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Thursday, February 3, 2022

Precarious

Dee left a comment on my last blog of occasionally being out of awareness of one's self. I realized at long last I am looking at a real and kind definition of my approach to the world since that bus accident on the mall in Washington. I'm often out of awareness of myself. Off in a reverie.

I seldom pile into my day, these days. I'm off smelling the roses and realize I need to put on the other sock to finish dressing. So although I faithfully get up at eight, it's going on nine when I'm dressed and it can be ten before I've finished breakfast. 

Settled into weaving I'm more reliable, a good thing. Even jobs I detest, I can stick to. And the other day I mopped all the grey tire marks of the walker from the bathroom floor. We're into another two foot snow dump, so I'm happy the first layer of dirt is gone.


I began tying the new warp to the old last Monday. I'm simply not fast at that, and it has nothing to do with daydreaming. I have aged into a serious case of fumble fingers. Back in the day we did this for a living, my sister could tie her way across 660 threads in a couple of hours. I would be an entire afternoon. 

This loom has eleven sections with 40 threads per section to tie. Nine are done, and the last two will happen tomorrow. I have tied nine sections in four days. These take me an hour each. Sadly, after two sections, my fingers refuse to make another knot! I almost don't blame them. 

At the far left, those are sections ten and eleven taped to the back beam. Section ten has 38 new threads taped to the beam, to be tied to 40 old threads in the heddles.  That means two threads are stuck in there, between sections. Stickers, we used to call them. There are solutions. I'll need to improvise, since this is the first time since the old days I've had the problem. All the fine tools we devised are long gone.



36 comments:

  1. Good luck figuring out how to fix your stickers! I have every confidence in your ability to improvise the solution.

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  2. Good luck with the stickers. Setting up the loom seems impossible to me, but there you go.

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  3. I think your schedule sounds like it should; being retired you can take as long as you want doing things and putter around as much as you want.

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  4. I can understand fumble fingers not wanting to do too much at a time. My fingers are younger than yours, but there's no way they will ever settle back into knitting baby matinee jackets with matching bonnets. I think you are doing very well just with a few hours a day tying the threads and then keeping up with your weaving.

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  5. Unless you are ‘desperate’ in need of the extra cash the towels bring in - you can (as Margaret mentioned) take all the time you need. Slowly goes gets you there faster - fumble fingers or not😊
    The final end result is a beautiful piece of art work to look at as well as use.

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    1. It's not the money, it's the rush of the customers at the shows this summer. I need to get a dozen or more colors together by the first weekend in June.

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  6. And maybe more of us should find time to drift into reverie.

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  7. Tying on that warp sounds and looks so confusing to me! I think it is amazing you do it at all no matter how long it takes you. I've noticed I get fumble fingers much more than I used to due to arthritis and I think tying all those threads would do me in!

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  8. I am awed at what you achieve with your fumble fingers and your disassociated self. You have added to my sense of inadequacy today. Again.
    Take all the time you need.

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  9. I watch the same effect from a huge OP and a (little) car accident on one of my very dear friends - she sometimes is on another planet, but then again happily very much "here" again. I am not anxious, but believe it will change over time, Joanne.

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  10. Hari OM
    Joanne, I have much of the same issues - and no major incident to hang any form of excuse upon! Not weaving issues of course. Good grief, that's a science too far for me &*> YAM xx

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  11. My brain would never have coped with the complications of setting up the loom even when I was 25!
    Good luck with it all today - hope it goes smoothly

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  12. To me all this weaving is a magic act. You're as good at it as you were at so many other things in your life that I only learned from reading on your blog. Now is the time to be patient with yourself.

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  13. The fact that you are able to get this contraption clacking along is a source of wonder to me, so I have no doubt you'll find a solution to the problem.

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  14. In one way I envy you all that weaving but the tying on is a long job and as I get older many things become more complicated. Joanne.

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  15. Best to step away and get some rest when a problem like this presents itself at the end of a long session.

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  16. I know with rest and time you will figure things out.

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  17. You are such a “warped” lady. 😉

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  18. This aging nonsense is a right pain. I find myself drifting too. I have to sternly talk to myself when I emerge from the fog.

    XO
    WWW

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  19. I am looking forward to playing in my crafts as I stare at the mountain of boxes that literally block my view of the mountains! Crazy weather patterns here. It is warm this morning, but will be in the 20's tomorrow. Will have to find laundry facilities today. 10 loads have accumulated with all the blankets the dogs vomited on. Repair guy is backed up for two weeks. I am enjoying a slower lifestyle with nothing urgent pressing in on me. I find myself strolling through my past life as I sort through boxes and encounter photos and possessions that trigger memories.

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  20. I find it incredibly amazing that you can mop the floor of the tracks left by your walker! I mean...
    Honestly.
    I hope you know how much you are admired here, what an inspiration you are. Truly, Joanne.

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  21. I wouldn't know where to begin with the loom so I think you are amazing to be able to get that all put together. Be proud of your accomplishments and don't fret!

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  22. You're allowed to take your time and drift. I mean, what's the rush. The arthritis in my thumb joints where they meet the palm basically hurt all the time, sometimes just sore, sometimes throbbing. I find opening jars and bottles for the first time to be more and more difficult and painful. A couple of hours in the studio model making or filling a mold makes them throb or zap me during the night.

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  23. Weaving sounds so complicated to me. Amazing really!

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  24. Is there any way if getting the tools you used then back?

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    1. No. We tried to have a thread holder built, but no luck. We sold it all or gave it away.

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  25. On some days off it can take me a very long time to get started.

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  26. Takes a lot of patience and planning. You are an artist.

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  27. I'm always amazed at what you can do in a day especially when it comes to weaving. So even if you have slowed down you certainly can do more than a good many of us. I wonder if you've ever thought about switching from a big floor model to a small one. I think it would work to allow you to continue making tea towels, scarves and that kind of thing. That way you wouldn't have all that work to do to get the big loom ready. Just a thought.

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    1. A nice thought, but it doesn't work that way. A bigger loom allows me to make more without putting on a new warp, and it is the new warp that costs me so much time and trouble.

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    2. Okay that's good then but so much work for you. I guess a smaller loom works for someone who isn't making so many tea towels. I'm tempted to try one.

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  28. I often drift off into a nicer world these days when I should be working. I think it helps, but I'm not sure.

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  29. There is nothing wrong with a drift into some dreamy space. I know there are things I should be doing, but then there are the things I prefer to do.,,and they often win out. Your work on the loom is very impressive. I know, for sure, I could not manage the loom and produce woven goods like you do.

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  30. I always thought weaving looked interesting, but never tried it. So good to have something to do that you love!

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