It is that time again, The Tuesday Weavers participate in 2 shows annually, the Museum of Appalachia's "Homecoming" is not even 2 weeks away. That means that I have a dozen irons in the fire and not nearly enough time to do everything! It is time to concentrate on a couple of things and get them done and then move on to the next couple of things.
Today, I set my timer for 30 minutes and worked on project #1 until the timer went off. When it went off, I stopped what I was doing and moved on to project #2, once again I set the timer for 30 minutes and worked without stopping until the timer went off. Then it was time for a bit of break which included lunch.
After my break I went back upstairs and set to work on project #3, setting the timer for 30 minutes once again. I don't get as much time in the studio as I would like, but yesterday I happened to have a couple of extra hours free that I put to good use. I was able to get the floor loom with the new inserted eye heddles, warped and ready to go with the hand spun Romney Lamb/Alpaca shawl warp! I was so thrilled and I even managed to weave just a little bit before my time was up.
The shawl is project #3 today, my first 30 minutes on this project, I ended up having to unweave a little bit. Weaving with wool is entirely different than weaving with cotton. I have almost no tension on the warp and I have to barely lay the weft in with the beater to get the cloth that I want. The weft is hand spun Corriedale, not as soft as I would like but a good match for the warp just the same.
Today, I set my timer for 30 minutes and worked on project #1 until the timer went off. When it went off, I stopped what I was doing and moved on to project #2, once again I set the timer for 30 minutes and worked without stopping until the timer went off. Then it was time for a bit of break which included lunch.
After my break I went back upstairs and set to work on project #3, setting the timer for 30 minutes once again. I don't get as much time in the studio as I would like, but yesterday I happened to have a couple of extra hours free that I put to good use. I was able to get the floor loom with the new inserted eye heddles, warped and ready to go with the hand spun Romney Lamb/Alpaca shawl warp! I was so thrilled and I even managed to weave just a little bit before my time was up.
The shawl is project #3 today, my first 30 minutes on this project, I ended up having to unweave a little bit. Weaving with wool is entirely different than weaving with cotton. I have almost no tension on the warp and I have to barely lay the weft in with the beater to get the cloth that I want. The weft is hand spun Corriedale, not as soft as I would like but a good match for the warp just the same.
The second 30 minutes on the shawl, I managed to weave 14 inches before the timer went off, this gives me an idea just how long it is going to take me to finish the 96 inches that I am shooting for. If I can speed it up to 20 in 30 minutes, it will take no time at all.
The other 2 projects are: #1, Jacobs batts for fleece rugs (new product), and #2 is 100 souvenir (tiny) packets of clean fleece from the Museum's "Sheep Shearing Day". This is another new product for me, kids are always wanting bits of my fleece, so I thought if I package it up and charge a little bit for it, maybe they will stop asking me for it, and I will make a penny or two. Who knows!
I got through my rotation 2 times this afternoon, and would have gone longer but it was time to work on dinner. I hope to be able to work a good bit tomorrow morning, to finish at least the "Bits of fleece" packages. I have a few other things to label and inventory as well, that will become one of the rotation as soon as I finish up something.
Working on three things at a time, three different activities, three different movements does several things, it keeps me on task, keeps me from getting bored and keeps me from being so caught up on a project that I ignore the rest. I still have a lot of projects to do, but I am taking stock and saving a few of them to work on after the "Homecoming" as they will be more suited for the Foothills Craft Guild show in November.
Until next time, Happy Weaving, Tina
I'm getting my timer set right now....off to the studio!!!! You're getting a bunch done!
ReplyDelete