or groups who won't be masking, all while covid continues - no it's not gone, people are just trying to ignore it - that's not going very well, so I'm staying home.)  Anyway, I've been thinking about the high school experience and my Office Practice teacher giving me a C with the comment that I needed to learn to organize my desk better and not be so messy.

Well, that lesson never really 'took'.  I still have a messy desk.  But I still also get a lot of stuff done.  Pretty sure she's right - a neater desk would likely be easier to deal with than stacks of books and paper on every surface.  But I'm too old to bother about that now.  So, I guess I will keep on, keeping on...

Labour of Love

 

Today is a 'light duty' day.  I had massage and usually feel like I've been run over afterwards.  Instead of trying to finish off the current warp, when I got home I started processing the samples.

Since I'm doing a lot of comparing - this yarn with that, this weave structure in this yarn to that weave structure in that other yarn - I need to pay close attention to which sample is which.  A little bit of a challenge when half of them need to be wet finished.  

So I came up with a way to identify the samples so I knew what each was.  It helped that I was reserving a loom state sample, although it doubled my weaving and 'accounting'.

That stack of samples is 7 inches tall.  But that's not all of them.  I 'missed' wet finishing two of them, so they still need to be done.  Plus after I wet finished these ones, I wondered 'what if...'

So I'll be doing another sample on the end of the current warp to do more of the 'find out' part of the process.

I am lucky because they are only just getting started and didn't have a 'style sheet' organized, so instead they said just do what you can, they will make it work.  In the future, I'll have to be more aware of their colour theme for the issue I'm writing for (if I am asked to do more...TBD).  For the purposes of this article, I already had warps ready to go that I could adapt and weave the samples on the planned warps.  Love when I can make a warp fulfill multiple purposes.  :)

I hope everyone is staying safe this summer (or winter if you are 'down under').  After weeks of fires ravaging the province we have been having rain and today a landslide completely blocked (dammed) a river and people are getting concerned about what happens when that dam gives way.

Climate change IS real, and we really, truly, need to do something about it getting worse.  Because I don't care what the yellow dog in the burning room says, this is NOT fine...

Passing the Torch

 

One of the things I think about is how knowledge is kept, and how it can be grown.  Reading The House of Wisdom by Jim Al-Khalili sent me down all sorts of rabbit warrens as I thought about the body of knowledge contained in the crafts, particularly spinning and weaving (and other related textile crafts).

Over the years I've learned a *lot* about weaving, in particular.  Not to brag, but I've dug deeply and fairly broadly, into the craft.  And I have tried at all times to understand the sciences involved - mathematics, physics, colour, etc.

(A friend assured me that if something was true, it wasn't bragging...)

When I was writing Stories from the Matrix, I had to wrestle with my impostor syndrome and while talking to another textile person, I found myself saying that I had written Stories (and the other two books already published) because I knew s..., er stuff.

There is no secret about what I do because I have been telling people for, quite literally, decades what it is I do, and how I do it.

And I have been blessed with students who soaked it all up.

Now I am beginning to see them do the same, and I am thrilled.  Because the best thing I can do is pass the torch to others who are younger, have more energy, and the will to carry on.

More than one of them has said that my voice is an earworm (but a welcome one), and two have said that when they run into a problem they ask "What would Laura do?"

If that is to be my legacy, then I can rest easy.

(And yes, I do understand I'm not the only person doing such work, there is a long list of people researching, digging, exploring - I'm only one of them - but the craft is long, the life is short.  It takes many people to truly understand the craft.)

My books are available here

and here

You Tube videos are here

Online classes are here and here

FAFO

blue/grey with mystery yarn towel

 This morning I pressed the samples for the second article.  Now they will finish drying and then I'll examine, document and assess them for results.  And then see what conclusions I come to.

Not all of the results were a 'surprise' to me, given I've been weaving for nearly 50 years, with lots and lots of different yarns and weave structures.  But if I'm going to be able to present the information in a way that makes sense, I need to include examples of what I'm talking about.

On the end of the blue/grey warp I wove a 'sample' with the aim of running it through wet finishing loads with other towels numerous times, to see how it behaves with time and processing.  I want to treat the sample 'roughly', so I will use a wet finishing load rather than an 'ordinary' laundry load.

When I sell my towels, my care tag says 'machine wash warm water, machine dry, iron if desired'.

My wet finishing process is to use *hot* water, not warm.  

These towels, woven with my 'mystery' yarn (likely a 6/2 cotton, given the burn test and close examination with a microscope) seemed to have quite a lot of twist in the singles, less in the ply, I was curious to see how it behaved during wet finishing.  It behaved about as I suspected, so now I want to see how it behaves with repeated trips through the washer/dryer.

It doesn't matter how many warps a weaver has run across their beams, *change one thing and everything can change*.

And so I sample.  

Writing these articles were a great exercise for me.  I can roughly guestimate how a yarn will behave, but I don't always guess correctly.  So it was important to do the samples and find out.

It will take some time to write up the details and pick though my conclusions.  And of course I do realize that someone else might have a different experience with the exact same yarns (see change everything caution, above.)

In some ways it's difficult to accept I've been at this for nearly 50 years.  OTOH, I have woven a LOT, and learned TONS.  

But here I am, learning more.  

It's what keeps me getting out of bed in the morning.  What will I learn today?  There is almost always something!

Halfway

 

Watching someone weave is a whole lot like watching paint dry.  Nothing much seems to be happening other than a lot of hand waving and beater banging*.  But the picks add up to inches, the inches to feet, the feet to towels (in this case).

I'm over the halfway mark on this warp.  Actually I'm well over the halfway mark.  I've got the next warp planned, chosen the colours, now all I need to do is keep weaving and clear this warp off the loom.

Oh, sure, I could do shorter warps, but the vast majority of the time spent (per item) is getting the warp into the loom.  So my 'default' length right now is about 24 yards - or enough to make 18-20 towels, depending on the length of each (and how many mistakes I make.)

Why so many?  Why not?  And I spend less time beaming, cramped in the loom threading, then sleying  per item when I'm investing my time into making multiples.  (My story, sticking to it.)

Besides, I don't get 'bored' weaving the same thing.  Rather the opposite, in fact.  I get into my 'zone', generate some endorphins, which dampens the pain for a while and in the end I have enough towels I can sell some.

I'm loving the linen weft towels, but I'm of two minds.  I'm going to have to charge more for them, and non-weavers may not appreciate them in the same way weavers will.  I have several stacks of part linen towels that no one seems to want to buy.  Part of the problem may be the colour(s).  It's always so difficult to know what people will spend their money on, what they will find appealing.  Or not.  (Link to A Thread Runs Through It with info on being a professional production weaver.)

It hasn't been only weaving taking up my time and energy.  I was working on one of the articles for WEFT, now sent on to them to do whatever they need to do with the materials.  And this morning (insomnia again) I worked on tagging the samples for the next article.  I still have one more sample to cut in half (to keep part of it as a loom state sample) and then decide if I need more samples.  Or not.

I still haven't found the articles by Mary Frame I wanted to read to refresh my memory.  Well, I found one, but not the other two.  I'm hoping a local spinner has them, but I haven't heard back from her yet.  In the meantime, I need to carry on doing what needs to be done.  My goal is to have this article complete and sent by the end of  August.  

The deadline is October, but I really need to pace myself and I do NOT want to be in the position of scrambling to get it written, samples woven and processed and delivered on deadline. 

This morning I finished reading The House of Wisdom by Jim Al-Khalili.  I think I need something a bit 'lighter' now.  I'm glad I read the book.  I was aware of some of the history of Arabic scientific exploration (the Dark Ages was only Dark in Europe - there was plenty of light elsewhere.)  I have a huge stack of books to be read, none of them with deadlines (unlike library books), so they have been left to languish.  Time to tackle that pile and read it down!

But first, hand waving and beater banging coming up... 

*link to You Tube showing me weaving

Turn, Turn, Turn

 

I made the decision to retire at the end of 2019 in around February of that year.  Why the delay?  Well, it takes time to close a business, complete contracts, wrap up projects.

When I went public with the news, some friends asked what I would do?

Well, weave, of course!  I had to.  I had All That Yarn that needed to be used up, one way or another.

But then in March of 2020 Covid arrived and all plans - for everyone, not just me - went sideways.

Since I am immune compromised, it was especially important that I be careful about being exposed to a novel virus, and we made the decision to begin masking as soon as friends started making cloth masks (triple layer), then buying 'good' masks to wear as they became more commonly available.

Since then neither of us has had a cold, flu OR Covid.  And we intend to stay that way, as much as we are able.

Then I got shingles - again.  I'd had it before, was vaccinated (with the 'old' vaccine, not Shingrex), and it went into my left eye.  After two years of aggressive treatment, my eye doctor declared my eye was clear and asked me to return in six months.  I assumed to be cut free, but instead she informed me (on my birthday, no kidding, worse present ever) that...shingles was once again scarring my cornea.

Once again I'm dealing with the effects of a compromised immune system.  Any thought I might have had about loosening up my restrictions disappeared in a puff of smoke.  Or a haze of scarred cornea...

During that time of Covid/Shingles, I wrote two books, presented remote lectures, explored a new-to-me weave structure (details in Stories from the Matrix) and generally wallowed around kicking the tires on the vehicle of 'life'.  Oh, yeah, I also did classes for School of Sweet Georgia.

I also experienced the rapid worsening of several physical issues that have continued to plague me (never mind Covid).  With the help of my health team, I can keep weaving, although I have had to change how I do that - primarily, how long I can weave without stopping to take breaks, stretch, rest.

As I was wrapping up my exploration into the 'new' weave structure, since I felt I'd pushed it as far as I wanted to, I was feeling a bit rudderless, not sure what I would do next.  Of course I would weave! Bur what?

Then a student sent me a gift of some fine linen singles, so I wove off a warp of tea towels using that, loved it, and ordered more.  Five kilos more, to be truthful.  

But I still wasn't sure what direction I would - or could - go.  Until I got 3 emails in fairly rapid succession, each asking if I would be available to write articles for them.  

Since then I've written one, had it published in Heddlecraft, written two that are in the pipeline for School of Sweet Georgia, and worked on two for WEFT.  The first article is 'finished' and the text sent to the editor and the samples mailed to be photographed.  And yesterday I started sorting through the samples for the next article.

I'm still trying to find a couple of articles to reference before I start writing up the results of my experimentation, but I have a broad idea of how I am going to approach the subject.  I *may* wind up weaving some more samples, but that remains to be seen.  I can also dip into my teaching samples for more options.

If I can't weave the way I want to, anymore, maybe I can write.  Maybe I can experiment.  Maybe...

To every thing there is a season.  

Inching Along

 

Finished off the natural beige linen and started on the white for weft.  The colours are subtle - a pale grey and pale green about the same value.  It's an approach to creating textiles I like because it gives the cloth more depth, more 'interest', than a same yarn/colour warp.

Not that that is bad, of course not.  There are lots of times I will use a solid colour warp.  It depends.  (Bet you are shocked!)

The linen is finer than the 2/16 cotton.  Instead of increasing the number of warp ends, I chose to include some plain weave in the weave structure.  Doing this adds structural stability, and it keeps the cloth 'lighter' - more flexible.  Given the stiffness of the linen, this flexibility is A Good Thing (imho), especially for something like tea towels.

When I gift my towels to people, they sometimes protest that they are too 'nice' to use.  I hasten to assure them that they are not - and, that they will improve with use.  I now have several 'fans' who know and understand this.

The last time I gave towels to my massage therapist, I told him that if they have 'enough' of my towels they can re-gift them.  Without even opening the package he asked if they were more of my towels.  When I said yes, he said "Oh no, we love your towels!"

Yesterday I packaged up the parcel with the samples for the first article I did for WEFT.  I'll mail this week when I go to town.  I know I'm 'early' getting it done, but being a bear of little brain these days, I am working on getting stuff done well before deadline so that I'm not in a mad scramble trying to get it finished on time.

Besides, I am thoroughly enjoying the explorations and want to savor them, think deeply about them, and not rush to judgement about what I'm seeing and experiencing.  I also have very little energy, so I need to be aware of what I am capable of doing in a day and not disappoint myself and them and bailing at the last minute.

Once I've got my worktable cleared off, I will begin processing the samples for the next article.  They are all woven (unless I decide I need more) but there are quite a few of them and I need to make sure I've identified them all so that I don't lose track of what they were woven to illustrate.  

I may measure progress by the inch, not the yard, these days, but progress is still progress.

P G Fibre Arts Guild Books

 There are still some books for sale after the eBay auction.  The following is a list (alphabetical by author) with price including shipping to Canada/US.

Contact me if you are interested in any of these books.  Remember that these prices are in Canadian dollars, and I can take etransfers from Canadians or Paypal from US folk.

Bennet, Noel.  Working With the Wool   $30.00  Considered a 'classic' in the genre.

Buxton, Judith.  Selected Canadian Spinning Wheels in Perspective.  $40.00.  A close look at the variety of spinning wheels made/available in Canada.  Anyone interested in that history would find this book of value, I think.

Clarke, Leslie, J.  The Craftsman in Textiles.  Hardback.  $30.00  

Fannin, Allen.  Handloom Weaving Technology.  Hardback.  $40.00.  There are two copies in like new condition. Probably inventory from Allison's shop.

Hollister, U. S.  The Navajo and his Blanket and James, George Wharton, Indian Blankets and their Makers; the Navaho.  Both hardback.  These are being sold as a pair for $60.  

Larsen, Jack and Mildred Constatine.  The Art Fabric; Mainstream and Beyond Craft; the art fabric.  The first is paperback and the second hardback.  Offering these very large and heavy books as a pair for $100.00

Larsen, Jack and Jeanne Weeks.  Fabrics for Interiors, a guide for architects, designers, and consumers.  Soft back.  $40.00

Laughlin, Mary Elizabeth.  More than Four.  Coil back.  $40.

Mayer, Anita Luvera.  Handwoven Clothing, Felted to Wear.  Coil back.  $40.00

Mera, HP.  Spanish American Blanketry.  Paperback.  $30.00

Moorman, Theo.  Weaving as an Art Form; a personal statement.  Hardback.  $40.00

Pendleton, Mary.  Navajo and Hopi Weaving Techniques.  Soft cover.  $40.00

Proctor, Richard and Jennifer Lew.  Surface Design for Fabric.  Soft back.  $40.00

Samuel, Cheryl.  the Chilkat Dancing Blanket.  Soft cover.  $40.00  SOLD

Sutton, All.  Ideas in Weaving.  Hardback.  $40.00

Van der Hoogt, Madelyn.  The Complete Book of Drafting for Handweavers.  Signed.  Coil back.  $60.00

Waller, Irene.  Designing with Thread.  Hard back.  $40.00

Email me if you want to purchase any of these books.  laura at laurafry dot com

Dog Days

 

After a long cool spring, waiting to see what summer would bring, we are now in the Find Out portion of climate change.

The past week has been high temps, usually only seen in mid-late August.  Yesterday the wildfire situation 'exploded' and the province now has over 300 active wildfires.

Buckle up, it's going to be a bumpy ride.

I'm staying indoors as much as possible.  So far we haven't had too much smoke pall, but that could change as we enter mid-30s for temps.  Or about 96F.  The bush, already fragile from drought is ripe to be set ablaze if we get another string of t-storms like we did yesterday.  Last year we had about 500 active wildfires by the end of the season.  It's only mid-July and we are already at 300.

For anyone not used to wildfire smoke, a mask is highly recommended.  Wildfire smoke in the density it has been arriving the past few years is very damaging to the lungs.  Not to mention the spike in Covid cases.  In the past month I know more than a few people who have caught Covid  - and the news out of Convergence is...concerning.

We bought a hepa filter a few years ago, not just because of Covid, but because of the increasing numbers of wildfires and smoke filled days.  Looks like that was a good call as things seem to be getting only worse, not better.  And, if the right wing folk get into positions of power, any and all mitigations for climate change will cease - until there is no more petroleum to pump out of the ground.  

In the meantime, I stay indoors as much as possible, wear a mask whenever I leave the house, use the a/c during the day and open the windows to cool the house at night - at least until we get wildfire smoke.

I finished the first article for one place yesterday and today I will write a cover letter, then package up the samples and get them into the mail.  Once that has been done, it will be time to begin processing the samples for the second article.  Since both articles are deep dives at their respective topics, it has been a challenge to cover the ground adequately, and show enough samples to 'prove' the premise.  I hope.  If nothing else, maybe it will stir others to thinking about the topic(s) beyond the 'accepted wisdom'.  TBD.

In the meantime, I think cool thoughts, drink cold drinks, try to stay hydrated, and keep weaving as best I can.

A Reminder

 

The challenging thing about trying to communicate to weavers is that...weavers come and go.  And while I may have written on a topic previously, newer readers will not be aware of that.  When I began this blog, I took advantage of the ability to 'tag' posts with a topic, and now there are over 4000(!) posts, some with multiple tags, some with none (usually because those dealt with personal concerns, not weaving.)

If you don't have one of my books, this blog will remain active for so long as I think of things to share - for free.  But honestly?  I won't be around forever, so if you like what I write, appreciate what I do here and elsewhere, and want to throw some coin at me, you can purchase my books here, and here, or leave a tip in my ko-fi shop here.  Of course, I also have some weaving in my ko-fi shop...

As for teaching in person, those days are behind me, but I keep writing because I keep learning new stuff.  :)

The first of the articles I was asked to write recently has gone live in Heddlecraft.  There are 3 articles planned for the School of Sweet Georgia (the first two are done), and I'm just wrapping up the first article for WEFT.

In the process of writing these articles, I got to hone my writing, and think through some aspects of weaving, again, but based on what new things I've learned since the last time I wrote about those aspects of weaving.  The articles for WEFT have pushed me to look harder, dig deeper, and think longer about what I'm seeing and experiencing.  Once we know the broad strokes of a craft, it is then possible to begin to tweeze out the subtleties.  And at this stage in my life, it is all about the subtle.

Not everyone wants, or needs, to dig as deeply into the craft as I have been doing and will continue to do.  I'm just grateful that there are people who are interested in what I have to say.

The world is going through upheaval right now.  Eventually weaving may become a necessary skill again.  Human beings tend to muddle through most 'interesting' times.  I just wish they weren't being 'interesting' on my timeline, but here we are.

If you are new to weaving, welcome.  If you have been around for a while, thank you for joining me on the journey.

Book Review - Knitting Yarns, ed. by Ann Hood

 

For some reason I had been unaware of this book, published in 2014, until recently.  When I discovered my local library had it, I requested it because it was a book of essays on knitting (and other fibre crafts, as well.)

All of the contributors are writers, and each of them has told a 'story' about knitting - how it has helped and enriched their lives, even when it might not be themselves doing it.

I knew Barbara Kingsolver was a well known writer, although I had not actually read anything by her (that may change now!).  Other writers in the book were known to me, like Sue Grafton, but most of them I did not know much about.

This has been a very pleasant book to read.  The essays are fairly short, which suits my current attention span.  Some are amusing, some tug at the heart strings.  Some are eloquent, some more 'essay' or 'scholarly', some delving into the history of knitting or the psychology of doing repetitive 'work'.

I'm not quite finished the book yet, but have found more than enough of interest and value to highly recommend it.  Rather than say more about it, I'm going to include the final paragraph from Kingsolver's contribution.

"And in the gloaming, when the ewes high up on the pasture suddenly raise their heads at the sight of you, conceding to come down as a throng in their rockinghorse gait, surrendering under the dog-press to the barn-tendered mercy of nightfall.  It starts where everything starts, with the weather.  The muffleblind snowstorm, the dingle springs, the singular pursuit of cud, the fibrous alchemy of the herd spinning grass into wool.  This is all your business.  Hands plunged into a froth of yarn are as helpless as hands thrust into a lover's hair, for they are divining the grass-pelt life of everything:  the world.  The sunshine, heavenly photosynthetic host, sweet leaves of grass all singing the fingers electric that tingle to brace the coming winter, charged by the plied double helices of all creatures that have prepared and justly survived on the firmament of patience and swaddled children.  It's all of a piece, knitting.  All one thing."

Nuff said.

Subtle

 

This is not a black and white photo.  It is the latest towel warp in the loom and the colours are a pale grey and pale greyed green for the warp, and natural linen for the weft.  The first two towels are with the natural linen, and then I'll switch to the white.  Which should show off the design more clearly.

When I sit at the loom and look at the cloth, I really don't see much of anything.  There is just the faintest hint of...something...going on in the cloth.  In order to get a photo that showed much of anything at all, I had to use a strong side light.  The light washed out what colour there was, but the resulting photo shows how much is going on in the cloth.

What I did was take the Snail's Trails and Cat's Paws block design and render it in point twill instead of twill blocks.  Then I messed about with the tie up, including some plain weave because based on the previous warp I knew that it would beat in too closely if I didn't.

If it looks 'raw', that's because it is.  The reed marks are very prominent and there are areas that will turn into a 1 end huck (one pattern end).  The plain weave areas are thinner and smoother, while the other parts vary in their 3D effects.  I'm very interested to see how they wet finish.  

So why did I put so much effort into making a cloth that shows the design so...poorly?

Because I can.  And because *I* know what I've done.  And it pleases me to do this kind of thing.

In the end, that's really all that matters.  

Weaving is a vast craft.  Anyone who wants to, can weave, and they can make what they like.  What I'm trying to do is to tell people who want to know more, the hows and whys of the craft.  To that end I continue to research and write about the craft.

In the meantime, my books remain available on blurb with my memoir of being a production weaver available (digital only) in my ko-fi shop.  Along with a bunch of tea towels.

There has been some chatter about Magic in the Water online and I'm still a bit amazed that it continues to sell.  But it is still really the only book 'out there' for handweavers about wet finishing.

In addition to Magic in the Water, I also do Zoom presentations, should anyone be interested.  

For now, it's back to the loom.  I want to weave once this morning, then massage at 12:30, which will leave me feeling like I've been run over with a truck, so this afternoon I'll press.  I wet finished the two lengths of yardage from the last warp and I don't want to leave the damp cloth for too long in the bin.

Magic in the Water

 

top sample wet finished, bottom sample loom state

Linen example from Magic in the Water

I can usually tell when someone has been talking about my books because I will see an uptick in sales.

Lately it's been Magic in the Water.  :)

It warms the cockles of my heart when I see it - it means people are still interested in knowing more, learning more, about this 'magical' process that transforms a web into real cloth.

I have also been pleased to be asked to write some articles (like the one in Heddlecraft for the June 2024 issue) that talks about the wet finishing processes.  Robyn asked me to talk about the role of compression and I was delighted to do so, because some people don't understand that a hard press is not ironing.  

I used to get into scrapes online because I would recommend to folk that as a part of any fabric they intended to cut and sew (specifically for garments, but any cloth, really) they apply compression.  Inevitably I would get some people who were sewists who would scoff and tell me that if I knew how to sew properly I wouldn't need to do all that.

Thing is, almost all commercially woven fabric comes to the market wet finished - including a hard press.

So, yes, if you are working with commercially produced fabric, especially high quality fabric, it has already *been* compressed.  But if you have woven the threads into cloth and expect to be able to sew it into something that will wear well and hold a seam, you might need to consider that part of the finishing as well.

For years I have been trying to come up with a way to illustrate what happens when those webs are compressed, and I have finally come up with a plan to show how it works.  I have to do some hard pressing today, plus the new warp is ready to weave, so I probably won't get to it today.  But I have the materials I need, I just need to work out the details to make it happen.  I'm trying to decide if I livestream the experiment on FB.  OTOH, if I fail, it will be in public, so maybe not.  :D

Covid

 

I thought long and hard about doing this post, but I decided I am going to put this out there for people's consideration.

Last winter, there was a movement in the entertainment industry to 'save' an actor by going to their performance ***wearing a mask*** to help protect them from catching Covid.

Given the news out of Convergence, where not one, but three individuals (so far) are reporting they attended the conference positive for Covid, perhaps it is time for that ultimate in personal responsibility...keeping our teachers safe so that they can continue to teach in this craft we love so much.

I am immune compromised, so even IF my body was functioning, I would NOT attend any weaving conference because no one is wearing a mask.  (Well, hardly anyone.)  But just consider all of those instructors at Convergence.  Consider how, if they got sick there, the impact that would have on their other teaching dates.  Consider how, if they get Long Covid, their ability to teach would be compromised.

We had a chance when the pandemic hit to recognize that we need *clean* air, but instead our public health officials mealy-mouthed about washing hands and keeping distance between us instead of, you know, mandating cleaning the air, just like we do with water.

The alt-right didn't help by protesting about masks being an infringement on *their* 'rights' to spread a deadly virus.

Not deadly for everyone, true.  But we are only now starting to find out the extent of the damage being caused by Long Covid.

We have to remember that the majority of the teachers we love to learn from are...older...and thus more vulnerable.

If we want them to feel safe to remove their masks while they teach, it would be a boon, a gift, a mitzvah (if I've spelled that correctly) for the participants to WEAR A DAMNED MASK and protect the instructors from getting sick.

At the very very LEAST, wear a mask until people know they are not positive, after sitting in an airplane for several hours with who knows how many people breathing the virus (any virus, come to that) into the shared air of the plane.

More and more people who are knowledgeable about communicable diseases are describing Covid as a mass disabling event.  There are thousands of people now dealing with Long Covid.  I now have to remember when I am answering questions on line that *some* of the people are dealing with Covid brain fog, and what I thought was a clearly worded response might not be clear to the person with brain fog from Covid.

The irony is not lost on me that the film industry STILL has higher Covid protocols than hospitals.  Because the film industry knows that if their star(s) go down with Covid, it will be very expensive for them.  

If we infect our beloved teachers with Covid, pretty soon they won't be teaching anymore.

Maybe some people are ok with that, but I'm not.  

So, please.  Next time all y'all attend a workshop, how about wearing a mask to protect not just yourself, but the teacher.  Send them home without a dose of Covid, so they can keep teaching.

State of the Studio

 

Here's a teaser - one of the samples I wove for one of the articles I'm writing.  And yes, I did sort of expect that to happen - it's all part of what I will be looking at in the article.  :)

Right now my studio is a bit of a shambles.  I'm back to juggling too many balls, trying to keep too many plates spinning on their rods.

Truth is, I'm only juggling 3 balls, spinning 3 plates these days, but some days that's still 'too many'.

I keep trying to 'get better', but the fact is, I'm not going to.  The best I can hope for (and I *know* I'm not alone in this) is to delay further sliding down.

Funny thing about finally accepting the reality of my situation.  It is allowing me to make decisions.

What truly matters to me?  What do I really want to accomplish?  Is doing this, or that, important enough to spend my energy spoons on?  Or do I need to save them for the 'important' stuff?

Accepting my reality is a great mind cleanser.  Do I spin my wheels moaning because I cannot do certain things anymore?  Or do I get on with what I *can* do?

I have one more obligation to the guild, which I have been putting off because a) the very long set of stairs up to the guild room is more than I can manage some days and b) it's been too damned hot and the guild room gets to be an oven.  Dressing a loom in that hot box is not in any way appealing.  And, because the guild goes 'quiet' over the summer, I'm not stressing myself over it, even though the loom does need to be 'tested' before the guild can offer it for sale.  But that little obligation is on hold at the minute.

In the meantime I *think* I have now woven all the samples I need to, for the 2nd article.  The first is essentially 'done', the text sent to the editor to see if I've covered all the essentials of if they want something more.  I'm trying very hard to get these articles done well before their deadline so that I can move on from there.  If the editor approves, I will seal the box of samples, which I tagged/labelled and carefully packed up, ready for the mail, and send that to the person doing the photography.

Am I hoping to write more?  Well, yes, but there is always here if no where else.

Yesterday I cut that green warp (above) off the loom, started working on the prep of the samples for article 2, pressed the towels, got the two pieces of yardage ready to be wet finished.

But today the goal is to beam the next warp.  I'm going back to 2/16 cotton and the linen weft.  I took the natural linen bobbins left over from the last warp and put them into a humidor, then started winding bobbins with white.  In the course of doing the samples, I wound up with bobbins filled with yarn from the sample weaving.  Now to decide if I strip them of the yarn, or see if the 2 dozen bobbins I have available, will be sufficient.  In the meantime, I can empty some of the 'extra' bobbins using that yarn for headers and weaving in the cut lines between towels on the next warp.  

I do like to steep the linen for several days before weaving with it, so I may give in and strip the 'mystery' yarn off the bobbins so that those 6 can be used for the linen.  TBD.

In the meantime, I'm reading that book of essays on knitting Knitting Yarns.  I think the essays are pertinent to anyone who makes things by hand, not just knitters.  So if that is something you think you might enjoy, I do recommend it.  I've promised to write a book review for my local guild newsletter.  If I don't have the spoons to edit the newsletter, I can help by writing entries for the editor? 

It is halfway through July, and with the current hot spell, the bush is drying out after the too little, too late precipitation we had a couple of weeks ago.  Fingers crossed things don't 'blow up' any more than they currently are.  

Where ever you are, what ever you are doing, I hope you find some peace in your making (if you make) or joy in the nature around you.  

In the meantime, my studio will continue to be a shambles, because that's just the way I roll...