Getting Things Sorted

Last Thursday, the Fedex guy arrived on our doorstep with a plain brown paper wrapped box and inside was this box.   Isn't it beautiful?   😁

It has my new baby... my new interface or brain for the Megado loom.  I watched it travel across Canada for a week and arrive a day late. Thankfully I didn't have to wait out the long weekend and quite honestly, my hat is off to the delivery guy as the address was wrong!  He decided to go with the postal code.    Smart man!














We got it open and wiped it down and found there was no manual or instruction sheet inside.    The manual I have on hand was for the old dobby technology.... and the online instructions are for the new wifi enabled dobby 2.0 but I managed to get it set up okay and running within 30 minutes.   Yes, we're back in business again!

Lets take a minute to say our good byes to the old dobby.   I gave it to Bruce and he took it out the garage and promptly took it apart.  I walked by the box and saw this sad sight:

It really does look like old technology compared to new computers today. (Not that I open them up or anything like that!)  The outer box was beautiful solid beech wood which he might reassemble and do something with.  A bird house?     The 'okay' sticker  in the photo is from 2013-2014 when it was sent out for some repairs and a tune up.   A $700.00 'tune -up'   😳.   Back in 2000-2002 when this was new and just starting its weaving career, this jumble of parts was worth $2500.00 to buy complete and running.   Looks rather sad now doesn't it?

Meanwhile, here are some pictures of the new dobby interface installed and working:

It has a black metal box which does the job..... but I do miss the wooden one. It blended in nicely and didn't look so 'borg' like.  (Trekkies will understand this reference)

The solenoids fire with some punch to them and are louder as a result. I might wear ear plugs; I'll have to see how I feel about that. I might just get used to it.....  or play my music louder!

The black seat cushion is something new I ordered on line and received just before our isolation period began. Its a gel cushion and quite comfy.   Its not shaped for the bench (not many would be!) but the over hang does help with the edge of the bench cutting into the back of my legs and my 'bum bones' don't hurt now.

So now that we're weaving again, I'm using an 8/2 bamboo in white and weaving a runner which will be as long as what ever warp is left on the back beam.  I'm going to fringe it.   I reckon there's at least one or two towels worth of warp so that's 68 inches +/-    It will be a surprise!

On a more personal note.....

My husband Bruce is having emergency surgery this afternoon. He has a large obstructing kidney stone and he is in danger of his kidney function being so reduced that the organ will fail.  He's in the hospital now and in good hands. He's in a hospital in another community so there's a long drive.  The hard part is not being able to be with him during this pandemic time.

I'm missing my best friend.

Edit:  as of April 19th:  Bruce spent 5 days in hospital and was released to come home on oral antibiotics. In 2 weeks time they will go in and get the big stone, and so we anticipate another hospital stay.  Even in strange times as these, life situations continue.

Please stay home and stay safe.... we had a first hand look at what is going on inside our hospitals and the staff need us all to hold the line.

 🌎  🌍  🌏

Bohemian Gypsy

I had seen many woven versions of # 728, from  Carol Strickler's " A Weavers's Book of 8- Shaft Patterns".  It went onto the 'to-do' list, someday.   It seemed the perfect combination of pattern and potential  exploration of colour a weaver could find.  Endless possibilities!

I planned for and wound a 8 yard warp of 8/2 unmercerised cotton on my warping mill and that was a major commitment in itself.  So many cones of yarns, tracking the colour order..... and it took a few afternoons. It was also great for using up small part cones and stash bust as well.    Then it hung around for a couple of months while other projects jumped to the head of the line up as my interests changed.

As a warp just hanging there, it somehow wasn't as appealing. Sort of a congregation of dark broody colours. I had used three shades of purples, a magenta, medium blue and a cinnamon with a dash of off white as the glue between stripe groupings.   Along with the cones of warp yarns I had tucked in a cone of bright raspberry pink as a potential weft yarn..... and that is what saved the day.

I got it wound on along with my trusty helper, Bruce, and soon I was threading away.   Tricky threading to keep track off, plus watching for the colour changes to happen in the right spots! It seems I had the bright idea of making some changes in colours while winding the warp and the next day forgot I had done it. So long story short, I had to flip out 4 ends and hang 4 of the new and improved colours. It meant I had 6 weighted film canisters hanging off the back to adjust.    Reminder to self: make notes and read them!

So, the bright pink raspberry apparently did the trick and transformed this warp into something very special.   Its a party for the eyes!  

I end up with 6 towels (finished dimensions 20" x 29"). Three in the raspberry, one woven with the darkest purple in the warp, one used the magenta from the warp and another I used a soft lime green.  It sort of fades away next to the brighter ones, but when viewed alone and by itself, has a charm all its own.

Soft lime weft:

Magenta weft:

Raspberry weft:

Dark purple weft

... and a bonus table runner with short fringe!

About the time I was hand sewing the hems on the towels, I found this skirt being advertised for sale on FaceBook as 'Bohemian Gypsy".    Well, how about that?   My little kitchen towels are a fashion trend.

Here's my "Patron of the Arts" actually weaving!  Its taken me 23 years to get him to try throwing a shuttle and he did very well. "Over and under" the floating selvedges,  and marching along the treadles.  So one of the towels had a small section he wove and I left it in.  It was simply perfect, in all ways...   💖

Laying Down a Heavy Load

 This is Bruce, my husband and the love of my life..... and as of last week, now cancer free!   Well, they removed the tumour and had it tested. It was cancer but very early stages and they feel they got it all.  The cells were 'native' to where it was found so not a metastasized cancer.    They do want to take a CT scan to ensure it didn't develop from something higher up, like the kidney.    Since they had blasted kidney stones in one kidney and not seen anything there,  its just to be safe.   They will also do a recheck every 3, 6 and 12 months to ensure the tumour doesn't regrow back.

It was supposed to have been  a day surgery but he end up staying three days, two nights due to developing an infection and high fever.  Seems there are bacteria released when they laser the stones.  I was happy to leave him there as they had all measures to hand to take good care of him.  I drove to and fro between Campbell River and Courtenay, and managed our home, dog and all the emails and texts to friends and family.   I was rather tired as you can imagine..... and NO weaving (again)

He responded well to the IV antibiotics and soon was on his way home to relax in his jammies.... but still passing kidney stones.    That will continue for a time until they clear away the loose stuff.   There are still more they couldn't reach, plus, a whole 'nuther kidney to do!   This is an ongoing process and he says (direct quote and please add sarcastic tone) "I'm so excited"  😳

So once he has his energy levels back up, he's free to be his usual self again.....

"helping" at a spinning  day 2000

Making bread with no recipe.

'washing' the laundry room floor

Being a real Dapper Dan  (see movie " O' Brother where art Thou?")