Stella's (Worldwide) Adentures - Part II of II

This post may be a little cryptic as I decipher scribbles or try to remember what I didn't scribble. If you're a weaver or are familiar with weaving jargon, I hope you get the gist; otherwise, you can laugh and think, "Oh, what a load miscalculations!" 

2026/1/21
I started working on these premises and made the warp and wound it on the back beam:
Warp: 30/2 100% merino, 60ends, (14ends per repeat*4 reps+4fl,) * 2.2m; folded in half to weave two strips side by side.

Threading: same on both, 5678765-1234321.
Sett: 48EPI on the right set, 42EPI on the left. 
Weft: sample 30/2 single, doubled, and tripled. 

2026/1/22
I threaded, sleyed and started sampling. Very quickly I discovered one 30/2 threaded in each heddle was too fragile as ends were breaking left and right and I could not sample properly. Times I used 30/2 in the warp, I doubled and used two ends as one. Neither am I dexterous enough to weave two strips side by side.

I made a second warp, with 74 ends, (14*2ends per repeat*2.5reps+4fl), 2.2m; threaded in the same way but only 2.5 repeats wide, and sleyed at 48EPI, 4pairs/8ends per dent in a 6-dent reed; I'm weaving only one strip. 

2026/1/23

Sampled. 

Far right: It was obvious even 30/2 tripled, (in 3 similar, not identical, colors,) made the design fussy and the motif squashed. But I noticed leftover merino used to spread the warp ends at the start looked good. (I also noticed a threading mistake so fixed that.) 

Second right: I had three similar 100% knitting merino leftovers and auditioned them. I liked the orange best as I felt it matched the (faded) Bayeux mood best, but it was too airy and squashed the motif, and the value was too close to the warp the motif did not show up well. The dark purple showed the motif best and was the thickest weft but there were no similar colors used in others' contributions as yet. Teal, on the other hand, showed off the motif well enough, but also several blues already used made it fit in the group best. 

The question was, whether to try sampling 30/2 quadrupled with one color and sample, (to show off fussy weaving for my aesthetic satisfaction, taking extra hours to weave,) or to go bold and sensible with the leftover merino. We actually took a quick trip into town to photograph Stella with a couple of iconic Nelson locations while I decided I'm going with the sensible direction. 

Second left: I reduced the width to two threading reps wide; 2.5 reps had a nice with symmetry and the stripe was wide enough not impossibly difficult to weave; 1.5 reps would have suited the project better but would have been close to impossibly slow to weave. I also thought the directional movement in the draft when positioned sideways would allow the asymmetry. I wove 40cm, expecting it to shrink to perhaps 38cm-ish. (I made no measurement nor checked shrinkage.) Tar left experiment with pale yellow 100% linen just for fun. 

With the weaving finished, and the teal strip inspected, I foolishly took the rest of warp off, put away the tools and vacuumed before wet-finishing, a bad order but I do it all the time. Of course I found a lifting mistake and the wefts were banged into position too firmly I couldn't mend it, so wet-finishing I did, briefly considered using the strip as is, then went back to the warping board. I also thought 40cm on the loom was too short. 

Rather than rescuing the discarded warp, I made another 2.2m, threaded with two threading repeats, and sleyed at 48EPI.

2026/1/24
I wove again, this time 42cm-ish, checked very carefully for mistakes, with the warp and tools untouched. There were no mistakes, but I had the presence of mind to notice the erratic beating. My beating is inconsistent at the best of time on better looms, but I was weaving on Klik, standing up, (because if I sat I can't see the shaft numbers,) and my back was hurting. If need be, I had another warp ready to weave. 

2024/1/25
I have never manipulated a piece in the wet-finishing this much, trying to disguise the different beating. Even though I had enough time to weave another, with the bad weather I was not sure if it would dry in time for me to attach it to the linen cloth, (itself a time consuming task, I expected,) package it up to communicate tracking numbers, etc, and for Ben to drop it off first thing Monday morning. For the first time, I even took out a hair dryer to coax the strip to dry faster.

The next conundrum was the position on the linen. Earlier I decided I'd love the top right, opposite Mia's text, but the just above it, the hemming of the linen is a little curvy and I wasn't sure how to deal with that. Also, with a strong teal color, the longer length, and the height, my strip overpowered Mia's text. (I did considering cutting the mistake off the first piece and using that.) We looked at bottom left, which might have been OK after 30 others contributed; bottom centre, which was interesting but in the present stage looked crammed; or bottom right, the color, height and length dominating the least there. 

As well, the weather improved, the temperature shot up, with high humidity after all the rain, I hemmed it at the coolest spot in the house, the top of the stairs, where the light wasn't great. That task took about an hour and a half, redoing some stitches so they remain as invisible as I can manage. But I was done at a reasonable hour of... can't remember... something like 8PM. 

Q. E. D. As Mom used to say: "Quite easily done." I don't know about easily; Klik is not an easy loom to weave pieces, (though great for studying new structures or sample while editing threading/sett rapidly,) I did so enjoy being a weaver and thinking and talking about it. It was a great reminder. 

2026/1/26
The box was sent off to the next contributor, Helen in Canterbury, first thing in the morning, and she received it at lunch time the following day. We already miss the noisy girls. And I have plenty of warp still left on the loom. 

Stella's (Worldwide) Adentures - Part I of II

I joined Mia Hansson's Stella's (worldwide) Adventures, which turned into my first weaving project of 2026. Here's a good intro to what the tour is. (Stella's Adventures group page covers or will cover her entire trip.) Now let me tell you my part.  

2025
I came across Mia's Bayeux Tapestry Story group page on FB early in the year. Mia is a Swedish Brit single-handedly trying to recreate the Bayeux Tapestry over a decade. Her group page is crazy informative on the techniques, process, and decisions she's had to make to carry out the project, while we fans often interject wild or informed speculation, all in buzzing joviality. There, Stella the Persistent Assistant appears from time to time to make mischief. 

Mia decided Stella should travel to get out of Mia's hair, so she solicited hosts to welcome her worldwide, and by the way, hosts should add some embroidery to the linen Stella will be traveling with. I didn't rush in, but when Mia announced the countries she's had volunteers from, I flippantly wrote, "New Zealand?" I didn't hear from Mia for months and gave no further thought, until in December, she requested my address, informing me Stella was about to leave Australia! I was working nightly on my needlepoint at that stage, so no worries, I can wing it. 

2026/1/15~18
On 1/15, I received an unsmall box containing Stella and her (new) little friend Arlette; a pink notebook in which hosts wrote background of themselves, local info, or their contribution, (some riveting reading itself;) and a piece of linen 82cm high and 135cm wide, neatly hemmed just the way Mia showed us she does on her project.

(The linen is not crocked but not pressed; it's my fault for not tugging from all sides.) This is 100% unbleached linen in plain weave, with quite a hefty weight to it, giving it that lovely large-dog-leaning hand. The recreation project is done on linen, (though now Mia suspects it could be linen/cotton,) 70cm high and gazillion meters wide before hemming, in a twill from memory. Both this cloth and the almost stiff embroidery gave me the impression the original Tapestry was probably far from delicate or fragile but hefty and more "down to earth", which is probably how it lasted this long. 

What astounded me in the first instance was the high level of embroidery skill of the previous hosts. Mia's star in the center, (Stella,) and the Bayeux-style tree in lower left, (see little Stella hanging on?) by Brigitte were done in wool in the traditional stitches used by Bayeux seamstresses. I realized it's been decades since I did cross stitch, maybe over 50 years since "freehand". I have bitten far more than I could chew! Reluctantly only at this point I joined the Stella's Adventures FZB group, and flipped through the pink notebook. I discovered the length to which everybody went in researching their subject, or took Stella around their homes/regions to introduce to the rest of the group. There was even a visit to Bayeux Museum and the cathedral where the tapestry used to be hung!! To say this was going to be a two-pronged project was an understatement. 

With bad weather coming, I started with Stella-around-my house, planning to move on to around Nelson on the group page front. In there I snuck in my trepidation about the lack of embroidery skills, to which Queensland weaver Lyn commented I should attach a piece of my weaving. Oh, I never thought about that! By Sunday morning, I knew what I was going to do.

2026/1/19
What: If you look at the pictures, considering I'm the 20th of 50 to contribute, though there is still plenty of space, placement is a consideration. Also, I wanted to use New Zealand Merino, somewhat fragile against friction, so I didn't want it to go where the cloth was likely to be folded. I decided a short narrow strip, or two, wouldn't be too obtrusive but also wouldn't disappear in the busyness.   

A long strip along one side was immediately voted out for not being harmonious with the other contributions. 

On the other hand, a strip the width of the text at top left (2cm*23cm), or the text+small Stella (2cm*30cm) would create a balanced look, but to make the weaving a little easier, I might make the width-on-loom between an inch and 3cm. I could put it at top right, or bottom right; it could even work bottom right and left, though top will probably be rubbed less often.

Warp: 

The linen cloth has a tinge of yellow, while in the 30/2 merino I plan to use, I only have pinkish "naturals." Of the two the darker taupe appears less jarring. Elsewhere I have undyed merino, but they are far whiter than the cloth, so that's out of contention. 

Weft: 
(This was part of the group page entertainment; I let the girls have some say.) 

Mia uses something like five or seven colors, in darker values than what I have, and quite a lot of yellow in them. There is a Burgundy, (I have brick orange in its place, which Mia says is closer to the original,) a dull yellow, (mine, a brighter version,) and indigo, (mine, second row far right.) Then I may pick maybe two others between green and blue. Mind you, the big difference is she makes pictures with these colors, while mine are weft colors, in clear horizontal squares. (I'm judging everything by looking at photos on her Tapestry page.)

And then I found Brigitte took Stella to Bayeux Museum, and there they had a display of the wool colors. 

I'm doing the usual. I'm not sure if I want to use many colors or just one or just a few.  

Sett: 
The merino I plan to use is 30/2 100% in the warp and the weft. Previously I used this in the warp at 36EPI to go with 26/2 and 20/2 cashmere wefts. At that time I experimented with 36EPI and 48EPI, (but apparently not 42,) and mentioned 48EPI was too tight as if the yarns had no room to expand. I think for the purposes of this project that sounds about right, as the embroidered part in wool is stiff. I'll sample 42 and 48EPI.

Draft: 
I had a quick look at Mia's finished length for a possible Bayeux-based abstract border motif, (over 55m so far,) but nothing jumped out. She being Swedish, I thought of one 8-shaft pattern I really like but only used once.     

Ooops, this is Stella; I think she's a Viking girl, as Mia used to make Viking reenactment costumes, and Normans were Viking descendants. The draft in question is to the left of her head. It can go the way it's drawn, or turned. I'll be weaving a long, narrow strip, while it will be attached sideways on the cloth, so wide and short.  

I usually prefer the bottom look, but in this case I like the directionality of the top two. I must consider what's the easiest to lift. Either works well in terms of warp repeat numbers to make an inch- or 3cm-wide strip. 

Decisions: 
With the easy stuff done, I have to decide on the following before putting a warp on and sampling: 
1) Weft colors. In fact, am I also happy with the neutral weft warp color?
2) One idea is to put on a wide multi-colored warp and weave a short, wide strip for the Stella project, and then to resley and weave a scarf  from the same warp. In this case, however, there will be gazillion warp ends to tidy before I can attach the strip/s to the linen, so in the first instance this sounds like a terrible idea. But a colorful scarf?  
3) The threading/orientation.
4) In case I need two strips, I should put on two warps side by side with a wide gap in between and weave the two at once.  

2026/1/20
No work done but went over notes. Making up my mind is sometimes the hardest thing to do. But I am enjoying the process as I have not had a "thinking" project since the elephant blanket of 2019.  

More to come.

That's Our Summer Done, More or Less

Ben and colleagues had a lot of leave accumulated, so it appears half the team had a nearly-month-long (or longer,) summer holidays; Ben had exactly four weeks off, which ended on the weekend. We, I, prepared a very long house project To Do list beforehand, some items long standing, but most tied to the building work we had done last winter/spring. 

We worked often but in short spurts, sometime taking turns going outside depending on the task, while the other cooled down inside or cooked; very different from our usual pattern. One big reason was we did a lot of scrubbing/sanding and oiling/staining/painting outdoors, so there was a lot of waiting for things to dry. The weather was largely cooperative, except a very wet Week 3. (Around then, Ben hurt his back again - he just gotten over his November incident, and the homeopathic remedies I've been taking for arthritis abruptly stopped working.) But it felt as if we fell into a new old-people working pattern. With a couple of holiday left,  we had not even finished a third of the list. 

Another reason we worked in such a (re)lax(ed) way was probably because we had "four weeks" in mind; somehow it felt so much longer than three weeks, Ben's usual summer break. We kept doing a little here and a little there, that on Sunday when we debriefed, we actually finished a little under half the jobs!! 

Our place looks chaotic inside and out, because we're not finished with projects and sometimes stuff is left out; flower pots and dead weeds are left all over the patio that's not what we're focusing on at that moment, but we'll get around to them eventually. Even the garden, overgrown even more than usual, had bits done, and I can tell which trees Ben pruned and look more polite better than before he pruned them. 

Plus, it's January/February when we get the really high temperatures, so some of the paint jobs, (I'm dying to paint the inside of three most frequently used closets,) can be done before the summer is well and truly finished. It's also up to Ben to build two small outside "tables", one for weeding/tidying/repotting flower pots, (so I don't have to kneel or bend often,) but more importantly a skinny side table on the front door step so folks don't walk too near the kitchen window and hit their head against the sharp corners. If he does, it's my job to clean up the wood we'll recycle.  

Our To Do list and the house remains in jumble, which kept me awake some nights, but importantly we feel rested, that we didn't spend the entire summer break doing chores. We're relieved because by last October/November, we were utterly exhausted from what felt like a hectic year but really wasn't. 

Old people ways of life, eh.  

* * * * * 

No weaving took place during the break, but suddenly it popped up. I'll talk about it really soon; it's an exciting, in a way complex project, but won't take long to finish, either. 

On paper, I only finished the smallest of the unfinished collage/drawing books, though I made progress on four other. I attended three zoom art session and rediscovered the joy of face drawing, even though the faces are through a tiny screen. Without intending, I found myself drawing larger and gestural. It's been great to suddenly find myself back in familiar territories. 

Mary Ann Moss has a new Substack, and in one of the vids she recommended face drawing zoom sessions by Brit Chloe Briggs, so I "went". Funny how one thing leads to another, giving me courage to try new things, or old things in new places with new people. I'm having fun, even though there are great sessions, good sessions, and downright sucky ones.  

When I'm not doing it alone, I'm pretty good at not looking while drawing blind contours, although mine are never strictly contours. There is magic in them, where we inadvertently get things surprisingly and pleasingly accurate.

This one was not blind, and I messed up the first version, but I was desperate to capture a unique pose. 

I love colors, and I love drawing big. I'm now routinely filling A2 pages in 3 to 5 minutes. The bottom one, though, was a fluke; it looks nice and immediately identifiable, but it looks too tidy for something I did. 

My favourite of the season so far. I'm trying to look more carefully, for longer, so I spot the most attractive shapes and lines. It's often the hair, but with her, the more I looked, the more attractive the hands became. Unfortunately I'm not composed and find myself drawing before I start to take a proper look look, so I have to revise my lines many times. That is why I love this one so much, that I managed to look carefully. 

I continue to be involved with the Letter Journal group, part of Admin for a second year. The group itself will be ten years old in March, though I didn't join until some months later. The "bigness" of each challenge seem to get bigger; I need even more time to do each spread, sometimes spending weeks practicing. But it's lovely to be exposed to others' creativeness, exhilarating just to try to keep up, even if my outcome is crappy. Collaborative works is like problem-solving for the most part, but I get a real sense of accomplishment when I finish a spread. I need to remember to photograph more results.

I've also made steady progress on the needlepoint project; I'm still not using colors as attractively as I used to, but the shapes are more interesting and I don't have to think too hard now. 

* * * * * 

And lastly but not the least, we cooked some delicious meals, nothing exotic or challenging, but ordinary meals that tasted great. Among other things, I'm into making pizza with a tortilla shell as a base. Because there is substantially less carbo, I can taste the toppings better, but the shell holds better than the cauliflower base we tried some time ago. 

I/we have plenty of projects leftover, but I'm making 2026 a(nother) year of finishing projects. It won't stop me from starting new ones, but things will get done, fingers crossed. And if we can use up old material, all the better. 

Onwards!   

New Year's UnResolution

Hi, everybody. Have we all safely made the crossing and landed on 2026? My Day 1 is nearly over. And I've had some thoughts. (EDIT: I wrote this last night, but didn't have any idea for photos, so I'm posting on Day 2, and I'll get into the paint after I post this.)  

I quit "Resolutions" a few years ago, if you remember, but I still have some... guidelines? for the year, something to keep in mind before rushing into,out of action; not very different from the last few years', but then there have been very little changes in my life, so that's the way it goes. 

The two main guidelines are: finish projects I've started, and continue "decluttering". I've put in some effort in both areas in recent years, although intermittently and at a blind arthritic snail's pace. I get great satisfaction from finishing projects, (being a great starter but poor finisher, finishing comes far less often,) and anything I'm not too keen on, I have culled them over the years. So what's still left is worth pursuing. 

Decluttering; I don't like this word, because to me it's like tidying, while what I need to do is to get rid of stuff; shedding; discarding. In this day and age where everybody seems to have too much stuff, it's hard to give away old stuff some old lady saved for many years, unless they are rare/vintage/antiques. But I hate the idea of increasing rubbish, (around here they get buried in the ground,) so they sit in our house until we have a better plan. 

I started selling books online last year, and I've had a modest success selling some old weaving books, but I have many more, not to mention mountains of non-weaving books, so I have a long way to go. It's still nice to send them to folks who want them. In Nelson I have the option to donate them to Founders Book Fair and over the years we have donated boxes and boxes, with a few more boxes to go in the next couple of weeks, but if I could get some money to go towards last year's roof repair or dental implant, all the better. 

Other guidelines are familiar ones; exercise; eat healthier and in reasonable proportions; read more books; and a new one: write (more). I've gotten out of the habit of organize my thoughts and editing/revising them. Many times, even in replying to emails or to blog here, I find the task overwhelming and can't be bothered, mainly because I haven't been living an interesting life worth recording/reporting. Sometimes it's far easier to pick up a knife and make a jar of pickles, or get my sewing box to mend items that's sat in the ironing basket for months. 

20 or 25 years ago, I made a decision to simplify my life, to make it smaller and not busy so I could devote myself to learning to weave. Growing older, having less disposable income, and the Plague all helped, to the point I'm now living a teeny tiny life. I like it, I'm quietly satisfied with this simple, plain life of an oldie, concerning myself with littlest things immediately surrounding me. At the same time, I'm reading much too much about politics on screen and not enough books with good content; I don't socialize in person much, so don't have many real conversations; and I don't write, so I never organize my thoughts, so I don't have interesting/funny things to say. I've become a boring person. 

I ran into someone in the supermarket, and later went to a small gathering, on New Years Eve. I repeated myself and brought up matters like digging out oxalis bulbs from a patch we hadn't used to grow veg in a decade; and sorting paints, stains, and oils to prepare for household projects we hope to tackle this summer. And I didn't tell them in a funny way! 

So there you have it; that's another guideline for the year: don't be boring!  

An Anniversary of Sorts

Hello! Hard to believe, but it's been a year since I last posted here. I've intended to post something since Septmber-ish, but really couldn't think of anything with a semblance of substance. 

All year I did exactly one thing relating to weaving; I selected a few cones for the next project, in the colors a staff at the Suter Shop requested. Other than the week we had the hallway and stairway repainted, they've obligingly sat waiting in their regular station. 

After I finished the tied unit weave last year, I was infuriated at how I make everything complicated, (I still have the two fine tied unit projects and one clasped weft with three wefts on the three warped looms,) making weaving all work and no fun. I always intended to get back to it soonish, and these colors were going to go on the Ashford 8-shaft, but I couldn't come up with a pretty idea. And here we are. 

I still love needlepoint, but with no supplies available in Nelson, I felt "deprived" of my beloved hobby as some days I had such vivid recall of working on past projects I could see and feel them as if they were real. In May a light went on and I looked for sources online in New Zealand and found two. I've had this idea of an almost-door-sized hanging inside the front door in yellows forver, and I bought a large canvas and gazillion skeins of wool, but ordering colors online was hard, even with samples and color numbers of previous projects. I'm also so out of practice I've been working very slowly as I can't "see" the design on a blank canvas, and unenthusiastically as these shapes and colors don't sing to me like. I'm even taking out patches, something I've never done before.  

This one is a sample/practice run for the larger project, but it's still twice as wide as usual, and it's proven unwieldy, so I don't know if I'll go ahead with the door-sized version. Ben and I are wondering if it can be somehow secured it on to a rigid heddle minus the heddles, or if we can build a simple frame out of PVC pipes or something. We shall see.  

I've had three or four intense doodling periods without specific projects, and managed to finish a few sketchbooks. I love working on ones I make, usually A5 but some A4 or even A6, with a few pages of inexpensive drawing or watercolor papers. The subjects are usually Modligliani-like portraits, but not exclusively. One of the fun thing I've been trying it to look at photographs, of Modigliani and his friends as well as current real persons like Ben and AOC, to draw them in his style. And between now and the end of the year, I have plans to finish half a dozen tiny projects, lots of them collage. I've been working on them for years, and some are already finished, but I need to know I've done everything I needed/wanted to, and them put them to rest. We shall see.

* * * * * 

This year life was busier, and I noticed as I get older each of these "out of the ordinary" tasks take a great toll, i.e. they suck up my energy so quickly and completely, all that's left is the cartoonish sucking sounds echoing in my head. 

There were a couple of administrivia that followed Mom's passing, made worse by the fact I never use grown-up reading-and-writing Japanese any more; customs and processes changed in the 30 years since we left, especially after the earthquake and Covid, so I needed my siblings' help. Issues settled, with our both parents gone, for all intents and purposes we're more or less estranged from each other, both siblings busy with families and circles of their own. It's a sad situation, something Dad was adamant should not happen, having seen it in Mom's family. On reflection, though, my siblings were too young to remember the good days of that extended family, they may not have understood what Dad meant. 

* * * * * 

 

I had the good luck of meeting a builder who specializes in reworking old homes and a fabulously knowledgeable handydude early in the year. I contracted both to fix a non-serious but long-time roof leak and to extend the steps in front of the door, the builder to fix/build and the handydude to clean/paint the roof in the aftermath. These two appeared to have been fairly casual about coming and going as it suited them, (or, they had firm plans in their heads, and just weren't telling me,) and it having been in the dead of the winter when it rains a lot, for six months off and on, I wasn't sure who was going to pop around when. But the jobs got done, and we are very happy with the results. Good blokes, both. 

You'd never believe it, but because of the builder's scheduling changes and the weather, I scrubbed/sanded/stained the wood charcoal over two or three weeks in June-ish, with the help of a scaffold the handydude loaned me. I could only work 1-3PM each afternoon because of the moisture/temperature/light, but it was an interesting and rewarding experience. Gosh, you can really tell the difference in the season from the pics. 

There are more to be done by us this summer; the wood for the entrance steps was very green, so we had to wait until summer to oil/stain, in natural pine-y color probably. Ben will build a narrow side-table like thing to go under the bay window since the corners of that thing are really sharp and normal-height people could easily hurt their faces/heads, (although I fit right under it.) We don't want folks to walk too close to it. More than half the flower pots still sit in another part of the garden since late April, and they need prettying up and arranged. As for the rest of the garden, they were completely neglected until very late spring; we've been working on some patches, but we have a long way to go to bring the whole place up to our normal-messy standard.  

* * * * * 

The biggest issue of 2025, though, was aging, both cognitively and physically. Cognitively I'm doing what I hated when my mom did; speaking without thinking first but with irritatingly firm conviction. It drives me mad, but I can't tell when I'm doing this and only realize afterwards. I repeat myself more than before. Writing has become onerous, which surprised me, but most days I just can't be bothered. And then there is technology of all sorts I'm not even interested in but are required to lead a normal life these days. 

By far the biggest issue of the year was osteoarthritis, especially on my left hip. After contemplating for a long time, I finally switched to a new GP, who promptly sent me to get X-rays, but then declared I didn't have arthritis, only to rescind it that judgement. I have "moderate to severe" cases on both hips. I still like her and, for now, trust her. 

For at least half the year, I was hurting and couldn't sleep most nights while the hip throbbed all night. I slithered inside the house, and crawled on and off that scaffold like a snail. I never had someone else's arthritis so I can't tell you if I'm exaggerating, but I got in the habit of wondering what the heck I was doing with my life. 

Came September, after months of what felt like a life of an invalid, I started taking joint health remedies, often ignoring dosage recommendations, all day every day. Be they psychological or not, (some of them I think are not,) they have worked and the last three months I have not stayed up all night but rather woken up later after I've been in the same position for a while. These remedies don't cure arthritis nor or work forever, and already I'm increasing intake of powder collagen, but at least I'm moving some of the time, and getting some things done. And my GP is monitoring. 

Arthritis prevents me from exercising, though, even from walking descent distances, and, I had two long-awaited dental implants, (made possible by pension,) so I can chew properly now. Tough my weight in numbers haven't increased much, I swear my mass is massive and ever expanding! Ben and I will eat better and walk this summer, and if long walks is not possible, I may start looking at gadgets we can help me at home. And speaking of Ben, he now has a chronic back problem, but that's another story. 

* * * * * 

Aren't we all exhausted by politics? New Zealand, because of the size of the country, has turned so far Right so rapidly it's making my head spin. Among the issues that disgusts us on the Left is our current regime is trying to cancel the Treaty of Waitangi. I can't tell you what a big deal that is. And we're looking at another election in a year's time but the Left has gone all purple and not doing itself any favours to try to win my vote. I've been a consistent Left-leaning voter all my voting life, and I really don't understand how we got here.    

* * * * * 

What's for 2026? For me at the top of the list is arthritis: my GP's plan is to try physiotherapy for practical purposes, (because they can't "cure" arthritis,) and then see if, (or I say "when",) I need to be seen by a specialist. New Zealand's health care is OK in general, great in emergencies, I hear, but involves a lot of waiting, and I've been waiting to be seen by a physiotherapist, although they did get in touch with me to tell me the wait is long, but can they send me written stuff in the meantime? 

If we can wing it, we would like a trip to Japan before my movement is further restricted. We'll see family, but Ben hasn't been home since 2018 for Mom's 88th, and a last? meaningful trip in Japan to see somewhere interesting will involve a lot of train and bus rides, which require stamina, so the longer we wait, the less practical it feels. So this is on the wish list.  

I would like to get back to weaving. It sounds so strange to see it written down, but now this has become a goal, yet not an unachievable one. The big loom's mechanism and speed is still a problem, but we need to spend some time thinking about a remedy. Table looms, on the other hand, are so versatile and handy, they are becoming my favourites. Four-shaft Jack is also superb in making sturdy quick pieces. And I still have the RH. Something will happen soon enough. It's just prioritizing, since any task takes so much longer these days, and between drawing, needlepoint, the house, the garden... well, I've honestly haven't got time to stay an invalid! 

Lastly but not the least, with life being sucky in general, I've noticed a lot of little kindness of strangers of late. Perhaps I was careless to have missed them in my younger days. Perhaps folks are taking pity on this fat little limping woman. I don't know. but I appreciate them, and the fact I notice them. 

I hope you'll hear from me once more before the end of 2025, but even if not, do have a lovely end of this year and a easy start of the next, with your loved ones, filled with laughter and good food. 

See you soon. 

EDIT: I had a dream about Mom this morning, not as frequent as Dad popping up, but more often since the anniversary of her passing last month. For the last year I was so relieved she was finally able to quit her horrible life of the last year, or five years, depending on how you look at it, I honestly didn't feel as sad as I expected. 

She went into care five months before Covid, and was informed of the extent of the "plague". Nursing homes all over Japan had/still have their own rules about closure or visitation restriction rules, which went on for years. By the time most rules went away, all her friends were busy again, some even going into care themselves, so my siblings were her only visitors. I quit teleconference with her in February when I felt it was more burden than fun for her; I discussed it with my sister, who agreed. In retrospect, who knows?

It was only around the first anniversary that I started to finally miss her, realizing she not only left her misery, but us, too. I said so to my siblings, and I don't think they were very impressed, although the estrangement started long before that. I'd forgotten about that until now. 

The Sixth

I've nearly finished preparing The Sixth and Sunflower I for the Suter Shop; perhaps I'll take them on Thursday on the first anniversary of visiting the shop in a long while and meeting Annie the Manager. The Sixth needs fringes trimmed, and I still see 60/2s sticking out both pieces, but I want to write this post before thoughts escape.

The Sixth, much of A-side, the side I see as I weave.

The Sixth, most of B-side.

 

Colors and Pattern Wefts

Weaving a larger piece on a larger loom made me focus on "big picture" colors, especially the patter wefts, in contrast to minute nuances that include tie-down wefts. I contemplated this towards the bottom of this post; see the second last photo. We know I default to gradation, and then the shiny or bright or very saturated fall out of favour, while it's these very flashy colors I wanted to use in this piece. Should I select a narrower range of pattern weft colors for the next piece to make the piece more vibrant?

Ditto the size/scale of the patterns and frequency of color change; there's no need to change colors as often as on the small loom, especially tie-down wefts. I can't decide if longer repeats in both directions so the motif "bits" are larger, or even some continuity in the threading, (in the next warp,) and lifting, (even the next piece on this warp,) all the way would be more suitable. I'm also thinking about my pet-project of elaborate tie-down patterns, but for this to work well, weft color/changes may need subduing.

Big Computer Dobby vs. Tiny Sample Looms - Physical aspects
There are technical/physical difference in the way I weave on the two looms. The most obvious is the swing of the arms, but as important to me is the distance between Shaft 1 and the breast beam and under it, i.e. how much I can see of what I've woven.

I found more weft "loops" on Sunflower I. While weaving The Sixth, I made similar loops, particularly with 60/2 for some reason, but I was able to see them and correct them right away. 

Of course the big difference is pre-decided, (yeah, I just made up a word,) lifting/treadling vs spontaneous. I was able to concentrate on other aspects, like colors, tension, selvedge, or weft loops. But I haven't made major discovery, as I was trying to get used to standing and weaving on the big loom, paying attention to the air-related problems of the last year. I suspect, though, in future re. tied unit weave on the big loom, they may be more planning ahead of threading and treadling, even with colors, and concentrating on the technique of weaving as I weave.

Sunflower I, one side.

Sunflower I, the other side.

Onward!

Mementos

I've been back a week, and in that time I've done so much careful handwashing, my hands now feel like sandpaper. But I'm pleased I've had overall good results, because usually I'm more reckless and end up ruining stuff.

First off, clothes; it never ceases to amaze Sister and me how much Mom has/had, even in her tiny nursing home room; and I mean a tiny, tiny room with one wardrobe too small even for me. Because of her mobility issues in the last five years, in spite of my sister's monitoring and targetted laundry scheme which included dry cleaning, handwashing by her, gentle cycle on her machine, regular nursing home laundry service, some items had not been worn in years but not removed, some worn but not laundered/repaired, while others looked dejected from wear for a generational clotheshorse like Mom. There was just so much. Sister didn't want any, and I couldn't contemplate a heavy luggage, so all went into fabric recycling, except a yellow raincoat which was Mom's last signature garment. (And a pair of PJs I needed right away because what I packed was too warm.)

It's synthetic, dry clean only. I found a microfiber cloth I used for some years, didn't know how to dispose of after learning how evil they are, and stuck in the general "household cleaning" box. Gentle rubbing with the moistened cloth took care of faded grime down the front and on one sleeve; I couldn't help noticing the patterns and placements attested to her many falls before becoming wheelchair-bound in late 2020.

There were also a few small and colorful woven pieces she made, which I packed when she moved into the nursing home, the most important of which I wrote about in the last post. Ones I selected were not necessarily her "best", but I brought home all of them, because I was aware there is no more Mom pieces forthcoming. I knew if I didn't keep them, I will regret; not to mention, they are in cheerful colors I love. 

Thinking back, she loved making "show" pieces like knotted work, and rugs, more than cloth. We all have a few of her rugs, but they were early pieces, possibly because she didn't want them around. In her 2016 exhibition, we included a dozen or so later rugs, more carefully planned and better-constructed, which after the exhibition we gave away, and the rest thrown out when we moved her out of the apartment. There were just so, so many.

Mom might have said this was a rare sample she made in preparation for something else, but I never saw the something else, so my guess is she was so pleased with the sample she didn't make that something else. Which sounds so Mom. It sat recessed in a square brown picture frame, and I'm thinking of giving it a new mat and a similar frame. I vacuumed this piece, but probably won't wash it.

There is/was a Swedish dyer and yarn producer Mom loved so much she visited her twice, but I can't find her online this morning. In Mom's world, there were colors, and then, this woman's colors. Majority of yarns used, if not all, came from her Swedish studio. I first put this piece to travel with her, but found the balls I packed with a frame loom on Mom's request when she moved. She said she started one piece, but I couldn't find the frame, so she got the balls in dreamy colors, and I kept this.

I performed one of the gentlest wool handwash jobs and dried it on a rack. I could never figure out which way Mom intended to be up/down, (I bet you can tell me if I showed you the back,) but today, I'm going with this orientation. I've been pondering weaving a large-ish cushion cover and sewing this on in the middle. It won't be practical, but interesting. 

When Mom came to Nelson without Dad, I usually had a new warp on the 16-shaft she could weave/sample; we also discussed latest samples/pieces and photos; swapped new yarn info, and Mom raided my bookshelf. One year "Tapestry Weaving" by Kirsten Glasbrook had just arrived; I wasn't as interested in tapestry as I was taken by her colors, and since Mom wove tapestries, I thought it'd be a good powwow topic. Well! Mom loved it so much she took it home in her hand luggage. (And just now, as I was going to photograph the page, I found her A3-size photocopy in the book!)

About a fortnight later, I received photos of the finished piece; considering mail those days took nearly a week to arrive, that's fast! Good thing she had yarns in all the right colors on hand, eh! :-D Also interesting she chose to make the finished piece upside down and back to front cf. the picture.

This was another gentle handwash job, keeping the beads and bottom fringe dry. I stuck a metal knitting needle to hang dry, but may replace it with a bamboo version, or so something else entirely. The color might have faded ever so slightly, but no pressing was necessary.

At the height of Mom's rug-weaving days, she wanted different rug wool in reds, so I ordered the smallest mixed lot I could find. I know she wove some, but she complained I had ordered too, too much, so on the last day of my 2010? visit, I put on a red warp on her RH for a cushion cover and started weaving. That evening, Dad, who was blind on one eye but also never noticed/commented on such trivia as colors, exclaimed, "Oh, isn't this an uplifting project!" Mom finished it immediately and put in a perfectly-sized... innards for Dad to use, until I cut it open and brought home the cover only. Then put it around my not-small-enough corduroy-covered cushion to photograph. :-P

Mom loved to weave, and dye and spin, (or is it that she loved textiles themselves?) but her interest was more experimental than mine; seeing interesting pieces on her travels around Japan or brought to her home in her youth, and later on her travels with friends and Dad or gifted by us in the form of books and large-format calendars, she inquired how things were made, and tested then out like a science experiment. (When I cleaned out her apartment in 2019, there was only one, one!, scarf she or I made over decades, but she had kept her many decorative pieces displayed all over the apartment.) This made her a more interesting person to talk to; probably a better teacher; it also suited her sociable character/life, and her generation where widespread knowledge of regional textiles traditions was far more prevalent.

Here are her last two survivors of her travel acquisitions, on top of which sat heavy objects for some years, but otherwise in good repair without excessive discoloration; the navy on the left looks much better IRL. but I also have gazillion souvenir pressies. I am contemplating gentle handwash, perhaps with Orvus, though my usual source is out of them for now.

On the other hand, Sister's and my heart break to think of how many Swedish blankets went into recycling. We laughed imagining Mom packing them into suitcases, tossing out clothes if necessary, while Dad watched half frowning, half in admiration of her passion, and offering tons of "advice".

In fact, I'm in awe of Mom's energy/passion/speed aimed at textiles that piqued her interest. She didn't waste time reading/studying/contemplating, and just made them. Which made her "body of work" was enormous. It was a good, and mighty lucky, life, in textile and her other endeavours. I'm happy for her, and Dad has got to be satisfied with the astronomical investment he made. (In addition to travels and yarn/equipment purchases, I'm thinking of the roof of our family home he had raised by a meter+ to increase Mom's yarn storage space. True story.)

Though sad, we three siblings are relieved Mom's been freed from the physical/cognitive dungeon she was thrown in for five years/this year/her last fortnight, depending on how you look at it. She's in good company wherever she is, while I am now the eldest of our tiny Mitsuhashi clan of ten. Now that's something to ponder.

Get Busy, Mom!!

This was my mother's proudest piece of weaving, done sometime in the 00s. It's based on a photo she took in Queenstown. She (natural?) dyed all her yarns, and spun most. It took her agonizing months of do-overs, making her doubt if she could ever weave something she saw in her mind, with exasperated Dad shouting from the living room to get a "more pleasant" hobby!

This is a photo of the original photo on film. It's hard to tell because I took this under harsh hotel room lights, while the top pic of the piece, in a more subtle living room, but the light and saturation are very close in real life. The blurriness of the pic didn't matter because she wanted to capture the red of the lichen a little distance away. She had this piece in a group exhibition in Japan once or twice, and I borrowed it for my 2007 exhibition; this was the only piece of weaving a visitor was interesting in purchasing. :-D

I'd come to think of Mom as having been more interested in dyeing and spinning, and then in weaving, but I now think that's wrong. She often had complete/bigger pictures, far more than my very narrow focus, and honed in on different aspect depending on the project. This was the one project she wanted to perfect all three equally. Dad and I can tell you, though, Mom went into the greatest length of research, trial and error, and, oh, the reworking, in dyeing.

There was at least one more piece she worked almost as passionately, one trying to recreate the azures of the Mediterranean, which she gave me. Except... it was/is a cotton bathroom mat, which we use, and wash, ruthlessly, so the poor thing now looks like a rag of many blues. 

Mom died, in her sleep we believe, early Sunday morning, after I saw her for the first time in over five years. She will be cremated with the tapestry piece among few other of her favorite things this morning. But no, no; no rest in peace for her, she'll hit the ground/cloud running, looking for interesting folks to talk to, in English if the spirit moves, because Dad will inevitably be among them; she'll probably hear his uproarious laughter before she sees him.

Good travels, you two.

 

Triumph of Something/Near Fire

Not counting my first Pebbles project, my sixth tied unit weave piece came off the loom last night. (The fifth remains on the sample table loom.) It was a triumph of... something, many things. Recent posts sounding like a litany of loom problems, I was looking forward to a 100% upbeat post, but foolishly declared on FB, "Goddess of Weaving willing, the first piece should come off the loom today. But did I just jinx it? Because this has been a real Murphy's project." Well, yes, indeed, I did.

* * * * *

(Ignore this part; it's for my record. I may have posted this recently, but too lazy to look up.)
To summarise: I made three warps two winters ago; put one on the loom and sampled it once, but the shafts stopped working properly early last winter. After a couple of months of rushing around fixing them, I wanted to make sure the shafts still worked, and one day lifted the shafts on a loom with a big shed without securing every warp end at the front, causing most to come out of the reed, and quite a few, out of the heddles. I was so disgusted with myself I didn't take a pic, but I should have, because it was one glorious bird's nest. I didn't mind because I wasn't crazy about the pattern threading, but I couldn't be bothered rethreading until this winter, and sampling resumed this spring. Considering there was a ten-year gap between sampling and weaving the purple, third piece, this sixth is proceeding at break-neck speed! 

* * * * *

Litany of Issues:

1) Shaft 2 is a jumper/joiner; it likes to lift when it is not required to, but only sporadically. I noticed this when I wanted to weave backwards earlier in the week to fix a weft which had draw in too far. When a shaft lifts when it need not, or more frequently lifts unevenly, (one side much higher than the other,) it usually means cords holding the shafts are tangled, or came off the spool at the top, but I found no such instance. I then created a file lifting just Shafts 1 and 2 and 3 in different order and combination and ran it, and this appeared to have fixed the problem.

It happened again yesterday, when I realized the reason why I couldn't see the weave pattern was not because it was too dark in the room, not because I was using nearly identical dark purples in the tie-down and pattern, but because I was weaving in the wrong order, or using the wrong sizes. When I opened the shed to unpick, even though I had the correct pick, the shed was different from when the weft went in.

Once again I checked the cords and the spools; once again I tried the file. I could not find anything obviously at fault, while Shaft 2 acquired a mind of its own, sticking its tongue at me, lifting as it pleased. While checking the cords, however, I noticed the tension were uneven, so I adjusted them to more or less the same degree of tautness. (Geez, there's got to be a better way to say this?) I noticed cords connected to Shaft 2 were particularly slack, so I tightened them a smidgen more than I needed to. That seemed to have done the trick but I'm not certain if I really fixed the problem.

I unpicked roughly 2.5cm, 48 picks, and found Shaft 2 had lifted three times when not called for. After that, though I didn't check every single pick, I looked up annoyingly often, and Shaft 2 operated as indicated in the files.

This summer I must take out all the shafts, wax the wooden parts so they slide easily against each other, (how long has it been???) and adjust the cords thoroughly. This is good timing as I need to reconsider heddle distribution if I were to weave more of tied unit weaves, so I don't have to move them as I run out while threading. 

2) I am better at placing the shuttles in the correct order when using two pattern wefts. It's with a single pattern weft I'm more casual, weaving with the wrong size; I caught myself twice.

3) The very first pattern pick of the double pattern weft draft I used lifts 1+4. Both times I used this file, something caused unseemly long skips in several places. You might have noticed it in this pic previously, because I debated whether to post it. This is way beyond the Shaft 2 problem, and I have no idea. I didn't even notice until a little too late, and honestly after the first time I thought it was a fluke. I have plenty of other places where I lift only 1+4, this has never occurred elsewhere. And, I mean, you can't miss it. For the next piece, I may lift one more shaft, or not use this file at all.

The first time was worse. It can be seen in the left three quarters of the entire width. 

1+4 lifted.

The top bunch of taupe yarns show the correct distribution. 

4) I have issues with my pattern weft color choices, mostly coming from my penchant for gradation when in doubt. But let me first finish the piece properly, take good pics, and tell you about them, because I realize how it look fresh off the loom different from when it's properly finished. Suffice it to say, the two ends of the piece looking completely different won't be solved in the washing machine.

I started nicely as seen at the top, and managed to keep it going for a while, until I was exhausted, and defaulted to gradation as I often do. Well... gosh, darn.  

* * * * *

Having whined at great length, I definitely have upbeat bits.

Standing and looking down at the cloth as I weave has definitely improved my technique. Selvedges look OK, I felt comfortable with them and didn't have to do any of my tricks, even though the proof is in the wet-finish. 

My body got used to weaving this way markedly after day 3; I wasn't sore or exhausted in the evenings, just tired evenly. The only thing I must remember is to walk the pedal, which was difficult when I was concentrating on other aspects. When I didn't walk, my ankle on which I stood too long hurt the next morning. But if I try to change feet, say, every four or even eight picks, at least both legs got tired to the same degree. Now I'm wondering if raising my footstool by 2 or 3cm would improve the comfort even more.

And here is the best bit. In many ways, it was an exhilarating piece to weave. Which is probably why I could stay calm in spite of mechanical problems. Many things were decided on the spot and I never knew how things would look until I wove. I can't recall a project where I was allowed to indulge in my whim so often, so thoroughly, all the way to the end. So the colors aren't spectacular, but the whole process was strangely so satisfying. 

* * * * *

We had Indian takeaway; I'll finish the piece on the weekend, then get started on the next piece.

* * * * *

I forgot to tell you about the most tragicomic part of the day. With Shaft 2 tamed and 30 or so picks to go, I suddenly smelled something burning. I turned off all conceivable switches, opened the door to the garage, the stairs, and the exterior window, wondering if someone was BBQing outside. Nope. I turned on the bathroom fan, and went upstairs and went outside to checked again, but it was definitely coming from the basement. I turned on the house vent system, and asked Ben, who was working from home, to come have a look. He opened up the computer but found no smoke or heat coming from anywhere. We were completely flummoxed because the smell was as strong as ever.

And then it dawned on me, and I turned around.

We have two of these in the house, and the top is open, with no lids. Occasionally suicidal bugs jump in to self-immolate. This lamp sits in the middle of the room to give the whole room a soft, even light. I tipped it, and sure enough, Ben says, "You have one customer."

I can't remember how long it took to weave the last 30 or so picks. I was exhausted, exasperated, and ex-whatever-ed. What. A. Day.

The End.