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Sunday, November 15, 2009

Soft Silk Circles

Well, I had every intention of getting back on topic with weaving (most) of the time but... life has a way of throwing a few surprizing curves at you! So here's new newest project with a 'twist' to the plot.

It had been a very busy week with lots happening at home and hubby's work and we were enjoying a quiet Sunday morning together. We had a friend and neighbour coming over later and so I decided to make an apple crisp to have with our tea. I put the full dishwasher on and started to gather my supplies to make the dessert, when I noticed my right foot was very warm! The water was *pouring* out of the dishwasher! I tried everything with no success and in a very unlady like manner shrieked for help from Hubby. Long story short, the fill hose was on permanent fill and it's a darn good thing I hadn't left the room, or even the house! ( Can you just imagine coming home to that mess?)

We grabbed towels and starting mopping up water off the hardwood floor and Hub went downstairs to the laundry room for more (dog bath) towels....only to find that the water was coming through the ceiling... along to a light fixture and there was a sag in the ceiling with the weight of the water above ! So we shifted our attention to that room, conscious of the yarn stash just on the other side of the wall. *gulp!* The bulge let go and that was probably a good thing as the water drained out, rather than looking for another place to run to. In the picture below, you can see the line of water that ran right to the shared wall with the studio. Scary!



So after the insurance agent is called and the plumber has been in, what do you do? Well, besides waiting, you weave! It calms the jitters! Lilibet, my Spring loom was empty so I wound a 9 yard warp of 2/30 black silk, sett 36 epi for a warp width of just over 8 inches. It went on real slick and threading, sleying and tie up went well. Then as I started to weave, I was being inundated by the sound of sawing and banging next door as my laundry room ceiling was being taken down. Here's the draft (Clicking on it enlarges, or 'embiggens' as the Yarn Harlot says)



So as I sat down to weave, this is the loom in front of me....but... if I glance behind me, I see.....


This....all the loose contents of my laundry room... and then to my right...

My dye cabinet on a movers dolly


Ah, there's my procion dyes... and ikat tape... yes, I was going to try that this past summer.... oops! Next year?

So by the end of the afternoon, the laundry room looked like this and is drying properly.



So if this ship is sinking, this band will play on!

Back to the weaving! I had put my iPod on to drown out the noise and soldiered on. There was a brief glitch with a minor threading error, happily near the edge and I was quickly back in business. I did one repeat of the border in black to edge the scarf and my lighter weft is a silk/ camel blend in a soft tawny beige.

The treadling is (as usual for me) a bit tricky and eventually the pattern becomes familiar and there is a logic to the numbers! Hubby came home and saw it and loves how fine it is.... and the fact that there is warp enough for three scarves has him hoping one might be for him?




So the friend who was coming over that Sunday did, but much later that day after the clean up and the drying fans were running. He's a cabinet maker and was there to discuss our coming kitchen renovation, slated for early January. It can't come a minute too soon! ( and is possibly a bit late.)

In the next post, I'll show you the twill towels on the big gal Emmatrude, which now look to be destined for my kitchen.

I also got word that I sold this shawl at the sale today. Apparently the woman looked wonderful with it.... I hope she enjoys her coming Christmas celebrations!

I'm going to celebrate with a yarn order :) Some say, pass the bottle... well, I say pass the yarn!

14 comments:

  1. Great post Susan!

    when the goin' gets tough, most will go shoppin'. You just throw a warp on a loom and go weavin'.

    Luv ya girl.

    Hub.

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  2. Um, thanks hun! You did see my comments on my coming yarn order... right? The large box coming is *not* for you.

    Least, not this one....

    :)The all suffering Wife

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  3. Ah yes - the peril of water. Been there, done that, not quite so dramatically!

    Enjoy your new kitchen.

    Cheers,
    Laura

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  4. I'm not surprised that the shawl sold, it's so pretty.

    We had a hot water heater go kaput in previous house. Fortunately, it was on the bottom floor, which was concrete under carpet. I'm glad there weren't any looms or yarn hurt.

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  5. oh my, susan... sorry to hear of your flood woes - but your response was great! (i really like the new scarf :-)

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  6. Water can do so much damage!!!
    Thank goodness you were home!
    We once had the kitchen ceiling fall in because of a leak in our roof and had no idea it was leaking. What a mess!!!

    I love how you deal with misfortune. Weave!!!

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  7. What a story! Glad that all is being cleaned up and life moves on. I just had this wonderful image of you calmly weaving midst the chaos!

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  8. Yay for insurance, boo for the hassle and stress.
    Ode to Inge was one of my favorite things you've ever made, I hope she really loves it. (I'm sure she does, it's gorgeous!)
    First thing that comes to mind when we have extra money is yarn as well. Instead of monetary amounts, I think "How much yarn would that be?" I think it's in my genes?
    Your dying cabinet made me drool. I haven't learned yet, and have a few projects on the go in November, but soon I hope to get back to drop spinning all the natural fiber I bought so I can use it to learn how to dye.

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  9. What a bummer about the dishwasher! I've had a week of household appliance problems (dead washer - though not leaking, broken scale, car recalled) and it's no fun.

    Kudos to you for weaving your way through all that!!

    Congratulations on selling the shawl!! It is a beauty!

    And yes, it's always time for more yarn!!!

    Sue

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  10. A yarn order---what a wonderful idea! You do manage to make a horrible even into a funny story--that's a wonderful gift.

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  11. This pattern is fabulous, it looks so great! I hope everything inside your house gets repaired asap.

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  12. First, I must say your weaving project looks gorgeous! But mostly, I have to say I adore your dyeing cabinet! How beautiful!!!

    Congrats on selling the shawl, too.

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  13. What a mixture of emotions in that great post. On the one hand devastation with all the mess and hassle and on the other, there you are being creative and producing something new. A real positive out of a negative !
    The draft looks really complicated and will require lots of concentration, hope you will get peace and quiet to let you weave !
    Look forward to hearing more about weaving fine silk and of course how to finish it !

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  14. Wonderful weaving! Glad to see the damage isn't too bad too.

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