Missing Dad / What Next? / April Spools Day

I've been back in #44 a little over 48 hours, and in that time, and in the preceding 12 hours, I've gone from hysterical to demented to detached and started writing about this gazillion times in my head, but have not come up with anything readable. So I'll work on it a little later. Suffice it to say, I have so much regrets and can only hope I get another shot at it.

As regards work, I finished and wrapped my water-motif scarf, but didn't take a picture; suffice it to say, I had great tension problems and though I came up with a ingenious way to combat it, there were two different cloth in one piece of scarf. Mom's project was finished the night before I left so I wet-finished it a few hours before I left. Again, no photos of it, sorry, but this one looked so spring/cherry/wind-inspired we both love it. This warp is long enough to weave two pieces, and she's going to weave another, possibly with a different weft.

I dressed a small 8-shaft loom with a 4-shaft sampler warp for Mom and her students and prepared tutorial sheets. The aim is for them to see (and keep) samples of different threading and lifting of simple twills. For Mom, this will be something of a toolkit or vocabulary for her first few 8-shaft-two-block twill projects; for her students I hope they will see they do not have to follow a formula/recipe, but that they can easily make up their own to suit their taste and the purpose of the pieces. And eventually move on to two blocks if they so desire.

Here are the drafts they have been given, (theirs in a lift plan since they will weave on table looms;) I asked them to weave twice the number of picks for each pattern and the threading is ever so slightly different from these sheets, designed to give Mom a chance to explain the anatomy of weaving drafts.

I asked them to pay attention to the fact the reverse of 1:3 twill is a 3:1 twill as I personally like two-faced twills. Mom is excited with the idea and wants to weave a two-faced check piece.

I also managed to plan and discuss with Mom a small tapestry she is going to weave for me. The shapes symbolize members of my family pre-Ben and though I explained to her the basic idea, there is plenty of room for her to experiment, innovate and express, so I don't know what the final work is going to look like. Bliss.

As regards work, my mind is blank at the moment. I'm thankful I didn't finish the purple piece before I left so I can go downstairs and weave right away. But I'm not sure what to do with the blue piece intended for Dad as he cannot wear anything as heavy as that. I also have a mini blanket to wash.

I know it's already March 30, but would you like to have another crack at April Spools Day? Let's! Here are the guidelines.