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Saturday, March 28, 2020

A perfect weaving metaphor

Weaving has not been mentioned for a couple of days because it has been ignored. Winding the warp onto the back beam is the most strenuous and occasionally painful part of the job. I am pleased with the last warp, well wound.


Even and tight. You could bounce GI dimes from it. I walked off, abandoned it. That was last Wednesday.  No amount of boredom relief could get me back to the warp.

I last went grocery shopping the third of March. We weren't talking Corona virus then, except in passing. I went to the store with the personal challenge of shopping for a month, for no reason except to see if I could do it. Purchase carefully and eat for a month. I  wasn't inventing ways to evade boredom. 

The third of April is next week, and I will go grocery shopping. I have been out and about a bit, made some observations, drawn some conclusions. I won't go shopping at 7:30 in the morning, when all those old people are in there. Bless their hearts and all that, I'll still go when I normally do, after breakfast. Say ten in the morning.

And, I will not shop for a month. I can imagine being accused of hoarding. If it's even there. Beside, shopping is something to do to take a chunk off boredom.

Yesterday I set myself two tasks for today. I accomplished the first and headed down to the studio to begin tying the new warp to the old. As I passed the cat, and lightening split the sky. He literally 


evaporated, and I found him, hours later, under the bed. 


It was a striking show of nature, lasting a few hours. Hail fell a couple of times, and the thunder rumbled and rolled for hours.


Perfect weather to continue working on the loom. I pulled over the first of the old warp and began.


All these years later, I've figured out, tying on a new warp is identical to being quarantined. Boring. I made it through two of eleven bouts, constantly fighting sleep.


That's it, that's all I got done. I took a look around for Mr. Cat, to no avail. I put the recliner back and took a nap for two hours. Then I woke up and had supper. That's never boring.

46 comments:

  1. Well done! Your lovely towels arrived this morning. I hope you got my check, if not I'm sure it will be there on Monday.

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  2. I've done very small weavings, the biggest on rigid heddle loom, about 22" wide. And it was really dull work. I kept reminding myself that warping is the first half of the work, not just a preliminary to it. It didn't help a whole lot.

    I can't fathom shopping at long intervals, because I eat a lot of fresh produce and eggs. I need to get out frequently for them. Or let my nice neighbors pick them up, as they did last week.

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  3. Today has not been the best day for me. Still- I can't say I was bored. Crazy? Yes. Bored? Not so much.
    Isn't it odd that a month ago we really did not see what was coming?

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  4. My grandmother always used to say that if your body tells you that it is tired, don't fight it take a nap. I guess she was right, Joanne. A two-hour nap is more like outright sleep!

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  5. I think I appreciate woven fabric more after reading all the work that goes into preparing a loom.

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  6. At least you are well stocked with weaving supplies! I’ve just ordered some knitting wool from England which won’t arrive for another 2 weeks.

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    Replies
    1. I simply have no concept of how long it "should" take. That knowledge is part of what fell out of my head.

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  7. Some drudgery just can't be dressed up as anything else, can it? :)

    I've felt the same push and pull about getting groceries - we're told to make as few trips as possible but we're also asked to buy in moderation. And we're asked to designate one person in a household as the shopper and to shop for others who can't get out. When someone has a full cart, then, are they shopping for a month, shopping for a large household, or shopping for several households - or are they hoarding?! lol

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  8. Poor Toby.
    We continue to shop once a week. The other household member is suffering because he would like to shop each day.
    What meal to make is dependent on what we find when we shop. Which can be challenging - but has us thinking outside the rut of habit and complacency.

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  9. Hubby was talking to an associate at Costco, who said the best time to come in is mid-afternoon. The worst time is during the Senior Hour first thing in the morning.

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  10. Love your glass orb. We have a few of them hanging in our windows too. I think your rain storm is heading in our direction.

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    Replies
    1. It has rained all day, and now it's 9:30 PM and still raining. I don't want to see this on radar.

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  11. Supper's often the highlight of my days now too.

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  12. We've been doing a fair bit of napping ourselves...seems like every time I sit down my eyes fall shut. Eating is never boring no matter what time of day it is.

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  13. Poor kitty. Franklin and Penelope are miserable during storms. When you shop for the month, you might find that there are limits on certain items you want to buy. When we went to Costco, I wanted to buy my usual six gallons of milk, part of which goes in the freezer. (I also like to grocery shop once a month and I have a milk addiction.) I was only allowed to have two gallons. I hope you can find everything you need.

    Love,
    Janie

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  14. Staying in, staying busy and eating well. You got a handle on it!

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  15. I do miss the Midwest thunder storms. Being from St. Louis, they are quite a sight and we get nothing like that in Idaho. Take care.

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  16. Congratulations on your completion of the winding of the warp! Poor Toby! We had two nights of the severe thunderstorms this past week. The loud thunder gets to my cats but Zeus, the male cat, loves to sit in the window at night and watch the lightening. Silly cat.

    Good luck at the store when you go. I hope you find what you need. We learned the hard way to not go during the senior hour - that is the worst time to go! Take care Joanne.

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  17. It’s just three days since we went shopping and it’s not easy for us to adjust ourselves. My daughter made a list of all their supplies. I guess I should have done that too. I’m totally in awe that you’ll have gone a whole month without going grocery shopping.

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  18. I love napping myself. Haven't taken one in a bit. Hubby has been out shopping pretty much every day for this or that. Now we are stocked well (but not hoarding in any way) so I think the trips will gone back to weekly like we used to do.

    betty

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  19. Dear Joanne, as always I admire your conclusions. And there is another good reason to go shopping (if we might call it "shoping" these days) at a later hour: the sunrays (if they are there - here in Berlin they tease us since two weeks) can destroy corona virus (or so they say).
    And we are social animals - in a way - so it is nice to see sometimes other people, even if they are 2 meters away.
    For a long time I wanted a cat - travelling so much stopped me - but now I might reconsider. But then I think, living in a huge flat in the city: it is not fair - it might feel like me at the moment: sort of caged?

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    1. Or if that's all it knew, it would be home. We probably have the same square feet of living space, and Toby makes it do.

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  20. Naps are always good. I'm not bored, but having so much that needs to be caught up on is tiring, puzzles I haven't done. books I haven't read, TV shows and movies I'm wanting to watch, then blog reading and having to go for walks two or three times a day. Now that I'm eating more salad, I find I have to shop more often too, for lettuce and cucumbers which can't be bought in bigger amounts because it just doesn't keep. So I spend my days wondering how the heck is it 4pm already by the time I get the computer turned on. The answer of course is the walking, it's two and a half hours of my day just gone. Sorry for the rant.

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    1. Not a rant. Walking is superb. The best thing you can do.

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  21. Cats definitely do not like thunder and lightening. I hope
    Toby has recovered. I also hope you find what you need when you go shopping. I've been out 5x since CV-19 and every time looked for toilet paper. Still nothing. Other basics are hard to find but so far I have most of what I need for awhile.

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  22. A nice routine you have. Cats for company too. It sounds very relaxing.

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  23. Back in my early days of teaching, I only got paid once a month. So that is how we (Sue) shopped. It boggles my mind now.

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    Replies
    1. My first job was paid once a month, too. How long ago that was!

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  24. I must say that tying does look a boring job - but what a good feeling when you have finished.

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  25. Hoarding is getting more difficult here, as a lot of supermarkets are limiting how many of a certain item you can buy. But yes, I hope nobody's looking at my basket and thinking I'm buying too much.

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  26. This winter there seem to have been ever more spectacular rain storms when the only thing to do was hunker down at home, make a pot of tea and do the crossword. So it's rather irritating that now the lovely sunny weather has finally arrived we're all being told to stay at home.
    Weaving looks like an amazing work out. Much better than Pilates or skipping and with all those lovely towels as a bonus at the end. Much more useful than crosswords!

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  27. So interesting, this weaving thing. What part of the process do you enjoy the most?

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  28. You did well to shop for a month. I manage 2+ weeks only.

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  29. I can always rely on your blog for a much-needed laugh. Your cat evaporating during a storm reminds me of mine who has managed to work out which part of the house is furthest away from any windows.....in the hallway under the ironing board. Funny cats.

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  30. I want to know how you tie the new onto the old -- do you have to tie each individual thread? What kind of knot do you tie? Poor Toby... poor baby. LOL Must have scared the wits out of him. Oh my... hug him for me. We've begun letting Ruby in for a short visit, but no food and out she goes after about 10 min. It's working.

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    1. Yes, I have to tie each new thread to each old warp thread 440 to tie together. I used to use a square knot, but my hands cannot manage that any more. Now I use an overhand knot.
      Glad you got Ruby's number.

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  31. Everyone here in the UK is still panic buying. We now have to queue outside the shop and they let a batch of people in. That's helping a bit but the shelves are all pretty empty. There are limits on what we can buy now. The world is a very surreal place at the moment.

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  32. What the heck above?

    the white stretched out is like a painting.

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    Replies
    1. Some bot message to another, I fear, or a new numbers game. I take the time to send them to spam and report to Google.

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  33. Yes, it is. Hospital foods anyway. Wonderful images.

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  34. I don't find myself bored as much occasionally sad and worried about it will turn out. Worrying doesn't accomplish anything. I watched a talk about owning your emotions and not letting them control you. Maybe I should watch it again.

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  35. I am having trouble concentrating and tasks that I think I will do, get left undone. Worry, which is non-productive, has taken up too much of my time. I have written down specific chores to get accomplished this week and I hope, that like you, I can return to my own warp, and find some joy in doing things.

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  36. We are so lucky we can nap when many can't. I count the small things that make life a lot easier for me.

    Well done on the warp and weave, so much of creativity is such hard work I find.

    XO
    WWW

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