Testing, 1 ,2,3...

More in the sea of almost winter doings

Looming...

  Always have only ONE person push together plumbing parts when using epoxy...

I love building blocks jigs...

Rectangles of stability!

A better use for broken umbrellas

Think beams and braces for beaters

Ahh, the beauty of a small screw

Looks good but .... A lot more to do....

Done

Pajama day...or little house on the prairie day?

           

To do list

Halloween spiderweb black warp, thin black web for the warp and the thread of changing color woven through....it's some sort of conceptual thang...the dark night and all the people at the party...

And then there is the practical...wool shawl time again. I am thinking a black warp and then some free ranging wool nice and wide and warm for winter.  White warp? That feels like a interesting challenge...oh yes and it needs Handspun wool.  Hmmm...

Finish the purple warp from the summer 

Make something of it

Make portable loom

Fall and a bit of this and that...

More of this

And some of this...

A couple of these...

 And for school...

And????? 

Oh yes this ...

And this one stared in a performance... Maybe I have been up to something although I was having trouble figuring out what it was .

All one... And the need to play

The colors are a bit brighter in real life... But I wish they were this rich...

                              

                             

                             

Yards and yards and...   it may not be all one for long.... 

Just have to cut the fabric before mercury goes retrograde, whenever that is.

And there is more warp still on the loom, I just got impatient and wanted to play with the fabric.

Obsession

Today, 

Yesterday, 

And before that, 

                             

The loom must work.

 Almost perfect. Mostly feels like butter when I use the peddals. Holes in pedals must be directly below lamm. I think I need to drop the harnesses a bit to get a better tabby shed. But ughhh I don't want to sit on the floor and fiddle, just want to weave.  With...

Colors that make me happy.

All tied on

Finally weaving!  

But the pedals and lams are still a bit fiddly, 

but I won't let that stop me...

Almost done

The evolution of a warp in unlikely places

Monday- visited the weaver on the other side of the hills, Jill of saorisantacruz and bought organic cotton.

Tuesday- took the warping frame to natural bridges.  A stray orange and red thread found their way in to the sea of purple and blues....it was all of the beautiful eucalyptus leaves surrounding me they are responsible for the muted grey blue as well.  It started to rain!

Wednesday- new discovery, the most ergonomic place to warp is the hatchback of my car! Especially  when parked with a view. 

Observation- most women who passed by looked but said nothing, the men were much more inclined to ask questions... Another discovery- weaving May not be as solitary as I sometimes think it is...what about all the family members, boyfriends etc. that are forced to learn a thing or too because it would be so much easier if you could just hold this...

Started to pull treads through the reed although more warp chain would be needed. Unsatisfied with the colors. The sea of purple blues seemed so pretty but unfamiliar to my sense of joy. 

Thursday-  sometimes other things happen. Dance happens, beauty happens, simply slowing down happens.

Friday- warp chains are done. All through the reed, allowed more orange and even some black, now I feel the joy when my eyes rest on all the tange of warp through the reed.  Doing all this in public space was good.  There were less distractions than at home. And the small bits of conversation and interaction, sights, experiences... They all infused themselves into the threads... Now if only I could take the whole loom with me... It's hard to imagine confining this warp to my living room.

How do you know when something is right?

I would think that to weave is a visual art but I find I rely more on my kinestetic experience to tell me when I am on the right track. This warp is such a testament to this . The colors I used are beautiful, but they made me feel uncomfortable when I looked at them. And then then there was the vibrant joy I felt upon seeing a riot of colors that had been living in my mind, as they were worn and danced in front of me...to see the colors gave me permision and a settled sense of rightness in my body and an ability to move forward. And I suppose that is why I must weave on floor looms with foot peddals...when I begin to describe how these individual threads will become cloth my whole body starts moving. I feel the cloth being made as I describe it rather than seeing it being made.

Summer and elastic thread

Got happy with elastic thread in the weft...thought I was making myself a summer dress but it seems  the top is perfect for v...  

About eight inches with elastic weft every thirdish row pulled fabric in to about half it's original width when taken off the loom.

Wove the front ending with the elastic part (elastic threAd about every third weft shot, pulled tight) and then an inch or so of plain. Then I wove the back starting with the elastic part,then plain weaving no elastic for the bottom half.  

And I still have two yards for a skirt...

And then some more to weave, but v decided she should weave herself a dess, such beautiful color choices...I hope she stays inspired.

Moon monster purse

 

A little retrograde cleaning unearthed this...and it all came together just needs a lining.

Reinventing the loom...again...

Redoing, remaking,realizing, refine....retrograde adjustments.   The old beam reattached and now for the lams that I never understood till now (but don't have). But I am weaving anyhow....nothing like learning by doing....even if it means reworking....the table loom is now truly a counterbalance loom and it now has 6 pedals and they all work in a fashion but will work better with lams...but a balanced plain weave shed can be had and if I tweek the harnesses with my hands I can get a bit of a twill.

Beginning again and again and again and again....

A and now there are new pedals but more fiddling is needed. And the warp is almost 7 yards and 22 inches wide.  I wanted the pedals so I could weave patterns but the loom isn't there yet. So I weave...

And it is always  a surprise what happens, the choices I make don't always feel up to me....and there are all these little bits too fall in love with and all of the sudden my tastes have changed and beautiful is a wider bigger field to revel in. 

 

What will it all become?

Playing with marble mazes and blocks