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Tuesday, May 14, 2024

Mysteries

Today was cleaning day. Any day is "cleaning day" if I see something that needs done and I can do it. A while back I grabbed the Swiffer and dusted all the chair rungs. It was a mental throwback to an early job when I was at the bosses' home, having "tea" with his wife and some others. We were sitting on the floor, around a lovely low table. Suddenly she looked under the table, took her napkin and began dusting the table legs and rugs. "A place the cleaning lady never looks," she said.

Such I always thought about the cleaning staff, and what the hell. They have a lot of rooms, and people with differing habits and wants, and then the whole huge building. I can dust my chair rungs every so often. And Diana was just leaving my bedroom when I grabbed my Swiffer to clean the chair rungs. She asked what I was up to, and I told her. I blamed it on the construction dust from outside.

"Not so," she said. "It's all from your humidifier."


You probably cannot see, but against the lamp standard rising in the back is a faint cloud of steam from my little humidifier. It is a cold air unit, or as my father used to say, it flash fries water and spits it out. I bought it the winter before last, and it ended my bloody noses at once. But according to Diana, it is responsible for this:


All the white, powdery stuff that settles on everything in the apartment. I don't know. I'll keep running my humidifier and dusting the furniture rungs.

I've also emptied my loom and am ready to embark on a new project. I think it will be towels. But I need a new treadling. The Shaker towel I've woven for years is a little workhorse of weaves, dense but not heavy. It sops up water.

There are other interesting weaves that I'm sure would work. One is a pattern I first found in a Dover reprint of an nineteenth century weavers manual. I wish I could remember its name. It was a list and description of what a journeyman weaver should be able to produce. Sort of the thing Benjamin Franklin might have set and printed in his brother's shop.

The pattern is a variation of herringbone twill and was called Irish Fancy. I threaded it up more for the name than the pattern, but it turned into a staple of our weaving studio. We wove all the fabrics for our heavier garments in the twill. One popular garment was an over shirt with a Henly throat, a thick, soft cotton in that twill.


My daughter and her boyfriend way back then each had one. After a camping trip Rich told me the shirt was incredible. Dried him off after a swim and he sleep in it at night. All around versatile. I bet it will dry dishes well, too. 

The other possibility is Rosepath. It's another twill weave, but one I've never tried. In my opinion, it needs to be expanded as an overshot weave, and that is very time consuming. But I found a Rosepath treading that expands the little flowers with a bit of plain weave between the rows of flowers. Interesting.


So, I'll thread up each and see which I'll choose. Then I'll have to order more thread, fix my web site again, etcetcetc. Several price increases of thread later, I'll have to recalculate cost. I wonder if I'll be shocked.

35 comments:

  1. I have a humidifier that I run every night to prevent nosebleeds too, but I can't say I've noticed any major increase in dust because of it.

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    1. It makes no sense to me, but then, I've not cleaned a hundred rooms for a living, either. I'll just keep the Swiffer handy.

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  2. The musing about treadling is so interesting. The names of the weave patterns, too. Some of them are poetic.

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  3. I have a humidifier but do not see any impact to my keyboard. Swifter to the rescue. They really are a good invention. There are so many weave patterns to choose from. You'll have to choose what you think works best.

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  4. Maybe microscopic fibers from the weaving causing that dust. I love that shirt.

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  5. I LOVE that overshirt and would very, very happily wear one.
    Good luck with your new endeavours.

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  6. I wonder if some of the water mist is hitting the keyboard. Maybe turn it in the other direction and see if there's a change?

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  7. I love that shirt, I would wear one for sure. Reminds me of the shirts my granddad wore and attach a collar to on Sundays.
    XP
    WWW

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  8. I looked it up, - it is not the humidifier it is the water.
    That shirt would be my only garment I am sure of it! You are right prices are shocking me into a stupor on a daily basis. There is no reason for such crazy sudden inflation other than greed, I reckon. Whatever weave you choose will be fabulous.

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    1. I'll be damned! Well, that's Cleveland water for you.

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    2. I used a filter jug for the water here...might that be an idea?

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  9. So glad that you are going to weave towels again. I am driving out your way this weekend. My grandson is graduating from Case. I can't believe it. I hope that the weather will be good.

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  10. Ah, I looked it up, too. In Spokane, distilled water has become scarce. It's always something. My iron prefers it to tap, and I do not mess with the iron's desires. That shirt you made is fabulous. I can't believe how much stuff costs these days. I think it's greed.

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  11. Oooh, more towels? Mine still look brand new but I am still interested!

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  12. We have hard water and your keyboard looks like all the crap that ends up everywhere with our water, lots of mineral deposits.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_water#:~:text=Hard%20water%20also%20forms%20deposits,of%20pipes%20and%20heat%20exchangers.

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  13. Hari OM
    I'm late to the plate, but yeah, hard water in humidifiers can result in that white dust - the trick is to change the water daily. That said, we as human beings are the greatest creaters of dust. Just carrying on our daily activities itself generates the stuff. No avoiding it! Now the mystery is which pattern will Joanne weave....??? YAM xx

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  14. Rosepath is a lovely weave

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  15. Yep. Here's what the Google says: "The white dust that you are finding on surfaces around your home is likely dried-up minerals from water vapor created by the humidifier. These minerals are natural in our home water supply. If you've ever heard of the term “hard water,” it's referring to water with high levels of calcium and magnesium."
    So- bloody nose or white dust? You could use distilled water in it.
    I love that Rosepath pattern.

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  16. I'm always impressed when commenters come up with the solutions to any blogger's troubles.

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  17. no humidifier needed here but I do have an air purifier in my bedroom and in Marc's. back to towels, I'm all for that. I'm sorry I didn't know you when you were weaving cloth and making garments.

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  18. Our white powdery dust everywhere is from my dry skin, caused by the pills I have to take.

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  19. It is the time of year for spring cleaning. I'll be glad when mine is done.

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  20. That Dover weaving book wouldn't be A Handbook of Weaves by G H Oelsner with 1,875 Illustrations would it? Published by Dover originally in 1952, the original book came out in the US in 1915. I have an extra copy I'd be glad to send to you.

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    1. Thanks, but that's not it. I had that one, too.

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  21. I can't wait to see how the new towels look.

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  22. I would say dust from the construction work is a very likely cause of all the white powder. But whatever the cause, a constant nuisance!

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  23. I cannot imagine that a cold air humidifier would make all that white dust. I just don't see how it could unless your water has a high mineral content in it. Do you use tap water? Maybe use distilled. I dunno. That's quite strange.

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  24. The rosepath image looks really very nice. Always a bummer when prices go up.

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  25. Joanne, that shirt! Do you remember what size thread you used and the epi? I am smitten!

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    1. The pattern was a broken herringbone, four harness, threaded 4321/4321/34/1234/12 end to end and treadled straight twill. The loom was 40" wide, the fabric came out about 36" wide, fulled. The warp was 8/2 cotton and the weft was a cotton slub. The sett was 15 epi. Let me know how it comes out.

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    2. Thank you! This is a great reason to try weaving with slub AND to finally get a 15 dent reed. (I know, I could use my 12 or 18, but enough projects are coming up for me, especially in linen, to justify a 15) New adventures!

      ps I love your overshot

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  26. I thought I posted on this already. Do I trust my memory or Google? Probably should not answer that one. Best of luck with the spring cleaning and your latest project.

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  27. Dear Joanne, always interesting to try new ways of doing things, try out new weaving patterns, or new recipes. I try to use new painting techniques - not the result is the reward but the new way to see something emerge.

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  28. That's a gorgeous pattern, Joanne!

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