Weaver-ing

I started this project on May 5, and wove some on May 15, then on Sept 30, a week ago Monday. It took three sittings to get mere 125cm, and need at least 50cm more. This is a piece for a friend who lost his mother not too long after my Dad died; I like it and I would love for him to have it but, man, the warp keeps breaking, and all last week I pondered cutting the losses and weaving another piece in a simpler twill which the cashmere warp can handle. I haven't made my mind yet.

Downstairs is a mess. I wove fairly consistently after I came home from Japan a year and two weeks ago, and the boxes, cones, balls, and chains show I was thinking of several projects at once until around March, from memory, when the hip went bung. It also tells me I never intended to stay away from the looms for long, in spite of a drawing exhibition, Australia, and weeding. I'm keeping the mess untouched at the moment, then gradually pick up projects I can remember and put away those I can't, or don't appeal to me any more. I have an appointment with a popular osteopath at the end of October, a seven-week wait, but he's supposed to be a miracle maker, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

As a result of discussing my Saori experience with Pat, she's showing me tapestry techniques to use in conjunction with shaft weaving. I warped a dark green cotton warp so I can see it later as this is intended as a small sampler of techniques, not a tapestry piece. Mom made this frame loom herself many years ago.

Every week I Skype with Mom, I can see her red thrum cushions in the background and they look good. I had a red aborted-project warp so I decided to weave something similar. My warp is from one project, so they are all the same 17/2 wool, four reds but same texture and a little rough. This project needs to be a quick one to give me instant/rapid gratification, so I needed thick wefts, and finally found use for red wool yarns I spun when I was first learning to spin sometime in the last decade of last century. They are deliciously irregular, singles, and scratchy; now I remember why they never made into any projects so far. Since we don't need any more cushions in our living room, this may become another potential bag fabric. Lacking variety of expression, this won't look as interesting/attractive as Mom's but at least I can weave a little every day. I'm also recalling how Dad complimented us on Mom's red warp; it might have been the first and the last time he said something, "this is so cheerful!"

Spring is here; hayfever arrived at last but so far it hasn't been bad, except for my rough weft. And remember the garlic I went on and on about? Well, after putting them in late-ish, we had a couple of short but cold spells, and it appears most of them sprouted. We're going to be very garlic-rich this year, and I love it.