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)
Category: Weaving
Purple stare
My coffee is cold.
Threading heddles, very zen.
Mistakes happen.
Monday, Monday
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!
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.
Sew done
Had a bit more energy today, colder outside (+inside) and windy = I managed to get some of those fabrics done that I threatened to zigzag etc. yesterday. Well, the fun bits anyway, such as the saori jacket, not weaving in ends on my sweater. Most boring task in the world. The vest works great under an oversized, ruined (as in I got paint on it) sweater for keeping me warmer.
A couple of sneak peeks (and pssst – I did paint a teeny bit too! It’s difficult to dive back in, though, as I haven’t been in any kind of flow yet to just pick it up where I left, so I started something new)
All the things?
Well, a lot anyway. I’m in a decluttering kinda mood, and beware who tries to stand in my way!
I totally tidied the spare room, so that it’s now kitten safe to leave the door open again. I’ve also persuaded G to finally get rid of three old computers that are just sitting there in a pile of his stuff. I’ve been having a whack at an ancient clothes repair pile for two days and it’s GONE, although it was tough going. My new plastic sewing machine isn’t nearly as good or strong as my old sturdy Pfaff, so it nearly got permanently attached to a pair of jeans. I’ll be doing jackets and jeans on my old treadle Singer from now on (1927 model), the driveband was slipping, so I haven’t been using it. But now I’ve made a new one, couldn’t be bothered waiting for a bit of leather, so it’s now a nice, blue polycord. I didn’t succeed melting the ends together, so had to stitch is using grizzly thread, but so far it seems to run ok!
Mind you, I don’t actually enjoy sewing. I just think it’s a waste to throw out a jacket only because some large dog stood on your pocket until it ripped.
I’ve rearranged the linen closet to also include the tablecloths I rarely use, giving me a huge drawer downstairs for paper rolls that were getting squished on a shelf. Leaving me with a shelf for??! Incidentally the sewing pile gave me another two shelves for storing weaving yarns.
My desk is the tidiest I’ve seen it this year, bills are paid (well, I do tend to do that on a regular basis), all sorts of little notes have been transferred to my bullet journal and next up is a system for storing my paintings in progress – I’ll show you when that’s done!
A long time ago, last week to be precise, I finished my meditation blanket, I just haven’t had the time or weather to take a nice photo. It isn’t what I dreamed in my head, but it’s been a great learning experience. And it’s absolutely useful and shiny. I will have to do some projects where my handpainted yarns come into their own, though, because they are mostly hidden here.
When I was done taking blanket pix in the wind, the sun decided to peek through for a brief moment – gone by the time I made it back to the clothes line.
And that’s all for me in a while – things to do! I think it’s about time I got back to the paints and the yarns, I feel all motivated now that I’ve been so efficient. I know if I keep up the house thing for too long I’ll just keel over (may be a tad too late in fact – but then I still have books to read, even if I ALSO finished all my library loans!)