Epiphany

Somewhere in the air between Nashville and Austin, I had an epiphany.  I just shook my head and admitted that the scarf warp at the Center had to be reworked.  Last weekend I flew to Texas to surprise my baby brother for his 50th birthday.  I had been planning this for a little over a month, and I had ticked items off my to-do list with great anticipation.  (The bamboo wrap I blogged about was a gift for his wife.)  He was totally surprised, and we had a fantastic, but short, time together.  This picture is from our visit to the Alamo.

 But, I digress....the scarf warp.  It had been weighing on my mind.  Truthfully, I can't put my finger on exactly what was wrong.
YES....I had trouble with the treadles.
YES...the selvedges were unattractive.
YES...it was a chore weaving on this loom.
And, YES....I already had some boo-boos in the weaving.

 The treadles on this loom are a challenge!  I should mention that I wasn't able to do plain weave since I didn't have enough chains to tie up the other two treadles, and the pattern weave requires 8 treadles.  Also, the rods that thread through the chains tend to slip out during weaving.  I had resorted to painters' tape and zip ties to secure the rods and chains. And, my-oh-my....you get such a workout with this loom!  Lifting the shafts should be considered aerobic exercise!  The weaving mistakes are all mine.........

Now the warp has been re-threaded.  The new pattern only requires 8 treadles, with tabby on one and two.  I may still need the painters' tape or zip ties if the rods start slipping out again.  But, I'm ready to tie it on when I get to the Center on Tuesday and start weaving.  This warp presented a unique challenge to me, and I would like to experiment with more scarves in the coming months.

Today we observe the 9th anniversary of a day that brought change to life as we knew it.  I thought about that day again as I went through airport security last weekend.  I was in my safe little classroom that morning, surrounded by 5 year olds.  By that afternoon, all I could think of was being in my safe home with my own kids.  The world had turned upside down, and just like Humpty Dumpty, it couldn't be put back together again in the exact same way. As we pause to reflect on this day, many of us will experience an epiphany.  We will re-adjust our priorities, hug our loved ones, and say a little prayer for those who are in harms' way.


Peace be with you.....
LouAnn

Musings

I am supposed to blog tomorrow but since I am going to the fort in the morning I thought I would post tonight.

I am still slowly moving into the studio. Today I put some of my rug inventory on an antique bucket bench in the living room. Right now I am trying to decide how I want the studio to look.

A while ago I found this lamp at Goodwill. Today I hung some dish towels on it. What do you think? I guess I will be playing around with the arrangement of things until I find something I am happy with.

I am still trying to decide what I want to do with the cubby holes on this wall. I put some yarn in there but I can't decide if I want to leave the openings open for light or fill them with yarn. Any suggestions?

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Me? I am going back in time. Where life is slower, and there are no cell phones or TV's. I am looking forward to relaxing with friends and getting some hand sewing done.

Linda

Here We are Again

Thursday again. I was determined that I would have my warp on the loom and ready to go this week. Yeah, you got it. Didn't happen. I did get the part of the warp wound. The Tuesday Weavers go some of the bobbins that were wound at the KMA when the weaving exhibit was going on. I got a few to use for the Christmas project. I am not so sure that was a good idea. As I am trying to get the warp done, I kept unwinding short little strands. So I decided I would have to wind it onto something else to make sure I had enough. Anyway, that was not fun. Got er done. That is where I am now.
Oh, yeah, my book came yesterday.  "The Weaving Book" by Helene Bress. Wow! That will take some time to look at. It was very interesting and will make a good addition to my library.

I have been working for DH for 2 weeks. It looks like it will go for another 2 weeks.

Yes, Maggie is doing fine. Here she is with "big" little sister, Emma in the "her" chair.

Now off to the store to get some electric hedge trimmers, rocks and some dirt. Do you know what I will be doing on another cool day?  The dirt will go along the sidewalk up next to the house and then the white rocks on top. The holly bush will be trimmed and rounded out. Then I will be done. Sat. I trimmed the other holly tree and got little blisters all over my arms from the scratches and cuts. Maybe I am allergic? Looked like poison ivy but it wasn't.

That is all for today. Until next time.

Bonnie

Best Laid Plans....

No pictures today. It's been that kind of week.

First, on Saturday, I dropped by a friend's home about 10:30. They were loading the Budget rental truck with her things to move to Ohio. Her husband has Parkinson's and it's been a tough road the last few years. He will be going into an assisted living home and she's moving in with her son. She's like all of us with several hobbies and lots of things that are necessary for them. Because of the stress in her life, she hadn't finished packing. So I jumped in and helped. I stayed til 6:30 when we finally said the truck was full, my car was full of stuff to store until spring when several of us plan to go up to visit her, and we were exhausted.
What I remember of the day is her daughter continuing to say, I'm not getting her more boxes and Just pick the most important things to take. I kept biting my tongue. I made sure that the best things did get in the truck or my car to store. I still wonder whether I forgot anything. My friend was in  no shape to do more than tell me whether she wanted something I wasn't sure about. I hated for things to be left there for the new owner to just sell at a garage sale. We know the importance and monetary value of our things. Others don't.

Secondly, Monday morning our DD went to her first exercise class at the gym after having done alot of swimming the past couple of months. She is the one that tore her left knee up in March, had the surgery in May and has been rehabing the knee ever since. She's been swimming with a trainer 5x a week for at least an hour at a time. She works hard at it. So, she was in this class working out, modifying it alot so as not to hurt that left knee. About half way through the class, she suddenly felt her right knee pop and she fell. Yesterday we got her in with an orthopedist. Xrays look good, no break. He couldn't say he could feel her ACL in that knee. MRI was last night. I have the disc and we'll take it to see him this afternoon.
We're staying in a handicap room at a hotel this week until we find out exactly what's up because our house has about 5 steps to get in and her left knee still has a couple of months of healing left before it'll feel more normal. It still hurts. Using crutches isn't easy and she's always afraid she'll do something else to the left knee. We're using a wheelchair for anything more than a few steps right now. Our house isn't wheelchair friendly. This afternoon we'll find out exactly what's going on inside that knee and what our options are. This morning I"m taking her to class at college. Most of her classes are on the second floor of a building without an elevator. They've already begun to move the classes to other buildings with elevators. I'm official pusher of wheelchair until we can find out if someone on campus can do it for her. I'll have to get her to college at the least. Weaving, that'll have to wait. I have my books ready for today and a stack of magazines that will go back into the car to be gone through while I wait. You know, those magazines that you can't throw out until you've checked to be sure you have everything pulled out that's any good. Yup, that stack! It has been in my way but really, she didn't have to fall for me to get to them.....
So, our life changes again for awhile. We'll get through this like we've gotten through everything else that happens in our life. It's just always something!!
Carol

The Tuesday Skeleton Crew

"The Bonnies" are holding down the fort today....Tina is in Spain, Maggie is having okra meltdown, Carol is with her daughter (messed up the other knee!)  So these two are hard at work at their looms.

Ann has made a lot of progress from last week threading the rocker loom.  Lanny (who has many hours on that loom) is standing by to answer questions as needed.

Karen is working on the table loom while Carl is hard at work on his placemats.

 And, yes, Lanny let his curiosity get the best of him and had a peek at the new quilt that the handsewers are quilting on the rack.  It is so tempting each week to see it up there and wondering how it's going!  Linda got stopped in her tracks watching him!

 And this will be the only peek of this scarf....I had an epiphany on the plane last Friday night, and I'm going to rethread the scarf.  I don't really like the way the pattern looks, and I don't think it will make a nice scarf.  So, this will get cut off, and I'll rethread next week.  Keep your fingers crossed!!!

Have a glorious week.........
and Happy Weaving!!!!!
LouAnn
                                                    

Oh, Okra!

Dear Okra,
  You have been my constant companion these last six weeks at least!  You fill my car, my thumb nail, my dreams.  I see you when I close my eyes at night.  I spy you in the preservation kitchen in jars each morning.  I greet you at Horn of Plenty every Wednesday through Saturday.  You make rashes on my arms.  You make my employees cry and give notice and leave.
  I only need to spend a few more weeks with you, dear Okra!  I only lack 2,000 jars, a formidable number, no doubt, but paltry in comparison to the 6,604 original goal.  My employees, including the new one, will be happy to see you go!  They, too, count the jars and count the days, until your season is over and you take your prickly little self away.
  Your beautiful blooms, your bizarre upright habit, your hairy seed pod, and let's not forget your mucilaginous innards:  these I will not miss.  Take care, Okra!  Have a good winter!
Love/hate,
Maggie

What does this mean?

Here is one more picture of my new studio. Is this just another boring picture? NO! This picture says.......I can start moving in!! Finally! We bought this house in November of last year and we have been slowly renovating it. If you look closely you can see the molding is all back in. You can't see it very well but in the window is a row of tiny sheep.

There are still things left to do so we aren't finished. Right now DH is working on the light switch in the bathroom and I will be painting the bottom of the last wall in the dining room, later. I couldn't get to it for a while because that is where the flooring was stacked. Tomorrow I will get our son to help me get some things moved in. Hurray!!! This is a great day!

Linda