2 1/2 hours--just normal, not a record

I set out to tell you about warping a loom. My sister came to help, switching out new tubes of thread for empty tubes, so I could keep on turning the crank and not have to attend to that end of the business. A friend of hers called, and when Jan mentioned what was going on, she heard "Oh, can I come watch?" People sat that a lot. Jan sent her some pictures, so I'll use them.

When Jan arrived, I'd just finished weaving to the end of the warp. My arms and back were pretty tired. On my own I might have called it a day, at eleven in the morning. But, my little sister had given over part of her day to helping me, and it wasn't her fault I didn't go back after supper last night and finish the weaving. So, we ate lunch and started in.

There are maybe twenty half pound tubes of 8/2 cotton thread on the shelf. To start, some of them must go on the empty pegs on the rack to the right. There are 40 pegs, some of which you can't even see.

OK, all thread loaded and pulled to the tension box. Three full spools are visible here and probably will make it through the process. All the rest probably will be replaced. Birthday balloons in the background.

Here is all the thread, from the rack, through the tension box and being wound onto a bout. The threads go through two reeds, and over a peg in the tension box. The reeds control the threads to 2", the width of each bout. The peg adds tension to the thread. You also can see thread guides on the bout edges. These keep the threads from inadvertently slipping into the bout on either side.

Now for the real work. There is a crank that fits one end of the beam, and there is a weaver, turning the crank to turn the beam and draw the warp through the tension box and into the 2" bout. There are 125 turns of thread on each bout. I have calculated the yardage and the shrink and know my material costs. All that calculation is in a little notebook in the other room. Someday I may think about it and share the information.

Here are all 11 bouts wound on and ready to tie to the old warp. Everything is easy after the beam is loaded, and I'll probably take some sweet time getting to tying. On the arm of the chair is the medium grey I just took off, and under that some more cream, to finish the warp.

Done! Left on the shelf: seven tubes of warp. Had I needed even one more turn, six of those tubes would now be on the spool rack and only one tube left on the shelf.

Looking forward to graupel

I've been busy this week, with doctor appointments I can't seem to shake loose of and a warp that has stretched. I would like to empty my loom of the current warp by Saturday so my sister can help me on Sunday, replacing spools of warp thread when they run out.

There is my spool rack, top to bottom. Some pegs are empty; I'm using the smaller spools to weave off the remnant of my warp. They will be filled with new spools when we begin. Most of the other spools will need replacing, and that will be Jan's job. There is nothing worse than walking around the loom to get to the rack to tie on a new spool of thread!

I guess spring is coming; there is a mass of green bulb leaves in the garden. And, the garden needs raked so badly; a job I still cannot tackle. Out in the back, near the woods, I see a single yellow daffodil, and several stands of daffodil leaves scattered about. I see the squirrels have been very busy these last several years.

The weather remains very unpredictable, swinging wildly from highs of sixty to highs of thirty. Today was mid fifties and then mid forties through the weekend. Those are the highs. Overnight lows still warrant an extra blanket. Therein comes the graupel. 

April showers bring May flowers, says the old adage. The falling overnight temps in the rain can bring snow. Graupel is not hail, it is not sleet. It forms when water droplets freeze on falling snow.

Over for another year

Ann asked how my birthday went and I said "It's over for another year!" Of course it's generally fun to celebrate another trip around the sun. This year, this las six months, have been a bit of a bummer. I need to be off this walker, but I'm still three weeks from a new physical therapy evaluation. My cane hangs on the walker and I execute short walks on it, when my hip isn't hurting too much. It's snowing at the moment, another less than stellar event.

Nevertheless, Beth and Ruth took me to lunch today. We went to Burntwood Tavern, a good central meeting place for the three of us. I had fish, Beth had salmon and Ruth had sliders.

The rest of my lunch went home with Beth to become a fish sammy.

Beth's lunch became history.

And those last two sliders went home with Ruth. We could just phone it in and meet the servers at the table. We each have the same every time.

My birthday present was marzipan. After some unkind soul at UPS scarfed down my Wisconsin marzipan, Beth sent Bill on a marzipan mission. We're talking serious marzipan, here. I opened the marzipan potatoes and thought I'd work through a row. By the end of the afternoon, every potato had crossed my lips. The rest of the haul is on a table across the room. It's probably safe for a while.

What to say?

 

It's been a long, long month. I borrowed this lovely picture from Allison, who does not remember where she found it. I've had it squirreled away for the last month; it's too sad to look at for long. Pray that President Biden screwed up the courage of the European Union to more vigorously support their neighbor, Ukraine, and more vigorously condemn their neighbor, Russia. 

Back at the studio I have nine colors in stock; ninety three towels total. I sold sixty five towels at the Peninsula Flea last summer. My downfall was my inability to make more. I was waiting to move my loom to the new studio; I had no more thread, and even if it arrived, I did not want to move a fully dressed loom. Just that much more weight, and the move was difficult enough as it was.

I certainly had more than nine colors! I am so looking forward to this event, again this year. Just for starters, I won't be looking out my window at snow! It certainly has become old.

It will be good to spend some time with my daughter again. Beth and her family used this past week of Spring Break to unite the family and visit Joshua Tree and the vast desert. She sent me any number of pictures, and had stories to share. Her husband opined he was pleased they had filled up the tank as there were no amenities.

Beth got to share the story of her mother crossing the Great Salt Desert with a broken fan belt. I hope she shared how without Uncle Walt we would not have made it. Peddle to the metal, go as fast as you can until you peg the temperature gauge. Turn off the van and coast for I don't remember how long. Start the engine, peddle to the metal, etc. It seemed like forever, and suddenly there was a service station and the wall was hung with every size fan belt on the market!

I would not have known how to handle that emergency if my brother had not been riding shotgun. I suppose I could have asked Mom, seated behind me. 

Moving on

Back from my favorite hip doctor. He had good news and bad news. I do not need a new hip; the old hip actually is in decent shape. The bad news is, if I ever did need a hip replacement he doubts any doctor would undertake it. He finally made me understand my bone situation. 

Bones look like bones on an x-ray, all white. Flesh is sort of transparent; on an x-ray you can see through it to the bones. My bones look like flesh, transparent. Any doctor would pass, from fear of breaking bones. I see why the fellow who fixed my femur was so happy the old hip replacement stayed so firmly in place and the worst of his job was to wrap the broken bone in a lot of wire and screw it down.

I guess I'll keep having those Reclast infusions, and stop breaking bones. So the plan is to reopen my physical therapy sessions at the local health center. Tomorrow. 

The order for the next round of thread has been placed. Except for yellow, I won't be dipping into it for a bit. I want to finish much of what is on the shelf, count my remaining inventory and know how many towels I will cost out at the current cost. How's that for a former accountant's accounting?

Blake is still helping me with my web page. We're up to SEO's. Search Engine Optimization. Those are words people are most likely to search looking for kitchen towels. They're tucked away behind the scene and help the web page appear higher on a search list. I also told him he can have the last of my kitchen gizmos and gadgets for the new house.

So, that is me, as up to date as I possibly can be. My life will be weaving and physical therapy for the foreseeable future, and hopefully a lunch or two with Beth and Ruth. Right now I'm weaving Denim Blue.

There is little left to weave of my old colors and old warp. My estimate is one more new warp on the loom and the old thread will be gone!