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...

A Different Perspective

 

This is not a black and white photo.

I was awake most of the night (yes, pain flare) and around 6:30 am I decided if I was going to be awake I might as well get something done rather than sit around and accomplish nothing.

Since I had a bin of towels ready to press, down I went.  Around 7 am the sun was shining directly into the window of my studio, but with the curtains closed, this was my view.

As some of you know, I worked as a sales person for a custom drapery house, assisting people in their choices for window coverings.  As part of that job I learned a lot about fabric for curtain/drapes.  I also learned about 'railroading' your fabric.

So, in this photo, the warp is running horizontally.  Knowing I could do this meant that I knew I could set up my loom to weave fabric just wide enough to make my curtains without seams in them.  Since this was a bit on the heavy side for curtains, not having seams was A Good Thing.

The design is stripes of twill and a lace weave.  If I remember correctly I set this up to weave on a double two tie threading so I could easily weave twill, then lacy.  The yarn has a slub in it and I didn't particularly want a very open cloth.  What I did want was for the light to come through while blocking the actual sunshine.  

As I sat at the press this morning looking up and through the cloth on the window, I was reminded about how much the threads shift and move to areas of least resistance.  You might have to biggify the photo to really see the threads.  I got as close as I could to the fabric, but since I have shelving and worktable against the wall below the curtains, this was about the best I could do.  But if you click on the photo, I think it will open in a new window and give a larger view.

What is really interesting to me is that in the twill areas, it doesn't look like the yarn has moved very much at all, but in the lacy areas, you can clearly see the rounded plain weave area, and even trace the undulating path of the threads in the lacy areas.

This yarn had some twist energy in it, and it's obvious that the twist energy is still playing in the cloth in the areas where there are longer floats/skips.  The twill keeps the threads more effectively corralled.  But just because we can't see the twist energy at work in the twill stripes, doesn't mean it wasn't playing on the threads in those areas, too.  It's just a lot more subtle.

Sometimes it's a good idea to let go of what you know in order to take new information on board.

Magic of Colour

 

end of the yellow, beginning of the blue/green

Yesterday I finished the yellow weft and started on the blue/green weft.  

I chose to weave plain weave for a number of reasons.

The yellow would blend more evenly with the warp colours and *appear* to be a bright green.

The epi on this warp was set for the thicker white weft I was trying to use up, which meant it was a little too 'sparse' for the 2/22 cottolin for anything else.  OTOH, 20 epi was perfectly fine for the cottolin woven in plain weave.

Plain weave is a bit 'thinner' and since I wasn't sure how much fabric I would get out of the tube, I didn't want to weave the yarn to 'measure' with hems.  Besides, my friend might like to make something other than towels with the cloth.  Plain weave would be more versatile, I felt.

Since I have a couple of different tubes of cottolin, weaving them off in plain weave seemed like a prudent thing to do.

But, as I was weaving, I was thinking ahead to the next article and wondered if I could weave some samples with that singles 6 with high twist energy in it, and if it would do some 'interesting' things?

I've used it before and it has loads of twist energy in it - it was spun to be plyed, so all that twist is still in the yarn.  It's just old enough it's gone 'quiet' but will re-awaken when it hits the water.

Hmm.

So I looked in my storage area, and sure enough I've got loads of the stuff.  So instead of switching to the blue cottolin (only about 1/4 of a tube left), once I've done with the teal cottolin, I'll wind some of the singles 6 and weave some samples.

I don't know how much warp I will have left when I've done that, but I might be close to the end.  Once I'm done weaving the samples, I'll take a gander at the warp beam and decide if I keep weaving or cut off and re-tie.  There is still that hemp to be used up and it would work nicely on this warp.

Simple is not always Easy

 

I've been weaving a lot of plain weave lately, in part because I need plain weave samples for a couple of the articles I've been writing.

It has been good to get back to 'basics' and hone my skills.

Because 'simple' does not equate to 'easy'.

I frequently see beginner weavers confidently stating that they are going to begin with  something easy, like plain weave.

Well, it may be 'simple', but it is not easy to do *well*.

Plain weave will show off every inconsistency in beat, especially when woven with contrasting colours in warp and weft.  OTOH, if the beginner can 'master' weaving plain weave well, every other weave structure will be a lot easier when they try those.

So I stifle any comment I might make and let them figure it out.

By the time I got to this, I'd already woven several yards on 2 different warps, all in 2/8 cotton.  With this warp I finished off the 'mystery' yarn in that 'fancy' twill I've been weaving, then grabbed a rather obnoxious yellow cottolin to use as weft on the blue/greens with accent colours of yellow, pink and peach.

The yellow had been sitting in my stash for quite literally decades because it was SO 'loud' I couldn't think what to do with it.  However, I have a friend who adores bright green, the brighter the better, and I thought the yellow would shift the mid-range blue/greens further into the green and be fairly bright.  Since she also likes turquoise, I figured this would be welcome in her kitchen - or wherever.  The tube was full because I hadn't used any of it, not quite knowing what to do with it, so I'm weaving it in yardage.  If she wants to make a table runner or something else with it, she can do that.  Or cut it up into towel lengths.  I'll leave it up to her what she wants to do with it.

Back in the early days of internet chat groups, there was the attitude that if you had a fly shuttle, or lord forbid, a dobby (then a computer assisted dobby), you were somehow 'cheating'.

I pointed out that I had two looms.  When I wove something the selvedges were straight and my beat was consistent.  Unless I did a fancy twill using all 16 shafts, no one would know which loom I had woven the cloth on.  And yes, I do weave plain weave over 16 shafts, like this bright green.

I no longer have a fly shuttle or auto-advance cloth system, but I can, and do, weave plain weave on all 16 shafts at times.

When I'm done with the yellow, there is a half tube of a blue/green, slightly darker than the darker hue in the warp.  That should also look good.  Again, I'll weave yardage, then decide what to do with it.  I might give it to my friend along with the brighter green.  TBD.  OTOH, I like the darker blue/greens so who knows, I might keep them for myself.  

I've finished the rough draft of the first article, and processed the samples for it.  My alpha reader says she has time to maybe read through it today.  If she does, I'll send the file to the editor and ask if she's satisfied with what I've done or if she wants something more.  I'm not sure how many words I've written, but I've got 7 pages (using a large font - because old eyes!)  (Just checked, and I've got just over 2200 words.)

In the meantime I am enjoying weaving this plain weave on the 'fatter' yarns.  But I am also getting antsy wanting to begin using up the white linen.  Hopefully I can finish this warp off over the weekend and start beaming the next.

Summer has arrived, the sun is currently shining, we don't have any particular wildfires bothering us (most are to the north, with one a little bit too close to the south and east, but no smoke from it - yet).  We are hoping that the recent rain has dampened the bush so that we don't have too many wildfires, but the province has issued a campfire ban for the entire province.  I really hope people pay attention and don't risk starting a fire while they are out enjoying the great outdoors.

Another Roadblock

 

When I went to the eye doctor yesterday, it was in expectation of being cut loose.  My last appointment showed nothing wrong with my eye, and the shingles appeared to have retreated to...wherever it goes when it goes 'quiet'.  (Yes, I had chicken pox as a child - I do NOT recommend anyone doing that - get your kids vaccinated and save them from...this...)

Instead, I was told that it had come roaring back and I now had extensive scarring to my cornea.  

It was *not* the birthday 'gift' I had expected walking into the examination room.

When counting 'blessings', all I could do was be grateful that it was my 'bad' eye, not my 'good' one.

I'm back on medication, primarily a salve that she hopes will beat the virus back and heal the, so far, light damage to my cornea.  She doesn't want to put me onto the anti-viral drug because she said I would need to be on it for literally years - and it is 'hard' on the rest of my body, which is already dealing with far too many other...things.

She also recommended adding Lysine to my vitamins and other meds as it has been seen to help reduce the herpes virus (shingles is in the herpes 'family').  No studies yet, but anecdotal reports that it helps.  I'll take it and hope it will.

Yes, I'm vaxxed with Shingrex, but I'm also immune compromised, and the shingles virus will use any opportunity it can to start growing again.  Because it *is* a virus, and that is what a virus will do - grow, when it has the opportunity.  My compromised immune system is, apparently, not well enough to keep it in the dungeon.

Needless to say, that news in the morning knocked me completely off my rails so I did what I usually do - I went to the loom and wove a towel.  

If I felt pressure before, I feel it all the more intensely now.  Between my eye and my back/legs, I have no idea how much longer I will be able to continue to weave.  So I *must* do it now, while I still can.

I did work on the experiment for the first article I'm doing and got the samples tagged and organized so that I can go ahead and run the experiment today.  My alpha reader has been warned that the text will be ready in the next couple of days.  And then I'll send the text to the editor, see if that's acceptable, or if they want more.  But I think I've covered the basics.

The second article is going to take a lot more time and effort to work through, both in terms of research, and expanding my theory into some kind of reasonable conclusions.  And the deadline is October, so I really need to stay on top of things.

If I can't weave, I hope I can still write.

I keep thinking about Emily Carr, who when she could no longer paint, took up her pen and wrote.

I told a friend the other day that I am a 'true' Cancer in that when I run into an obstacle I will go around it, under it, or simply rise above and over it.

In the meantime, I will take the pills (mohr pills!) and use the salve.

To the three friends who phoned yesterday to express birthday wishes, thank you for letting me vent.  I may not be on an even keel - yet - but you helped get me anchored and not thrashing around trying to figure out what I could do.

To the folk who bought towels on my ko-fi sale, thank you.  

Persistance

 

Last Monday I cut the beige/brown warp off the loom, then spent the next couple of days beaming, threading, sleying and tying on this warp.  It's now Monday again and 5 towels are woven, with about 13 or 14 left to do.  (I also worked on the articles I'm researching/experimenting/writing.)

Each warp does around 18-20 towels, depending on how long each towel is woven.

At the rate of two towels per day (on 'good' days) that means another 7-8 days of weaving until this warp is complete.  (Finer yarns take longer to weave.)

I don't get 'bored' with weaving.  I know a lot of people can't stand to weave more than 1 or possibly 2 things identically.  They don't usually put 20+ yards of warp on their looms, and that's perfectly ok.  We each weave for our own reasons, and mine are not appropriate for someone else.

The more I read of the Pain Project, the more convinced I became that finding a way to keep weaving was important for my body in more ways than I had fully realized.  And I am once again aware and appreciative of how my current health 'team' have rallied behind me in order to help me keep weaving.

While I don't get 'bored' weaving, I do get 'tired', so the current warp was a pleasant switch before I went back to warps that are more muted in colour.  Not that I don't like pale hues, just that sometimes I like to see things a bit brighter.  Something a little bit 'different'.

So for the up-coming towel warps, I did something a bit different.  I ordered four different colours all very close in value.  As I weave each warp, I will change the combinations.

For the first warp I've chosen grey and green.  The next will be two values of blue.   And then I will start switching the combinations.  Pale grey and pale blue.  Green and blue.  And so on.  By keeping the hues very close in value and mixing them 1:1, the warp will have slight variations and will be more 'interesting' visually than a solid colour warp.

I have enough of the white linen to weave at least 5 warps, quite possibly 6.  Once the linen is used up, I will look at what other yarns I have on hand and continue the efforts to reduce my stash.

On the current warp the rest of the white 'mystery' yarn will weave about half of the warp, maybe a bit more.  Then I will work on some cottolin I have on hand and whatever warp is left will likely get woven with the Brassard natural coloured hemp.

I am no longer weaving like the hare, but the tortoise can still get stuff done.  

Don't forget my ko-fi shop BOGO sale ends midnight July 9, 2024.  There are 14 different designs to choose from.

New Addition

 

While these towels are not actually hemmed - yet - they could be!  So I've added this design to my ko-fi shop and the BOGO sale, which ends at midnight July 9, 2024 Pacific Time Zone.

Yesterday I worked on one of the articles and am just about ready to send the text to my alpha reader for her eagle eye spotting typos and/or grammatical errors.

In the meantime I've also made a start on the new warp to use up what is left of the mystery yarn.

I have also made a decision on which colours to use for the warp after the current one, and there are two drafts to choose from to weave.  I'm sure I'll play around with them some more, but at least I'm on my way.

We are heading into a week of 'hot' (for us) temps.  I have two appointments to go to, but otherwise I intend to stay in as much as possible.  I'd really like to finish the current warp off this week and get back to working with the fine linen.  This interlude has been nice, especially since I will have used up both of those ginormous cones of 'mystery' yarn.  I may even use up some of the cottolin lurking in the shadows.  It depends on when the mystery yarn actually runs out.

And, as soon as I'm done with the first article, I will need to deal with the second one.  The October deadline will 'loom' soon enough.  Besides, I'd like to clear all the clutter away - all the books I've pulled from my library, all the samples I've woven, and of course the actual experimentation that still needs to be done, which includes clearly identifying the samples.

But for now, I am going to go weave, and think about all that other stuff later.

 

A Good Yarn

 

This morning PLY magazine posted the above on their Facebook page.

This is something I have been trying to explain to weavers for, quite literally, decades.  I even did a whole series of publications, *with samples* to show how yarns with different characteristics will create cloth with different characteristics.  Sadly, now out of print with no intention to republish.

Just because you know the 'count' of a yarn, doesn't mean you know everything there is to know about the yarn.

This was a photo I took for A Good Yarn: Cotton.  

As I travelled all around the US, I constantly ran into people who would grimace when I would say my favourite yarn was 2/8 cotton.  In their mind what they saw was the yarn in the bottom of the picture.

Believe me when I tell you: while these yarns may have the same count, they are NOT the same.

How a fibre is prepared for and spun can create a myriad of different qualities of yarn.

But industry does not set out to make 'bad' yarn.  We, as weavers, can (and do) make inappropriate choices.

I'm not saying every weaver needs to be a spinner.  But what they do need to do, imho, is to look closely at the materials they are working with.  They need to understand the nature of the fibres *and of how the way they are spun* can enhance or diminish certain characteristics of those fibres.

To have people whiff away the fact that there is a quality of cotton with a count of 2/8 as being identical to a count of yarn with 8/2, is to ignore the fact that these two yarns have been spun differently.

When people tell me that the 'proper' way to write the count is 8/2 I point out suppliers like Jaggerspun who spin worsted wool yarns labelled 2/18, etc.

Maurice Brassard, who used to label their cotton 2/8 now, on the *English* side of their website call their yarn 8/2, but if you look on the *French* side of their website - voila, their yarn is still labelled 2/8.

The *count* only ever tells us how many yards per pound (or metric equivalent).  It tells us nothing about how the fibre was prepared for and spun.  For that we need to look more closely at the yarn itself.

Brassard's 2/8 cotton is ring spun.  The fibres are combed, and the twists per inch in the ply is tighter than the US standard 8/2 cotton which is open end spun with the singles tightly twisted but the ply less than Brassard's.

Why is this important?

Brassard's 2/8 cotton is stronger, smoother, and slightly *thinner* than the US 8/2 cotton, which has more air trapped in it so it is weaker, slightly thicker, and feels more textured.  The 8/2 ply presents a more 'saw-toothed' appearance that can feel rough to the touch.

This is NOT to say the 8/2 is 'bad' yarn.  It is what it is and if a weaver tries to use it beyond it's nature, there might be tears shed.  

So I happily use 2/8 cotton for warp, and will use 8/2 for weft.  However, when I do that, I know that it will shed a lot more 'lint' than 2/8 cotton.  

I wrote about absorbency for Handwoven a while ago.  People may find it helpful in understanding that aspect of yarn.

I also strongly suggest people get a fibre or textile science book to learn more about the nature of their materials.  My personal favourite is A Guide to Textiles for Interior Designers.  This book can be found second hand with prices ranging from under $10 to $100.  You don't need the most recent edition, which can sometimes be discounted as the newer editions are published.

Knowing your materials will help you make better decisions.  Just saying...

Begin Again

 

It's hard to get a photo of the towels on the loom because the 'right' side is on the underside.  In the photo it looks like there is a change in colour, but that's just the area where the light can shine through the warp, making it look lighter/brighter.

I'm very pleased with this warp.  The towels are quite thick but good for hands, or a good rub down after a long hot tub soak.

The sale on ko-fi is going well.  Several designs are officially sold out.  (Anything with just one towel left has been pulled from the shop.  I can use them for gifts.)

Yesterday I wet finished the beige/brown version of this design so I may post those tomorrow.

We are having a hot spell for the next few days.  I'm glad I don't have anywhere to be until Tuesday, when I see the eye doctor.  The optometrist told me that I have damage to the cornea from the shingles, and as such the eye doctor will likely monitor me for the rest of my life (or until she retires).  However, she told me the baby cataract isn't impinging my vision yet, so I won't likely need surgery for a while.  Since I'm not a big fan of someone poking my eyes with sharp objects, I'm fine with that!

Finished the book The Pain Project today.  It was helpful, informative, and I'm glad I read it.  It's helped me understand what is happening in my body, better.  Given another pain flare last night after several nights of no flare, meant I was more accepting of it happening.  And it will continue to happen.  That's just fact.  

As long as I can keep weaving, I will continue picking away at my rather too large stash, and try to enjoy the process as much as possible.  And if I need an afternoon nap?  So what.  I'm retired.  I can do that.

If I have the spoons today (maybe not given the lack of sleep) I will do the final prep for the first article I'm writing.  I might even start the FA part of the process.

WEFT has surpassed their kickstarter goal and are underway getting the first issue organized.  And I can now tell you I have been asked to contribute.  I really hesitated saying anything in case it all falls through, but...the word is out and my name is on the list, so...

Time for lunch, then back to the loom for the 2nd session. Then see how many spoons I have left.

14 years

 

This morning Facebook showed me this photo from 14 years ago.

(my gawd have I really been on Facebook for *14* years????)

As I looked at the photo I thought, hmm, I think I still have some of those towels in inventory.

Sigh.

Doug suggested that if I do, I should add them to my current BOGO sale, but I've already got plenty of inventory on sale and to add more would become cumbersome.  So I told him, maybe for the December BOGO sale.

By then the autumn sales events would have happened and who knows, maybe some of them will sell during one of those.

Today is a 'light duty' day.  I have massage and usually feel like I've been run over by a truck afterwards.  When you go for therapeutic massage, it is NOT like having a spa massage.  At all.  Not one bit.  But it is necessary to keep this body from breaking down completely, so I go and hope that things will continue to get better.  Or, at least, not worse.

As a young(er) weaver, I saw an interview about massage and a patient on the table who was asked about why she went for massage.  "I'm a weaver" she said, which caused my head to whip around to pay more attention.  She explained that weaving was very physical and massage helped to keep her functioning in a way that allowed her to keep weaving.

It wasn't much later that I found myself on the table, beginning a decades long practice of getting a regular massage.  I credit my continuing ability to weave partially on doing this kind of personal maintenance.

So, today I will go for massage, pick up a book at the library I put on 'hold', then come home and finish sleying the current warp, then press the towels I wet finished two days ago.  Because yesterday got derailed and I ran out of time and spoons to tackle the pressing.  I don't like to leave damp towels in the bin for more than two days, though, so it works out well that I have massage today and try not to weave right away after that.

The weather forecast says hot weather (for us) is coming.  I'm glad we have a/c.  Not everyone this far north does.  But I needed it in order to keep weaving during the summer, so we installed it then and benefit from it now.  Even though I'm no longer weaving like I used to do.  With climate change, increasingly causing massive wildfires and the smoke pall (of which we have had little so far this year, thankfully) we keep the house closed up and stay comfortable during the hot - and cold.

I am currently reading The Pain Project by Kara Stanley and Simon Paradis.  For anyone dealing with chronic pain, there is a lot of information about what pain is, how it gets treated, and ways to manage it.  And lots to think about.  It is well written.  I'm finding it helpful, although mostly it is cementing my belief that I needed to get off the opioid.  The new medication (*not* an opioid) I'm taking *appears* to be helping.  I'll know more as time goes by.  I'm told that it takes two weeks to fully kick in and I'm at day 8.  Fingers crossed.

Favourite Colours

 

I cannot tell a lie - I have 'favourite' colours.

After weaving with beige warps for most of the spring, then the pale blue/grey, then beige/brown, this nice blue/green warp with pops of peach, yellow and pink is just the ticket.  I did something similar but with a variegated yarn with those accent colours in it and quite liked the result.  I still have a bunch of the variated yarn left, but it was faster to work directly from the tubes than deal with winding the variegated onto spools.  I have very little energy and I can't stand for long periods of time anymore, so I've had to adjust what I do and when.  What can I say?  Working with a body that is 'breaking down' is full of challenges...

The plan with this warp is to finish off the mystery yarn, then work on some of my other odd ball, odds and sods stash.  Like the yellow cottolin that I've owned for, oh 30 years?  In my stash, a little yellow goes a long way!

Since I was weaving to sell for most of my life, I had to get comfortable working with colours that were NOT to my personal taste, and weave them in such a way as I found pleasing.  But every once in a while I need to break out and give myself the pleasure of working with colours I *do* find appealing - on a personal level.

Today the plan is to finish threading, then start pressing the beige/brown towels from the last warp.  I have a few more sale orders to package up, but I'm not heading to town until mid-afternoon, so if any more come in this morning I hope to get them all processed and into the mail.

Yesterday I messed around with the draft I posted and changed where the plain weave happened in the repeat and may do that one instead of the first one I did.  My computer files are rife with drafts I've generated, then rejected.  But I never seem able to trash them.  Sometimes that makes finding something a challenge.  Usually I just make something 'new' rather than try to find something I did a while ago.  Just easier to begin fresh!

It's not raining today, just cloudy.  But that means it's not super hot.  The hot weather we were warned about has yet to arrive, and frankly I'm grateful.  Neither have we had to deal much with smoke from wildfires - yet - this year.  So I'm working on maintaining an attitude of gratitude.

Still lots of inventory in my ko-fi shop and the sale continues until midnight July 9, 2024.

Variations

 

variation on yesterday's draft

Messed around with the tie up and quite like how it looks this way.

Not sure which I will use since both are potentially useful, although I'm leaning more to this one.  OTOH, I won't really know until I start weaving.

The weft will be very close to the warp in value.  I purposefully chose paler hues to make the warps.  With such fine yarns, I could have gone with a higher contrast, but what I did was buy 4 different colours and I plan on mixing and matching the four to produce a range of towels that look different but play nicely together.

I suppose it doesn't really matter much since I no longer do craft fairs, but with each colour combo enough to beam 5 warps, I found I was getting tired of the same colour warps.  Mixing and matching will provide some visual 'interest', I think.  

With 5 kilos of the white linen, each kilo weaving about 20 towels, that's 100 or so towels ahead of me.  I'm hoping to get some done in time for the craft fairs in the fall, but I also still have to finish writing the articles I've committed to writing.  However, Thursday will be a 'light' duty day, so I expect to work on the wet finishing, then 'testing' (experimenting) for the first article.  As soon as I can, I want to get it to the editor in case they want more, or something different.

Plus my sale is on until July 9 and today I need to hit the post office with the bag of packages to mail.

It's a grey dreary day, but honestly?  Better to have rain clouds overhead than thick wildfire smoke pall.  I'm working hard to be grateful and not complain.

Thinking Ahead

 

Not a great image, but Fiberworks can only do so much in terms of showing the weave structure, especially when it has to be 'reduced' so much.

The motif is 1/3rd the width of the warp, at 36 epi.  This cut/paste image shows the selvedge and one repeat.

It is based on the snail's trails and cat's paws motif, which is usually woven in overshot, but can also be done in block twills.

Here I've interpreted it as point twill repeats.  At 36 epi, the tie up needs to have some plain weave in it, so the motif is not as clear cut as with twill blocks, but nonetheless, I think I'm going to use this for the warp after I'm done with the 'mystery' yarn.  I may play with the tie up some, try placing the plain weave in some other part of the tie up sequence, but that remains to be seen if it will improve anything much.

The warp and weft will be close in value, so whatever I decide to do, it will be on the subtle end of the range of things possible, so I'm not too bothered about having the motif not stand out.  

The tie up is not 'balanced' - iow, one side of the cloth will show more warp, the other more weft.  This is referred to as warp emphasis or weft emphasis.  I like doing this because it can give the two sides of the cloth quite different appearances.

My Birthday Bash sale went live yesterday.  It was ready, there wasn't much point in waiting.  Orders will begin being shipped tomorrow because today is a national holiday and the post office is closed.  I will attempt to keep the inventory numbers updated on the ko-fi website, but if something sells out and someone else wants to buy the item, I will let them know what is left and arrange a substitution.

There seems to be some confusion about how the sale works.  

You order one towel - I will ship two.  Buy one, get two for the price of one.  

Thank you to those who have ordered already.  

Big Birthday Bash Sale (BOGO)

 

My annual Birthday Bash Sale is now live.  (I got it done early.)  The sale will continue until midnight, July 9, 2024.

All the towels in my ko-fi shop are on sale - buy one, receive two for the same price.

Most of the towels listed are the ones from the Matrix series, but there are a few others, including the latest off the loom using the 'mystery' yarn.  

The Matrix towels are woven with 2/16 cotton warp.  The Mystery yarn towels are woven on 2/8 cotton and, as such, I don't call them 'tea' towels, just 'towels'.

The dimensions of each are listed although my towels are fairly generous in size.  Some are a bit longer, if the motif is large.  All of the towels listed are 100% cotton (pretty sure the mystery yarn is 100% cotton.)

Care is easy - machine wash, warm water, machine (or hang) to dry.  I don't bother ironing them, just take them out of the dryer while they are still warm and fold them up.

I am *almost* finished the beige warp using the mystery yarn, and if I can get them done before the 9th, I will list them as well.

All my designs are now 'limited edition' - I try to keep the inventory numbers up-to-date, and when one design sells out there will not be more.  

Shipping is included in the price listed, via Canada Post.  And for the first time since opening the shop I am willing to ship outside of Canada and the US, if anyone is interested.  

Instant Gratification

 Well, sort of...

I've been enjoying the (nearly) 'instant' gratification of weaving with thicker yarns AND using up more of my stash, especially that 'mystery' yarn.  I don't know how large/heavy the original cones were, but they were huge.  It looks like when I finish the current warp there will be enough of the mystery yarn to weave most of this next warp.  If there is anything left over, I have some cottonlin that I'll use to weave more towels.

One of the challenges has been knowing if I have enough yarn, so I took my scale, put an empty tube on it and turned the scale on, removed the empty tube then placed one of the tubes with yarn on the scale.

Doing this, the scale automagically subtracts the weight of the empty tube from the weight of the tube with yarn.  This gives a fairly accurate indication of how much yarn is left on the tube.  (Check to see if your scale does the same - it's a great and very useful tool.)

The larger tubes are fine - it was the smaller darker green I was concerned about.  I'll need approximately 560 yards to beam the warp and the smaller tube I weighed has something like 680 yards on it, so there will be plenty.  Whew.  Because I'm quite liking this colour combination.  It speaks of spring and early summer to me.  The colours will be put onto the loom randomly and no effort will be made to put them in any kind of order.  Except if two of the non-green colours are side-by-side, then I'll manipulate them so that they have a green thread between them.

Towels have been very much on my mind for the last, oh, 4 years(!) mainly because I had so much fine cotton yarns I needed to use up.  So, when Robyn Spady asked me to write an article for her Heddlecraft issue on towels, I was delighted.

That issue dropped today, so if you have a subscription, keep an eye out for it.  Looks like lots of great information on making towels.  :)

If you don't have a subscription but would like to purchase this issue, you can do that on the website.

Robyn always does a very thorough examination of each theme issue, so I can say it's well worth the price if you are interested in making towels.

Now I know what I'll be doing 'next', time to get back to the loom and weave a couple more towels on the current warp.  

Routine

 

I've managed to make some progress on this warp, and it should come off the loom in the next few days.

Overall, I'm pleased enough with these towels made using the 'mystery' yarn from my stash.  But I have a lot more of it and will not use it up on the current warp.

Mind you, some of each of the two warps was used to weave samples for the two articles I'm working on.  Even so, I doubt I could have used up all of the mystery yarn.  

What to do?  What to do?

Do I put one more 2/8 cotton warp on and use it up, or switch back to the 2/16 cotton so I can begin weaving the fine linen?

Right now I'm torn between the two.  On the one hand I'd love to use up the mystery yarn.  On the other, I'd really like to go back to the lighter weight cloth that is more suitable for tea towels.  

I wouldn't call the heavier weight 'tea' towel, just 'towel'.  However, I did use up one of the gigantic cones of the mystery yarn, and am making a good dent in the 2nd.  Still, it would be nice to get rid of all of it and free up some more space on my shelves.

This week I started another pain medication, plus I'm reading a book called The Pain Project.  Chronic pain is, in so many ways, mysterious.  It can manifest in different people in so many different, and ultimately personal, ways.  It's hard to get to a solution for everyone.

I feel enormous gratitude that the local pain doctor I'm seeing is willing to *listen* to me, and try to help by offering suggestions.  To have someone believe me when I say I'm having pain actually makes the pain easier to deal with.  And I'm so grateful to be off the opioids and not have the brain fog they caused.  I can tolerate quite a lot of pain if I can just keep my brain!

Since I can no longer travel to teach, or even teach in person anymore, my choices are limited.  If I have my brain I can still write about weaving and teach that way.  So, I'm pleased as punch at the opportunity I have been given recently to write articles.

One will be available shortly - will let folk know where and when as soon as I'm told I can do that.

Three articles for one place are on hiatus for a number reasons, partly because Life Happened to one of the editorial team.

Two articles will appear next year.  The lead time for actual print production is generally 6-12 months, so this is not unusual.  

I'm hoping the new medication will allow me to sleep through the night and generally make my life more 'comfortable'.  And in the meantime, the Pain Project is giving me some insight into what that journey looks like for someone else.  

Acceptance is not giving up.  It is taking a good long hard look at the present reality which then lets me begin to think about how to move forward.  If I can't physically teach in person, I *can* still write.

So I guess that is the direction I will point myself going forward

And in the meantime, keep weaving down my stash as best I can.  

Onwards!

(Birthday Bash Sale begins July 1 running through July 9 in my ko-fi shop)

Planning Ahead

 

This warp is being used for multiple purposes.  I needed some plain weave samples, plus I am still trying to use up my yarn stash, making towels.  

Since I knew that the plain weave would draw in differently than the twill, it made a lot more sense for me to weave the plain weave first, then the twill.

The photo clearly shows the difference in draw in from the plain weave woven with 2/8 cotton, and the twill woven with the mystery yarn (possibly 6/2 cotton).

If you don't know this happens, and wind up weaving the part that will draw in more first, then switching to the cloth that will draw in less, the 'extra' width will then have nothing to support it.  This can cause all kinds of tension issues at the selvedge.  (Ask me how I know!)

You can do two things - cut off and re-tie, or as the wider width rolls onto the beam you can add warp packing sticks to help provide the necessary support.

Gearing Up

 

I have finished weaving the samples I need for the two articles.  I think.  I will know better once I've done the wet finishing if I need to do more.  Perhaps these samples will raise more questions and I want to see if I can find an answer.  Or I will see an angle I hadn't considered before that I want to pursue as part of this exploration.

As it happens, I don't need to weave ALL of the samples now - I have lots of samples from my teaching days that I can drag out to use as examples.  But I had some very specific subtle effects I wanted to really take a very close look at and see if those slight differences make much difference to the cloth.

But there were certain aspects that they wanted to examine that I really hadn't done, in an organized fashion.  I mean, I have opinions!  Of course I do.  But they want to provide answers that are based on some experimentation, not just my best guess.

And of course, now I hit the 'wall' of indecision, of doubt.  

I spent some time drawing up forms so that I can record the details of what I do.  I just need to clear the decks so that I have room to work.  Plus it will take some time over several days because of course the samples will have to dry.  They also need to be clearly labelled/identified, and I've come up with a way to do that so I can keep track of them.  Because they don't *look* very different and once wet finished I suspect they are going to be difficult to tell apart.

(I'm not saying who or when until I finish the work and have it approved...)

In the meantime, I'm examining an aspect of textiles I've noticed but not pursued in an organized fashion.  And that feels good, to finally have the time to set aside, weave the samples, then wet finish them, and then sit down to really examine them to see - if I can - what has happened.

Wet finishing is such a magical process.  There are all sorts of ways to carry the process out, and all sorts of variations, given how many different fibres there are to weave with.  I won't try to examine them all, but I will look at the 'major' ones.

And then people will have to do their own 'research', their own 'experiments' and see what happens when...

The side benefit to doing this series of samples is that I finally thought of a way to explain in a clearer way how compression works in textiles.  As usual, the effect is generally quite subtle, and in many cases not really seen - unless you look really closely.  

Once I've got this writing behind me, stay tuned for a tutorial on compression, hopefully in a way that clearly shows what happens when you interlace three dimensional 'rods', then compress them and how that affects the textile as a whole.

Road Less Travelled

 

My parents were not 'well educated', not because they weren't intelligent, but because they grew up in a time and place that didn't allow for it.

It seems hard to remember that it was just my parent's generation who rarely finished high school, never mind went to college.

My father was born in a tiny village south of where I was born and continue to live.  When he was six years old there was no school in that village, because it had burned down.  He got home schooled by his elder siblings and wound up with a grade 2 level of 'schooling'.

My mother was raised in Montreal, but it was the depression and then war time, and her family had no extra money so she left school in junior high in order to get a job and contribute to the family income by paying her own way for what she needed (clothing, etc.)

It was only when I was in high school that she determined to go to college as a 'mature' student in order to get her Early Childhood Education certificate.

Both parents encouraged (insisted!) that both of their children at least finish high school, even if it meant dragging my brother through grade 12 kicking and screaming.  

I discovered reading at a very early age; he discovered it when dad was sick and he needed to be 'quiet'.  We shared favourite books from time to time.  

I don't know if it was the wide ranging reading I did as a kid (anything and everything, pretty much) or just the nature of my personality, but I was never too much bothered about what everyone else was doing.  My interests were wide ranging and I soaked up knowledge like it was water and I was a sponge.

When I decided to learn how to weave in order to earn an income by weaving, my father was in the last few months of his life.  If he had been healthy, I'm quite sure he would have considered my decision with grave misgivings.  But he was fighting for every day, every week, consumed with pain that would not stop.  I doubt he gave much thought to my future security, at that point.

As I look back on making that decision, I still wonder how on earth I managed to even consider it, given how much I wanted, *needed* security.  And living the life of a professional/production weaver was anything but 'secure', in terms of income.

But here's the thing.  It never mattered too much to me what other people thought.  I didn't care if people thought I was foolish or strange (warped?).  Something, somewhere, was moving me in the direction of that choice, and once I sat at the floor loom for the very first time, shuttle in hand, it was like I had finally come 'home'.

And I knew I'd made the correct choice.

Oh, it wasn't 'easy' - far from it.  But nothing worth doing is, really.  Or at least not in my world.  

Do I have regrets?  A few.  Usually for persisting too long in something that was clearly not working.  But I learned.  I learned when to hold 'em, and when to fold 'em.  And that is a very useful thing to learn.

One of the biggest attractions to becoming a weaver was discovering a discipline where the learning never stopped.

And so it still is.  As I organize my thoughts and approach to the experiments I am about to run, I find myself fully engaged with the craft, again.  I find myself excited to see if my conclusions are actually correct or if there will be more new information to add to my foundation of knowledge.

Just because I have a certificate that says 'master weaver' doesn't mean I have all the answers.  It simply means I have asked enough questions to gain a degree of knowledge that lets me ask even more questions, then go looking for the answers.  It means I have an open mind and am willing to take on more information, and even (gasp!) change my mind!  Or adjust what I teach or say to others.

I think the term 'master' gets confused with knowing 'everything' when there is no way to know it all, because change one thing, and everything can change.

And sometimes I find myself wandering off the known path into the unknown.  Or following the known path but arriving at a different destination (conclusion) than others before me have made.

Leaving myself open to what happens and then trying to figure out why, is a constant in my work of trying to figure it all out.

So, while I am aware of what others have done, I also repeat their experiments and see if I get the same results.  If not, why not.  If I do, do I draw the same conclusions?  Or do I dig further to find out more?

When I set out to write my books, I wanted to write something that added to the foundation of knowledge, not just repeat what others have said.  When I set out to write Magic in the Water, there was very little literature available for the handweaver about wet finishing.  When I set out to write The Intentional Weaver, I wanted to write the weaving book I would have liked to have had when I set out to learn how to weave.  Because so much of what is necessary to creating cloth for a specific purpose simply isn't covered by 'most' other how-to-weave books.  In order to weave 'better' I felt that the 'missing' information needed to be made more available.  When I wrote Stories from the Matrix, I was wanting to add to the general body of knowledge, look at some aspects of weaving in more depth than is usually presented.  And the last book was written to help others who might like to become 'professional' in the craft.

As I look back at my life, I find that I spent a lot of time on the 'road less travelled'.  I was aware of many of the 'standard' books available, read most of them.  But they didn't always answer the questions I had.  So I set out to try to find those answers.

And as I review my life, I don't regret any of that part of what I did.

First three books available here https://www.blurb.com/b/11633019-stories-from-the-matrix

Last book (memoir) available here  ko-fi