Arrived

No pictures - just a note that I am here with my friends, south of Seattle.  There were some 'adventures' along the way, but other than a little hair raising, all is well.  Except I can't find my hair brush.  :}  I will have to run out tomorrow and buy a new one.  Actually I couldn't find my favourite travel hair brush, didn't like the one I'm sure I packed but can't find, so obviously I have to go buy a new one, right?  On the scale of things, what's a new hair brush, after all?

Since I pushed through the sleety drizzle from Everett to almost my destination, I have a full day of rest Wed.  And that is a very Good Thing.

Keeping Track

New calendar year.  I use 'undated' washable calendars to set out my teaching and show schedule.  I was very late in getting my 2013 calendar set out but now I have a firm booking for January 2013 figured I'd better get it sorted before I left!  I use Windex cleaner as I've found it to be the most effective in cleaning off the old (washable) markers I use.

And here it is, pinned to the door of my 'office'.  I've taped the contract for John C. Campbell Folk School to the bottom for easy reference.  Not too much for '13 yet but hopefully I'll at least get a chance to teach at ANWG in Bellingham next year.  I've applied to do A Good Yarn as a seminar.  Should find out at the SWG meeting in March if they have accepted my application or not.

Unfortunately 3 of the major regional conferences are all happening the same weekend in '13 so I didn't even bother to apply to them.  People involved in conference planning have started a group on Weavolution so that this won't - hopefully - happen again.

Anyway, dates at the Folk School are Jan. 21-25 for the Weaving Boot Camp -  a chance to improve whatever aspect of weaving people are most concerned about - course content will be tailored to the participants with me acting as weaving coach.  And Jan. 26-27 for Magic in the Water.  Participants can use the school looms or bring their own.

And I'm looking for another guild or two to help with travel expenses.  Cost of travel will be shared with however many groups book, with a maximum of 4 groups.  I don't like being away from home for more than 4 weeks, especially with an elderly mother.  Any groups in the state of Georgia, or other nearby states interested in a workshop mid January or early Feb?

Warpology - Details

Klara asked if I layer the ends when I wind.  What I do is wind the yarns parallel to each other firmly shoving them back towards the base of the peg.

I think you can see the distinct stripes in the warp - the threads are not overlapping each other.

Thought I would also show the cross tied on the four 'arms' of the X with the choke tie on the next level.

If you want to actually watch how I wind a warp my You Tube channel is here.  I have a couple dozen clips, many of them from CD Weaver.  When I stopped producing CD Weaver cd's I tried to find as many of the video files as I could and load them to You Tube.  Unfortunately I lost a few in a computer 'upgrade', but there are still plenty to view.

Currently reading The Ropedancer's Fall by  M. K. Lorens

Warpology

During winding I keep the threads as close to the base of the pegs as possible.

This warp I'm using 8 yarn packages to make 4 stripes.  Each spool/cone sits below a reed and each yarn gets threaded through the reed to prevent the packages from tipping over.  The yarn feeds straight up from the tube/cone through the reed.

I just let the unused threads dangle off the last peg at the bottom.  It looks a bit messy but the reed keeps the threads in their order.

Here is the first half of the warp tied off ready to remove from the warping board.  I tie off the four 'arms' of the cross rather than the waist.  I found that if I tied the waist of the X the threads got compressed together and were difficult to sort out for rough sleying.  (Or for threading when dressing the loom front to back.)

And here is the first warp chain in the plastic bin.  I let the end with the cross dangle out over the side of the bin so it's easy to find.  On my Leclerc warping board I can wind up to 15" in warp (depending on the yarn). This warp is about 24 inches so I wind two chains about 12" each.

Tomorrow I'll wind the second half of the warp and it will be all ready for when I get home.

Relaxation

Someone asked on one of the lists about whether or not one should allow the woven web to 'relax' after being cut off the loom, before wet finishing.

I think the answer to that question is another one of those 'it depends' sorts of answers.

During a workshop with one expert, he stoutly maintained that you must absolutely let the web relax for a minimum of 24 hours.  Another expert was adamant in his opinion that there was no need whatsoever to let the web relax for any time at all.

In reality I think that most weavers don't usually cut the web from the loom and toss it directly into the water. First it should be inspected and repaired and if the fringe needs to be twisted, that takes a while, too.

But there are times, especially if I'm weaving a sample, that I will cut the web from the loom and walk directly to the sink to wet finish it.

Quite frankly I have not noticed any difference at all between webs allowed to 'rest' and those that go pretty directly into the washing machine.  In the photo above, for example, the yellow/orange web has been 'resting' for several days.  The green/purple was just now cut off the loom and as soon as it is serged the towel 'blanks' will go into the washing machine together.

In my experience there will be no way to tell which has rested and which has not after wet finishing.  On the other hand, I don't weave rugs or tapestries, so perhaps it is different for those cloths.  In fact some people recommend that neither of those get wet finished at all.  Once again, experts disagree, so.....choose your expert!  :^)

Currently reading - nothing!  I finished Dana Stabenow's Restless in the Grave this afternoon and have not had a chance to dig through my stack of paperbacks to chose another book.  :)  Later.

On the mom front, she is resting at her friend's after being discharged this morning and her friend will accompany her here on Monday, then turn around and take the return flight home again.  God bless good friends!  Another friend will stay with mom overnight, the nurse will visit in the morning and the home care workers will come in every day.  Personally I'm keeping fingers crossed for good driving on Tuesday and not the 'blizzard' we had yesterday....

Feeling a Wee Bit Guilty

A friend calls my sitting at the loom weaving my 'happy place'.  I'm taking full advantage of that today.

This green warp is perfect - a complete no-brainer.  It's just a straight twill for the towel body and plain weave for the hems.  Although I count the picks for the hem, the towel is measured using my handy dandy ribbon measuring tape and I don't have to think at all.

Which is very good for me today as we are still on tenterhooks about mom.  She passed a 'rough' night last night so they are keeping her for one more day and will discharge her tomorrow.

In the meantime I'm still waiting for a phone call from WestJet to see when we can get her on a plane to come home.  Until I have a firm arrival date, there is nothing else I can do and everyone involved in her care has to wait.

I'm not good at waiting so having this very simple warp - all 11 meters of it - to work on today while I'm waiting is a god send.

I am also struggling with guilt.  Guilt that I am hitting the highway on Tuesday morning, come sun or snow and I'm not coming back until the 25th or 26th of March (depending on highway conditions).  Everything that can be done for mom's care has been done and ultimately she will recover in her own time in her own way whether I'm here or not so I confess I'm actually relieved I'll be away for a while.  And then I feel guilty all over again.

Better to just leave and put my mind on my 'happy' things, like weaving and teaching weaving.  The stuff that I can make a difference about - and leave mom to get on with her healing....

The good news is that it looks like the house sale will go through so that will be one less thing to worry about for everyone, especially Doug who has been doing the bulk of the Mr. Fix-it jobs on it for years.  :)

Warping Valet

Someone commented that she didn't have room for a valet.  One of the reasons I like the valet is because I have very little room.  The only room I need to dress the loom with the valet is the space the bench takes up (I move it to the side of the loom) and the walkway behind the bench.  Because, folks, that's all the room I have!  :)

Someone else asked about the lease sticks.  If I were using traditional Scandinavian techniques, the lease sticks would get moved behind the reed between the reed and back beam.  What I do instead is use them to help hold (slight) tension on the threads.  Once the warp has been 'groomed', the lease sticks get shoved as far away from the breast beam as possible.  Then I roll on the length of warp between the lease sticks and the breast beam, using the bamboo blinds for warp packing.  Then the chains are 'groomed' and the lease sticks shoved up high again.  Repeat until done.  Transfer cross to behind the heddles (I have Purrington Angel Wings to hold the sticks) and cut the loom at the front of the loom in preparation to thread.

This warp is 11 meters long.  From the time I had the jugs weighting the warp until I cut the loops at the front of the loom, the beaming took 16 minutes.

I luv my warping valet!