Another One Done and Moving with the Times

I used the black and the charcoal possum/merino/silk wefts; the new piece looks a little like Ben's old, old scarf, doesn't it?

I sampled two navy wefts. The top is wool you saw on the cone; the bottom is a wool/silk knitting yarn.

I love both colors; they don't look overly blue even "in person" but makes the cloth look crisper and fresher than black wefts. Or dare I say, the white, (i.e. the lighter gray,) look whiter?

Unfortunately neither fulled enough for my intended finish; they give the warp yarns room to fluff up beautifully, but the cloth feels like airy wool held together with strings. In the left sample, between the skinny white at the top and the very thick darker gray at the bottom, I auditioned three different colors of the wool the same as the warp. (Sorry, very changeable weather today and the colors are all over the show.)

I have warp enough for one, maybe two more. Shall I use wefts from the same lot as the warp to show off the loveliness of scaly wool; walnut wefts the same as the last fabric because there are orange bits in the darker gray warp looking for friendly hues; or shall I go for one of the navy blues?

I'm taking a break from the four shaft today as I have a painter man retouching the exterior paint after the house wash. In the gust. On a ladder. Not scaffolding.

Long time ago Ben built this workshop "sound system" from car stereo parts. Because it sits right next to the 16-shaft, it had to work in spite of considerable vibration, ergo car stereo, and it's never skipped in all the years I used/abused it.

I asked him to upgrade it cheaply because my listening behavior has changed. Previously I only ever listened to one AM station, (we have a hard time receiving FM in this house, so the above picture was a joke,) and/or played CDs. But more and more I've been listening to overseas radio, Youtube, (oh, writer's talks! Museum lectures!) and MP3s including audio books, all on a laptop whose volume doesn't quite get loud enough when I'm making a racket.

So he upgraded it for me on Saturday. Here's me listening to Rai Tre. The new one is iPod ready via USB, or takes AUX input plug. (That's what he told me.) I should even be able to listen to NZ FM via the laptop. But wait.

He even found a few FM stations, in the basement!Thanks, mate!

I contemplated getting an iPod or a Smartphone as a listening device, (happy with my pre-camera cell,) but I couldn't imagine weaving with a headphone and we have a pretty big CD collection but I can't be bothered uploading and these speakers are great, so maybe this is not the tidiest setup, but it's exactly what I wanted. And leaps and bounds compared to Saturday morning.

I'm furious at myself; it appears I missed cheap fares to Japan by dithering. Usually sleeping on things when I can't decide has done wonders for my sanity and best outcomes, but where airlines are concerned, hard to say.