Loom extension

Tags

cotton, crafts, DIY, equipment, home, loom, studio, tools, weave drafts, woven

I’ve long wanted a few more pattern options on my Lervad no. 9 – not as much since I got the Glimåkra, but still. 8 shafts would require a lot of remodelling (for instance I would have loved to extend all the lamms), so I settled for 6. That means I can work with supplemental warps in designs, at least 3 variations of waffle weave, turned 2/1 twill blocks just to mention a few of the ideas I’ve had over the years.

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Anything new?

Tags

determination, equipment, loom, spring, tools, weather, wool

Well, I singlehandedly (why am I so stubbornly insisting on wrecking myself?) dismembered our couch, flipped the two sides again since we haven’t yet found a new one with two short ends, and rearranged things to accomodate the tapestry loom, which was rendered useless in the loom room after the beast moved in. My painting station is now a bit less attractive than before, but since the living room is my stoodio more than anything else, it’ll never be pretty anyway. Mind you, before I started attempting to paint again, and spinning, only the dogs ever used the room and the sofa.

Breaking

Tags

equipment, flowers, health, loom, seasons, spring, tools, weather

..in the new loom, the reign of cold and dark, possibly my back!

This is what my fix for not having a second warp beam looks like (the clamps are temporary – I broke the cordless drill. They’re all my personal clamps btw, the big iron ones I inherited from my grandad).

Strings attached

Tags

countermarch, Glimåkra, heddles, lamms, loom, ponybeads, shafts, texsolv, tie-up, treadles

Step into my office of the last week or so:

A year of weaving

Tags

crafts, creativity, equipment, fibromyalgia, inner conviction, intention, life, loom, OLAD, tools

One year ago I aquired my first rigid heddle loom. Just to sate my curiosity, much like 3 years earlier when I made my own drop spindle to investigate whether one could really make yarn on a stick. Nothing serious like, just testing, yeah? And although I upgraded the stick to a spinning wheel three months later, I was pretty certain this loom would last me for a long time, getting my variation from colour play mostly. After all, I do still have the same and only wheel with no wish to upgrade, it does what I want.

Loom room

Tags

#notsobighouse, equipment, flow, loom, tools

With OLAD* having struck and myself always ranting about the tiny house we live in, perhaps some are wondering how those two things add up? Well, they don’t quite, but it’s a work in progress.

I have a knack for rearranging stuff and thereby generating more space simply by reshuffling (and a bit of weeding and stacking). This time it’s a light overhaul of our small spare room which has so far been used for a guest bed, my crosstrainer and storage, in winter also to dry clothes out of the way.

Loom boom

Tags

#notsobighouse, crafts, creativity, determination, equipment, fiber friday, flow, loom, tapestry, tools

I never published a post about the tapestry looms that I was making, things got in the way of finishing them and when that happens life has a way of moving on to the next project regardless. In fact I still have one thing to do to finish my large tapestry frame! And the medium one (being warped on the red table cloth below) will be ditched or remodelled after I finish the project on it.

Back on the loom

Tags

crafts, intention, kitten, loom, pink, purple, yarn

Purple warp turned around in a completely different configuration. Yeah, I know I’m the only one who will notice 😉

While I’m trying to get back in a painting groove, it’s nice to have something else to do waiting for layers to dry, so I don’t just end up here, clicking, losing time and mind.

Otherwise just a pretty lazy Saturday. I should get my rain gear and go water the strawberries! (because the hose is leaking on me) I need to soften and till the ground a bit so I can sow some lettuce.

What with headaches and feeling fed up with house work I’m way behind on the weeding, and they’re threatening to take over my projects. But I’m hoping for a bit of rain to help me, hacking away at concrete will amount to very little besides more headaches and sore hands! And I don’t want to run the sprinkler all over the garden for it. (especially because I tend to forget about it and let it run for 3 hours in the same spot)

Goodbye, purple warp

Tags

crafts, loom, pink, purple, wool

I had high hopes for you, but we can’t stick together like this.

(For the non-weavers, there is supposed to be a triangle open shape between 2 rows of thread, where you run your bobbin or shuttle of yarn through to the other side)

Monday, Monday

Tags

intention, life, loom, no dig, procrastination, relax

Woke up, no headache, with the weirdest sentence in my head. While still in a fog it seemed deeply profound to me, so I decided to repeat it until I could write it down. Now I’m all, WTF? “We operate in the narrow strip between tranquility and normal life”. Um, right….. Who? 😕

I’m feeling a bit odd after last week’s various exertions, not anxiety but something close, like not knowing which foot to put down first. Thinking about some of the topics that came up here as well as related talks on friends’ blogs. You all know who you are, thanks for being so amazingly in sync!

What’s wrong with this picture? I’ll tell you. I neglected to ask for a gap in the middle, so that I don’t have to trundle all the way around this row and back up the other side to get to the veggies behind!

So, what the hey do I do now that I have no chores and no headaches? Let’s make the most of this week, shall we? Paint, weave, spin, the list is long. Doesn’t matter which one I begin with, really, what matters is getting on a roll and stay. Heal. The LYS is having a sale later. With cake. (I shouldn’t eat the cake). First I’ll be waiting for the postman to bring me an extra loom, usually they are here early on Mondays. Ooops, I promised myself to do one load of laundry! No biggie. Just one look on the used items page to search for a jack loom, then I’ll get my butt out of this chair, it’s 08:19, I’ve been reading enough interwebs. Closed nearly all my tabs, job well done! 😉

• Used loom ads check – check
• Laundry in machine – check
• Winding hanks of yarn into cakes while glaring sternly at the driveway to reveal postman – 1 down, 10 to go, noticed the time. Because these things can be done when I’m tired, painting cannot.
• Postman delivery – what, no?!
• Clearing worktable – new tablecloth, no more RED!  – check (incidentally, how do you unwrinkle a plastic cloth, you know, the kind with fabric on the back? Oilcloth? Left it folded up all w-e… And it stinks….)
• Having leftover potato salad and a tomato for breakfast, in front of the window. Did not conjure up the postman.

Time: 09:50

The thing about chores is, I don’t really mind them, as long as I get to do my other things. I do not want them to be my second full time job however.

• Hang laundry – check
• Read blogs – check

10:42

• Trying to get restarted on the micro canvasses, pretending to ignore stink from table cloth. Pick 6 off the wall I wanted to finish next, can’t really remember what I meant to do. Do something else just to get the paint flowing? Hungry. Ha, go away procrastinator, you ate already.
• Need more whites, running out soon. Shut up.
• Read in the garden instead? This sometimes helps, because if my brain is scattery it will try to get out of reading by throwing images at me. Not today, however.

12:25 Postman been with loom and gone. I can put on painterly clothes now and not scare anyone.

• Yarn shop open, not in the mood. Money saved.
• List and plan weaving projects, find yarn, get brain reorganized – tomorrow? Play with new loom!
• Mend torn bed sheet – later
• Brush and walk the dog – in a minute
• Photo lupins take 1 – check

15:30 Tired. Using blog post to procrastinate. Get off and hunker down with some task, any task, now! Something easy, no stress. 2 hours, then dogwalk.

All in all a pretty scattered day with too much web clicking so far – but I’m happy to be on my feet and ignoring the floor and various other surfaces 😉 It always takes me some time to change gears even when I know I simply need to do it, not think it. I’ll get up to speed eventually.

Question is, if I’m too preoccupied with the loom to focus on the painting and simply need to give in and have a go at that first. It’s the same type that I already have but with a much finer reed, I’m hoping it will be suitable for my purple warp. And it’s always nice to be able to sample things even if you have a slow project on one loom. I have plans to turn in into an optional multishaft loom too.