Best Laid Plans

 

I really thought this week would be less busy and I could spend more time weaving/writing/whatever.  But it's tax season and I needed to meet with my financial advisor, then Wednesday there is a Zoom (for which I need to set up tonight) plus the truck needs to go into the shop for some warranty work, then the guild executive meeting is Friday and whoosh, this week is gone.

I'm over the halfway mark on the current warp so I have been cleaning up the next draft to make sure I have it the way it needs to be because hopefully the current warp will come off the loom this weekend.  And then the next one can go on.

I have also managed to hit my goal with the essay writing, except today's took a bit of a tangent.  I hadn't really planned on talking about teaching, as such, but that is what came out when I opened the file and started typing.  Since this whole project was conceived by my subconscious, I figure I might as well give it full rein and let whatever comes out, come out.

Recently I commented to a friend that I feel like all that *I* am doing is typing, and struggling to keep up!  OTOH, it feels good to just let it flow and see what is going on in that pot of 'soup' on the back burner that I call my brain.  Seems there is also a different 'voice' in there who is insisting on being heard.  Well, so far I think she's brought up some interesting things, so I will keep typing.

Today's essay makes 17 (I think) and I am hoping to get 5 per week done for the next 8 weeks which should put the collection at 60-ish - given I don't run out of ideas.  Time will tell.

In the meantime today was quite lovely.  The temps have warmed and the sun shone brilliantly most of the day.  Sunset is coming later in the day so it feels like spring might be stirring.  Although it's only the end of February, and anything can happen.  So, we'll see.

Monday, Monday

 

this is an 'old' photo - there are no empty spots on the shelves now...

Even though I'm no longer working (and frankly, as a self-employed person whose major public events were mostly on the weekends) Mondays come just like they usually do, and every day is a potential weaving day.

It's the last Monday in February and I am dealing with the February 'blues'.  I'm tired.  My body is tired of the cold.  Tired of the grey dreary days that seem so never ending in February.

Today I need to leave the house (dammit) so at some point, real soon, I need to get myself collected so I can do what needs to be done, preferably today while I need to go out for an appointment, so that I don't have to leave the house again until later in the week.

I'm an introvert and staying home with my looms and yarns is no real hardship.  OTOH, I have sold some towels so need to get the parcels to the post office.  And while my back  is 'better', it's still not great so that massage at 1 pm is not an indulgence but a necessity in order to keep going.

The past few days I was able to get back into my 'usual' routine - two towels a day.  The heap of 2/20 mercerized cotton is diminishing, but so slowly.  Lots of weaving in 2/20 cotton.  OTOOH, I'm quite enjoying the explorations in this new-to-me concept of shifted twill blocks.  Yesterday weaving was going well enough it only needed surface attention and I thought through an idea I had for another warp.  It had been simmering for a couple of weeks without my having the mental wherewithal to actually think it through, but yesterday I did.  Now I need to sit down with some graph paper and work out the details.  But I'm pretty sure I can do what I want to do.  Next step?  Chart it out.

When I get home from massage I will work on some small tasks that have been left to, um, mature?  More like waiting until I dug my round tuit out.  

I've been picking away at the hemming, although not nearly as much as I should be, and while I have done some more is coming down the pipeline.  At two towels or so per day, 20 towels tend to come off the loom every 12-14 days.  I'm already over the halfway mark on the current warp so it won't be long before those 20 towels are ready for wet finishing.  And then add them to the 14 towels needing to be hemmed.  

So the fact that today is Monday isn't all that big a deal in my scheme of things.  It's just another day to get to the loom, my happy place, see what else bubbles to the surface of that pot on the back burner.  Because I'm going to be doing a bunch more tea towel warps and there will be plenty of time to work through more options.  I have no idea where this will all end up, but I'm enjoying the journey!

Warming Cockles

 

There is nothing quite like hearing from someone that something you have done has been helpful to them.

I did a zoom presentation a few weeks ago and a couple of days ago I got a nice letter from someone who was in the audience.  They say (in part) "I personally certainly learned a thing or three, despite being a long-time weaver (for over 50 years - Yikes!)  And also as Guild librarian, I immediately went through your "Magic in the Water" book again and thank you for all the work it took to produce it."

Magic in the Water was published in 2002, making it 20 years old now.  The fact that people still use it, refer to it, and incorporate wet finishing into their designing, warms the cockles of my heart.

Because Magic was truly a 'labour of love'.  

Someone asked recently how long it took to produce.  I never actually gave them a number because I went off on a tangent, but years.  It took years and years.

First off I needed to have years of experience doing the processes involved, learning how to do them, what to expect when I did them, and when I'd done them 'too much' and 'ruined' something.  And how to tell people all of that.  Having the knowledge is not the same as explaining it.  Just saying.

Then there was all the weaving.  The original book came with 20 projects and had a generous sized loom state and finished sample so that people could see and *feel* the difference.  Because sometimes it's obvious and other times it's subtle.  I began weaving a 40 yard warp for each sample, but wound up having to do duplicate warps for some of the projects because of production issues.  20+ x 40 = 800+ yards of cloth to produce the book.  Then the taping (of the loom state samples) and cutting both of them apart, stapling them onto the pages.

The assembling also took years.  I essentially took over my brother's basement rec room from 2002 until 2008 when he died as the assembly station.  At one point I worried I was interfering or imposing on him too much, but he assured me that with his basement bedroom and rec room full of my book, he couldn't have a room mate.  It was all good.

Even so, I didn't sell the last copy until years later.  I would say the actual production of and sale of the original print run took at least 12 years.  

To know that years later it is still valued makes all of that effort worth it.

Now that I think about it, I must have sold the last copy in 2011 because that was the thing I did while I was having chemotherapy - I took the photos of the samples for the pdf.  When I was working on The Intentional Weaver, we used that pdf to 'test' blurb to see if it would be a good match for me.  I honestly didn't expect to sell many copies, but at least once a month (on average) someone will buy Magic, either pdf or printed 'magazine' format.

And now?  A third book.  A hat trick, as they say in hockey parlance?  But first I have to write it.

Better get back at it...

ps - if you've ever wondered if an author would like to hear how much you value their book, tell them.  Even if it IS 20 years since it was published.  That kind of feedback becomes even more precious - to know that your book remains relevant and valued years after you published it?  Priceless...

Age is 'Just' a Number

 

I come from the generation that coined the phrase 'never trust anyone over 30'.

Heh.

Oh yes, I was once young.  And invincible.  Or so I thought.

Younger me could be heard saying things like 'Age is just a number; you are only as old as you think you are!'

Current me laughs, uproariously.

Yes, 'age' is 'just' a number, but life?  Ah, life.  

Right now I'm reading Sand Talk by Tyson Yunkaporta and the First Peoples viewpoint on, well, everything.  I am pitched right back into my 20-something body trying to make head or tails out of The Dancing Wu Li Masters.  First Peoples have a great deal to teach current quantum physicists.  

The Dancing Wu Li Masters was a book bought by the high school library I worked at and where it was my job to process the books as they came in.  (Yes, those ancient card catalogue cards were hand typed by people like me for your browsing pleasure.)

Since I could also slide books out of the processing pile and into my bag to come home with me to read, I was intrigued and quietly went home with it.  Only to look askance at it because every chapter was labelled Chapter One.

What the hell?  I thought it was defective.  So I took a look to see if the first chapter had been repeated but no, each chapter had different content, but was still labelled Chapter One.  My first introduction to non-linear time, I suppose.

Curious, I began reading.  And tried to wrap my brain around the concepts.  It's a particle!  No, it's a wave!  No, actually it's *both*.  Er, um, what?

I'm feeling much the same way about Sand Talk and the First Peoples relationship with time.  No, not *to* time, *with* time.  And linear lines of times which are not.

I'm absorbing the concepts, slowly, and being able to connect them to the creation of textiles.  Because when you talk about the ultimate creation story, you are really talking about the creation of anything. Everything. So I see the linear parts of weaving, but I also see the non-linear, in a way that I never quite grasped before.

As for my 'age' - it is so much more than 'just a number'.  It is lived experience.  Knowledge.  Wisdom (one most fervently hopes).  

It is recognizing the continuing cycle of birth and death and regeneration as energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transformed into something...else.

First Peoples knowledge and quantum physics certainly agree on that.

As I teach others, I learn from them.  The circle of life continues.  Learning continues.  Growing continues.  Wisdom becomes deeper.  Wider.

Yunkaporta talks about 'yarning' with elders and I see my current foray into 'essays' as me 'yarning' with others - if they wish.  My stories.  They may live.  They may be ignored.  They may be absorbed into someone else's weaving practice.  But the cycle goes on regardless of what I do, or do not do.  If I want to see more positive/creative energy in the world, it is up to me to grasp some of it from the cycle of life and transform it into...something.

Right now that something is a series of tea towels.  In the end they will dry dishes, but right now they are also allowing me to explore the limitations of a weave structure.  To tweak it here and there.  To try this and that.  The 'order' of the tweaking is rather random, truth be told.  Rather like what happens in the universe as stars are born and die.  

We all follow the path of being born, living as best we can, with the resources we have available, dying and being re-born again.

So yes, my age is 'just' a number because the molecules I am made from are eternal.  When I leave this mortal coil, they will continue, transformed into something else.

We are stardust...

Bamboo

 

There is a lot of confusion about bamboo fibre - what it is, and what it isn't.

What it is, right now, is mostly regenerated cellulose.  As such there are certain environmental issues involved with the production of bamboo and claims about how 'green' it may - or may not - be.

I had been aware that bamboo bast fibres were possible, but had never seen any in real life.  I wasn't sure if they were even 'bast', but apparently the pith of the plant can be harvested, then mechanically broken down using naturally occurring enzymes to break the pith down and expose the bast fibres in pretty much the same process used for other bast fibres like flax, hemp, etc.

But most of the bamboo fibres we see in the marketplace today are 'rayon' - regenerated cellulose.

I have seen claims that some factories use the lyocell closed loop process, but honestly, I don't know how accurate those claims are.  The more reasonable assumption is that caustic chemicals have been used to break the cellulose down to make the viscose solution, which is then spun using a spinneret.

When looking on line I found a number of websites some of which were more marketing than factual but Wikipedia actually has some good information.  It seemed balanced and covered both types of fibres - mechanical and chemical processes.

There have been claims made about the anti-microbial properties of rayon, but I doubt they differ much from other cellulostic fibres (flax, hemp, cotton).  The 'green' part of the equation for rayon bamboo would appear to be the bamboo plant variety being primarily used to make the fibre which is extremely fast growing.

If the fibre being sold is about 2" long, very pliable, soft and shiny, my assumption would be that it is regenerated cellulose.  If the fibre is longer, stiffer, coarser, looking more like flax/linen, my assumption would be that it is mechanically processed and it would probably require spinning as for any other bast fibre.

As a newish weaver I chose to primarily work only with 'natural' fibres, not synthetics produced from chemicals.  Rayon (regardless of cellulose source) falls into the category of 'natural' because it IS cellulose and will eventually degrade back into the earth while the synthetics will not.  

Since discovering the damage the regeneration process causes to the environment and the workers in the factories I have made the decision to weave down my rather extensive rayon stash but NOT replace it.  

The more information we have as weavers, the better able we are to make informed choices.  When we know better, we can try to do better.

Snowmaggedon

 

After a period of  'too warm' weather (for February), we are back to winter.  Yesterday started with steady fine snow, which then alternated between heavier snow, then finer, but snow all day.  Mostly it was fairly dry, not the heavy stuff that other places get, but it turned into a lot.  Depending on drifts, accumulation was well over 12".  Which is still not a lot compared to other places, but it was a lot for us.

Given we are both 'retired' and had no appointments for the first few days of this week, we have decided to just hunker down and not go anywhere.  

Doug does the snow shifting, but I doubt I'll poke my nose out the door.

The snow stopped overnight because the temperature dropped and we are now having a glorious winter day with fresh fallen snow (over *everything*) and light sparkling off the snow.  It's quite beautiful - if you don't have to be out in it.  The wind chill is sneaky and dangerous.

Hopefully this will be the last major 'storm' of the season, but with climate change, who knows, I sure don't!

Yesterday went fairly well.  One essay got written, then a tentative approach to the loom, which seemed to go well enough I did a second towel.  But my shuttles are getting 'worn' so Doug is going to deal with them today (I hope) because they are my favourite shuttles.  I have others, but one isn't quite 'right' and the rest are low profile which don't really like weaving on the Megado.  

My preference for shuttles is the Leclerc standard, but not just any 'standard', but a specific era of Leclerc shuttle making.  I prefer the older ones with the small grommet in the side, not the wider slot.  I prefer the shaped ones, not the straight one.  And I really dislike the newer plastic ones because the weight of them is too light and the plastic feels - well, too plastic-y.

I used to have about a dozen shuttles but I would bring them to weaving workshops and over the years some of them simply walked away.  So I stopped providing shuttles.  

At this point in my life I don't want to buy more, especially since I don't actually like the newer Leclerc shuttles and actively dislike the other brands - their shape, their feel, their weight.  So I am a bit anxious waiting for Doug to get to his workshop (before the temperature drops even lower) and for the wood finish to dry/cure so I can have my favourite shuttles back again.

the finish has worn off to bare wood - you'd think I weave a lot or something?

In the meantime, I will make do with my less favourite ones.  Because I'm quite pleased with how the new warp is weaving up and I really want to finish the black weft and move on to the next colour.

Drama Queen

 

I'm not quite back to 'normal' (whatever that is, these days) but I felt like I could maybe weave, if I was careful.  

So I gingerly set out to get one towel woven before lunch.

The warp is that blend of teal/turquoise (threaded randomly, colourwise) that I've been doing with the previous couple of warps, with black as weft.  It's very 'dramatic'.  :D

I had two partial (nearly full and about half full) tubes of the black and they are really hard to tell apart from the dark navy blue, so decided I would use them up and get them out of my way.  I figured the black would look good on the warp.  From the looks of the number of bobbins I got from the half full tube, I ought to get six towels.  I will see if it looks possible to do a 7th when I get the 6th one done.

I think they look pretty good.  The appearance is a little like mud that has dried in the hot sun and cracked in a not quite symmetric formation.  My first response to the design was 'not pleased' because it isn't exactly symmetrical, but let's say it is symmetrically asymmetrical?  

It's hard to see the design at this point and I wanted to show both sides of the cloth, which made it even harder but weaving this towel is definitely in the 'win' column.  I'm not entirely sure I will try for a second, although I'm feeling ok.  And ultimately weaving isn't just about the physical, but the mental and emotional benefits I get while weaving.

Another essay was written before I went to the loom.  I'm trying to get them written before I have too much brain fog.  The essays are also making me do some exploration I have been intending to do but never quite got 'round tuit'.  So the blog post info from yesterday got incorporated into today's essay.

I'm now taking only 'ordinary' over the counter pain meds, so I took more a few minutes ago and will decide in about 15 minutes if weaving a second towel seems like a good idea.  The advantage is that they are now strong enough for the remaining pain and don't give me the brain fog the stronger stuff causes.

But I'm also a month out from the epidural injection, and that will start wearing off soon - maybe sooner after the pain flare last week, who knows, I don't.  :(   So I feel strongly that I need to stay focused on getting 5 essays done each week in case I can't write with clarity when I descend into active chronic pain that requires the strong stuff.  I am trying really hard to think of this as the worst merry-go-round on the playground rather than the worst roller coaster in the world.  For as long as the jabs provide enough relief to get off the hard stuff, at least for a little while, I guess I keep making the trip to Vancouver - until the local pain clinic can take me.  Like everywhere else, wait times for some health issues just keep growing as covid is now being treated as 'endemic' and little to no prevention is being done.  Lots of people with long covid suffering pain and fatigue and mysterious other symptoms, all needing help, too.

For immune compromised people like me, it's very depressing, so I need to keep weaving...