The Window Is Open

To put it bluntly, I’m looking for a new job.  This is not a bad thing, I tried to hang on and be a good employee, whatever that means.  The truth is, I should have left a couple years ago.  But sometimes reality has to hit you like a 2 x 4 before you notice.  And the economy is not exactly great, but better than two years ago, or even 6 months ago.

Luckily, my job is not my career.  My fiber and my dogs are here waiting for me to straighten out my mind.

Then again I had commitments I already paid for.  Like Abby Franquemont’s Andean Backstrap Weaving workshop at The Spinning Loft.

I didn’t take many photos as I was too busy WEAVING.

Beth kindly took the above photo for me.  She played her many hats over the weekend, weaver, shop owner, mother, consultant.  I honestly don’t know how she does it.

We got a chance to wind our own warp.  In many parts of Peru two weavers generally wind the warps such as in this video.  It is a  short section at about 30 seconds into the video.

Since Beth’s shop doesn’t have a dirt floor, Abby brought a board with some dowels we could use.  My warping partner was an experienced weaver so warping went smoothly for both of us.

And I walked away with a warp that is now has heddles and is ready to start the pattern I was sent home with.  After a while you get really good at tying heddles, you don’t have much choice if you want to keep weaving and not fighting with the warp.

I have now finished my first band.

I by no means am ready to move on, but none of my current supply of 8/2 cotton is tightly twisted enough to deal with the abrasion that happens while weaving these.  Luckily I still have two more warps to finish.

On the way home, my mind was not on my sock, I was now looking over the patterns again in Nilda’s book discovering I was beginning to read them.  That is a powerful tool.

Sad to say, my spinning has lagged.  I’ve been spinning on the same bobbin of Bond for way too long now. I’m almost filled the first one, but I need a lot more if I’m going to be making the Elizabeth Zimmermann Nether Garments.  Of course everything has lagged over the past several months.

Luckily I can put it all behind and forge forward.  Onward!

Advertisement