Following the Threads

 

This is one repeat of the design we call Swedish Snowflake.  It is usually threaded over 8 shafts although it *can* be done on 4 - but with less definition.  Since I've had 16 shafts since, I dunno, sometime in the 1980s, I tend to thread warps over all 16.  It allows me to have fewer heddles per shaft and threading a motif over the first 8 shafts and the second set of 8 shafts, I can be more...playful...with how I interpret a draft.

This kind of messing about with a threading draft was what really excited me about weaving.  Learning how the weave structure works, then being able to set up the design to meet my requirement, was a learning curve and kept me coming back to the graph paper (to begin with), then to purchase and learn how to use a computer with weaving software.

I purchased my first computer system by taking the requirements for Fiberworks into the local computer shop, and pretty much made the two guys day by buying the cpu, keyboard, (no mouse, yet) tv monitor/screen with *colour*, and a daisy wheel printer.  Which pretty much ate up about $3000.  In 1987 or early 88.  I needed to wait until the holiday sales were done so that I could see how much money I could budget for such a system.

In the 1990s I purchased the computer assist (or Compu-Dobby as AVL called their system).  I waited until their equipment had done some beta testing, and generally, with the help of a couple of friends more savvy than me, I got it working.  Then in the late 1990s, I bought the air assist system.  I was getting it primarily for the fly shuttle (which AVL assured me would NOT work on my loom, but never mind, Doug knew it should), and while I was at it, for the treadle.  For which my knee thanked me!

I continued to weave on the AVL until 2019, when I decided to retire and downsize looms and purchased the Louet Megado.  I was sorely tempted to get 32 shafts, but thought about the physical requirements needed to thread that many shafts and gave my head a shake.

It is part of what keeps me getting out of bed and down to the studio - trying to work out the why as well as the how.

In the meantime, I keep committing to write more articles.  There will be another article for School of Sweet Georgia, later this month.  They are now offering content even if you are not currently a 'member' as a 'taster'.  And yesterday we shipped the next article to WEFT and I've been beginning to work on the next.  Plus I committed to doing two articles for an upcoming issue.

In the meantime I continue to wrestle with pain meds.  We got our Covid vaccines on Monday which kind of trashed my body above and beyond the 'usual' pain levels.  But I'm feeling 'better' this morning and will go down to begin beaming the next warp.

It will be another 2/20 merc. cotton warp - I am still working on stash reduction.  There should be plenty of the merc. cotton to wind a 'standard' length warp (about 24 yards) and have some left over to use as weft on 2/16 unmerc. cotton.

One of the things I did was buy the entire "Master Weaver" booklets that were edited by Robert Leclerc, using Mr. Zielinski's newsletter that he wrote a few decades ago.  If you remember Gestetner stencils, he used them to write his newsletters, then mailed them out to his subscribers.  But they were difficult to read and the illustrations were...typical of the day.  Mr. Leclerc went through the newsletters, collected all the information for particular topics, then compiled small booklets focused on a theme.  I learned a ton of stuff reading through the booklets, and they remain a steadfast reference in my library.

So, a friendly reminder about *my* books.  Given the tariffs, US folk will be getting the books shipped within the US and no tariff applies.  For my memoir, currently available on my ko-fi shop, digital only, again, no tariff.  If you want a copy of Kerstin Fröberg's book Weave A V, I can mail that via USPS if anyone is interested.  Although frankly, I'm not confident that the current regime won't try to dismantle the USPS and then who knows?

The parcel we shipped to WEFT yesterday was via courier, and the box was $40 to ship by ground.  I am hoping that the president will leave couriers alone, even though that means doubling the expense of shipping anything across the border.  

I was warned about the curse "May you live in interesting times" and here I am.  One of the most difficult times about these 'interesting' times is that there is very little stability, with at least one head of state who seems to be trying to kill off a bunch of his citizens.  

The only way to cope I think is to expect the unexpected, and be as flexible as you can be.  

Books are available here

Classes are available here and here

And of course I have some free content here and video clips on You Tube