Happy Place

 

With all the new year resolutions happening, I've been thinking a lot about what 2024 holds.

If I have my way, it will hold this.  More weaving.  I'm 1/3rd the way through the new warp, and have been thinking of new designs.  Not too much set in stone (so to speak) but I have a new draft steeping and yesterday tested some weft colours for it.  

The challenge is to use up what I *have* and not buy more!  

Today I will use up one of the colours of 2/16 and wound bobbins for the next colour in the queue.  So far the two colours I've tested for the next warp have been 'meh', so the jury is still out for that one.  OTOH, if nothing else, black will do and I have a box of that so there is a certain amount of incentive to use that.

I am hoping to be 'done' with this series of tea towels this year and then begin working on the rayon stash.  While I really don't like fringe twisting, I like fringes on my shawls, so I'm sort of heading in that direction for what to begin working on once I'm done with this series.

As I work through various iterations, I'm mentally taking notes, thinking about applying this weave structure to shawls.  The float length is - or can be - long, but a shawl doesn't need to be as 'sturdy' as a tea towel, even, and the float length looks to be fine for those, so should be fine for shawls.  OTOH, I could play with the weave structure, too, and see if I can make it do something else; have shorter floats. 

I have a deep depth of a limited number of colours of the Silk City bambu 12 which works really well for scarves and shawls.  So I'll probably begin with a scarf warp, just to test the concept.  But I also have depth of inventory of scarves and zero shawls, so I'll have to  make some decisions when it gets closer to the time.  The unfortunate thing about scarves/shawls is that I will have to buy yarn for warp in order to use some of the bambu 12!  

However, as I went through the studio yesterday taking photos for the zoom presentation on Thursday, I was able to really *look* at the studio and to *see* how much progress I have made over the past few years.  There are actual 'holes' on the shelves, and some shelves have been filled with other things - clutter removed from upstairs and now stored downstairs.  On shelves.  Not haphazardly piled in corners or tucked away in boxes.  And that is a win!

I go for my next injection next week and I'm hoping that the very slow (filled with detours) journey to something resembling 'functionality' will continue and that I can continue to weave.  I think I have made a decision about the bobbin lace.  I just need the spoons to sort through my stash and see what I have and if my idea to teach, one-on-one, is feasible.  That means I have to get back to making lace so I CAN teach someone else the rudimentaries.  And then see if they want to buy a 'beginner's kit' from me.  I really don't need 6 pillows.  I may keep two - the block pillow and a 'cookie' pillow.  I also have loads of bobbins and can include enough for a 'starter pack' for a new lacemaker.

But all of that is to be determined, based on whether or not I feel up to coping with it all.  The prospect of collecting all of my lace stuff in one area, then sorting through it is daunting, to say the least, but best that I do it and find new homes for it while I can?  

So I begin this year as I mean to go on - weave.  Teach, remotely.  Keep shaking the pom-poms of encouragement for others, if I can.  One thing about the internet, I don't have to go in person, anymore.  I can continue to 'work from home' (so to speak), take breaks when I need them, naps, ditto.  Learning ot pace myself and not beat myself up because I'm 'only' weaving two sessions a day, and those 'only' 45 minutes, not 60.  

And keep working on my physical body, give it the tools it needs to keep going.  "Your body is a car your soul drives around" - observation courtesy of the Four Bitchin' Babes.  Old cars need a lot of maintenance.  This old body does, too.

Links to where to find me on line:

Books available here

Signed copies of The Intentional Weaver here

Two signed copies of Stories from the Matrix here

Classes with School of Sweet Georgia here

Classes with Handwoven here

If you want a Zoom presentation with me, you can find my topics and fees here

Or I can customize something (like I'm doing for a guild this Thursday - on stash management - the reason for taking all the studio photos yesterday)  :)