Happy Place

With molehills masquerading as mountains this week, the hurdles I encountered as I set to work this morning turned into complete roadblocks and instead of doing something productive on A Good Yarn, I went to my 'happy place' and wove a scarf.

Thankfully I'd dressed the loom last night including winding the bobbins so all I had to do was put my weaving shoes on and I was ready to go.

The colours of the yarn are actually a little more intense than shows on my screen and over all I'm quite pleased with the way this warp is turning out.  There are quite a few cones of this blue/pink soy protein so I'll wind up with maybe a dozen scarves (or more) in this colour range.  Since the yarn was dyed in a random variegation no two skeins are exactly alike although the general public won't really notice that much of a difference between them.

I have several different possible wefts so there will be some variation.

This line of scarves is a 'win' situation for me.  I imported the yarn from China, dyed it and schlepped it around western Canada for the last few years trying to sell it.  What's left is enough to do a good selection of scarves; when I'm done weaving it my stash will be that much less and I'll have decent inventory for the coming sales this fall.

Now to hope customers like them enough to buy!

As for A Good Yarn, I did get a load of samples into the washing machine, am about to transfer that to the dryer and put the next lot in.  While that's happening I'll sew some more samples and/or staple.  I did actually get some work done on the text earlier - found a few typos and some areas that needed clarification.

The weather is supposed to continue wet and cool so pressing the samples tomorrow should not be too bad.  OTOH, I'd sure like to see some sun this summer....

Sneak Peek

Enough progress has been made now that I feel as though A Good Yarn: Cotton is becoming a reality.  Here is a sneak peek at Sample 1.  The Notes page still needs to be proof read and possibly edited.  It doesn't look like any text is going to happen today - too many other things happening - but now that the pages are beginning to take concrete form I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Someone has graciously agreed to proof read for typos, the samples to be wet finished will get run through the washer/dryer Saturday, pressing will happen Sunday, in the meantime stapling continues (I'm just doing 50 of each to begin) and the writing will happen as quickly as I can manage that.  Once the proofed copy comes back I can finalize the text, burn the files to a cd and deliver to Staples for copying.  By the time that is done I expect to have 50 of each sample stapled and Doug and I can assemble the pages and package them into bags.

I am really feeling the pressure because I have a student arriving on July 30 - this project simply must be done before she arrives or there won't be room for me, let alone her!

Currently reading Murder in the Abbot's Folly by Amy Myers

One Step At A Time

Today I got the stapling 'station' set up and stapled 50 of one of the samples.  And then realized as I was putting that bucket away that I'd forgotten to staple the yarn samples to the page, too.  And then discovered that the yarn samples for the second sample I'd selected are not cut apart and therefore there is still about a half hour's worth of work before that one will be ready.  I think I'll set it aside and cut them tonight while watching tv and work on a different sample.  There are more, after all!

Yesterday I got my new 'eyes' and have been having some fun getting used to them.  Up close (sewing) is good, and distance is good.  It's that in-between place - working at the computer, reaching for things - that is still a bit of a challenge.  Yesterday my arms were way too short - I'd go to reach for something and miss!

So today I've been doing a variety of things - wound another scarf warp, coned off a skein in preparation for warp winding, stapled 50 samples (sort of), wove a scarf, got my back crunched and visited the library because one of my reserved books had come in.

Tomorrow I'm supposed to have a studio elf - a friend's 14 year old son needs something to do now that summer is here (well, it is supposed to be here - school is out, anyway!)  He will attempt to vacuum the studio and see if he can't at least corral some of the dust buffalo.  And who knows - if I can get two more scarves woven there will be some warp left on the loom so if he's interested - and likes the colour (a rather brilliant spring-ish green) I'll let him weave some when he gets the vacuuming done.  :)

Yesterday I managed to finish the four sided samples to be wet finished and will take a load of pressing to the annex on Sunday and do that.  A small number of the 'before' samples are also sewn and I think I'll do some more as a break from weaving.

So, all in all, a little progress on a number of different fronts.  No writing though - hopefully more tomorrow and then at least one page a day each day.  That's my goal if I'm to get it all put together before the end of July.  (Did you hear the gigantic swoosh as the July 9 deadline got moved?)

Four At Once

winding four ends at once...

Winding four ends at once is definitely possible but I don't find it particularly faster.  Which would seem counter intuitive - if winding two ends at a time is twice as fast as winding one at a time, winding four ought to be four times faster, right?

Welllllll.  Possibly.

What I find is that with four ends it is harder to maintain consistent tension on the individual ends and one of them (the one held between the ring and pinkie fingers) always seems to be too far away from the rest and falls off the pegs.  Which means that I have to stop and get it settled in the correct place.  Which gets frustrating, if not actually winds up being slower than if I'd just wound two at a time in the first place.

But there is another reason for winding so many ends at once.  That reason is that I am trying to use up stash and get inventory woven for the fall sales.  It is faster in the long run to put a warp for four scarves into the loom rather than just two.  So I'm saving the loom dressing time that I'd have to spend if I only wound a 5 meter long warp instead of a 9 meter long warp.

Since I have assorted variegated yarns, it is much better in terms of blending the slightly different shades to wind from four cones to make the 9 meter long warp.  If I only wound with 2 cones at a time, I'd run out about 3/4's of the way through the 9 meters and the different dye lot would show up as a definite stripe.  That stripe might be pleasing, but it might also just look like a dye lot difference.

So I am 'fighting' with the four ends in order to wind up with a result that will at least be pleasing to me - and hopefully potential customers.

And wallowing in procrastination about getting started on writing the text.  I have opened Word and once I have done a little more work in the studio - the looms are both nekkid  and I'd like to at least get one of them dressed - I will begin sifting through the project details and start getting them written.

Currently reading Beastly Things by Donna Leon.  If you like Louise Penny you might like Leon, too.  I've only just got started (while waiting at the dentist's office this morning) and so far I'm liking what I'm reading.

This and That

preparing the samples

Today I stapled one set of each sample - of those that were ready - so that I could lay them out.  To my mind the samples should be visually appealing but the sequence also needs to make some sort of technical sense as well.

What I decided on was to lay them out in order of the size of the yarns - largest first (in the warp), then in complexity of the weave structure but also in a way that I felt would be attractive as people paged through the 'book'.

So this is the tentative line up.  I'm pretty satisfied with it but of course, things are always subject to change.  I may swap 2 and 3.

There are 10 samples/projects and each will be illustrated with a before and after sample because, after all, how could I do otherwise?  ;^)

I didn't get as much done on the Big Project as I hoped because I felt that before I could really get going on it I just had to clean the desk around the computer.  I confess there were papers dating back to 2009 - probably the last time I cleared the area down to the desktop!

However I did manage a couple of sessions of weaving and finished off the coral/red scarf warp:

four scarves, four different wefts - from left - soy protein in natural (a light tan), dark red bamboo, an orange-scarlet Tencel, dark red Tencel...the colours are not quite true to life - they are actually a little more intense/darker in life

The warp was too long so the next ones will be shorter to minimize loom waste.  Not that anything is truly wasted because I donate the thrums to the Salvation Army.  The local branch has a textile recycling program and everything gets sent to Asia where it is broken down into fibre, spun and woven.  Part of me is delighted that my 'waste' will eventually wind up as fabric, although the cloth will likely be labelled '100% unknown fibres'!

Today I also picked up an early bd present along with an order for bobbin lace supplies.  My two compadres and I ordered some patterns from Larkholme Lace and Jacqui sent a couple of bobbins and a booklet of designs for my bd.  I'm not sure if I'm up to the challenge of the Flutterbies and Flowers - they require a lot more bobbins than I'm used to using plus adding in and subtracting the coloured threads that make up the designs, so I'll probably start with one of the bookmarks from the small booklet first.

Currently reading A Killing Season by Priscilla Royal

Seriously

last rep warp cut off and being serged in preparation for wet finishing sometime next week - still have to finish sewing the fringe on four sides samples...


There is a poster going round Face Book which says something to the effect that if you are working at home you are not considered to be working.

I agree.  I have faced that attitude more times than I can count since 1975 when I decided to become a self-employed home based business.

But people will only take you and your work as seriously as you take it yourself.

Scenario 1 - your best friend phones and needs some retail therapy as you are getting inventory ready for an up-coming show event.

Do you a) sigh inwardly knowing that your best friend needs you and decide to go ahead and head for the mall, with the realization that you will be working until midnight to make sure you can go ahead and load the van and head for the show the next day

b) get angry because your best friend knows that you have a show coming up

c) agree to meet at the mall suggesting that when you are done you both return to your place to finish trimming, tagging, pricing and boxing up your inventory (if she is truly your best friend, she will help)

Scenario 2 - a family member phones and says they are dropping their kids off so you can have some quality time for a week while they go to Costa Rica in spite of the fact you have a major exhibit you need to install and attend the show opening during that week.

Do you a) sigh inwardly and think fast about who owes you a favour so that you can get them to look after the kids while you do what's necessary

b) Get angry because they know you have an important show coming up

c)  Suggest that after the show is done you'd be happy to take the kids for a week

Scenario 3 - a family member is famous for her "I can get it for you wholesale" attitude and expects a big 'family' discount on your work which means she'll be supplying the entire town (because she counts everybody in town as her close personal friend for whom she will do favours - like getting stuff for wholesale)

Do you a) sigh inwardly and give her a discount knowing that you'll never sell another item for retail in your town again

b) Get angry because you can't afford to give everybody in town a discount via this family member

c) Smile politely and tell her that no one gets a discount - and yes, that includes her

Choosing a) will not get you taken seriously.

Choosing b) is destructive not only to your relationships but to you, too.  Remember that we will not be punished for our anger but by our anger.

Choosing c) may initially put you in the position of being called selfish, but if you politely stick to your guns, the people in your life will eventually have to take your work - and you - seriously.

Being self-employed usually means that there is no one but you and if you don't get the work done on time it won't get done and all you'll hear is the swooshing noise as the deadlines fly by.

In celebration of getting the last rep warp off the loom I beamed the next warp to go onto the Leclerc Fanny - the first of my production scarf warps for the coming fall sales.  If I don't get them woven now, they won't get fringe twisted, wet finished, trimmed, tagged and priced in time for the major shows we have booked starting in September....and the scarf warps will give me mental respite while I begin writing the text for A Good Yarn: Cotton.

Groundhog Day

It's beginning to feel like deja vu all over again as I dress the loom with the 3rd - and hopefully last - of the rep weave warps.

I'm in the groove now with this textile - the muscle memory pretty much kicks in and I don't have to think very much or even very hard to weave it.  There are times when I totally zone out and mess up but it becomes apparent right away and it is easy to weave backwards and get on track again.  I wish it weren't so physically hard on my body as I remember the reasons I enjoyed making all those rugs back in my 20's - before the damage one's body sustains in an active life.  :}

I am also experiencing - how shall I call it - ego strain - the closer I come to actually completing the Big Project.  All the fears of rejection and worries about not doing it 'perfectly' and wondering if people will like it and actually plunk down their hard earned cash to buy it are crowding to the forefront of my brain.  Like the clouds  looming on the horizon this month, it's hard to face up to the fact that not everyone will love it and want it enough to buy it.

But staying in that mind set is crazy making, especially considering how deeply I am already into this project! I've done far too much work and invested way too much time and money to not complete it now.

I don't think I'm alone in experiencing this effect.  I rather suspect that most creative people find themselves hitting an emotional wall right before their work goes public.  It's something that is real - and in many ways unreal - because, after all, it's all happening in my head as my ego struggles with putting itself in the line of fire.

While I will do my utmost to make this a valuable publication, geared towards newer weavers, I also know that not everyone will find it helpful or interesting.  And I can't control their opinions.  In fact I can't control anybody's opinion - negative or positive.  I can only do my very best and I suppose like a parent bird, let their offspring launch and hope that they fly, not fall.