Spinning Our Wheels 🚗 🔥

First of all, let me state that this is NOT our car but it was someone's reality just yesterday.  I fully sympathize as it was on my mind on May 21st.  {although it is apparently a Hyundai car}

This is our new to us 2019 Hyundai Tucson which we bought recently and  it was done basically on the spot.   It was a lovely Saturday on a holiday weekend and I had an errand to do in Courtenay about a 35 minute drive south of us. Hub was going to stay home but I talked him into coming along and enjoying the drive along the ocean.   So we headed out and got about 10 kms south of town when we noticed smoke coming out of the steering column!  We immediately turned around and slowly headed back, through town and out to the Hyundai dealership. We had the windows rolled down, and I had tucked the insurance papers into my purse and we were prepared to bail in a hurry if need be.  😳

Long story short, it would a spendy repair and a 2-3 week wait for the parts, for a 12 year old 2010 Santa Fe. It has been very good to us, very reliable.... until it scared us and we couldn't trust it anymore. So we went and kicked some tires and brought home the 2019 Tucson.   We're very happy, even if we do have a car loan again.  I'm also very grateful that Bruce came with me for the drive that day, otherwise I would have had to buy a car all by myself!  😁   Its fun to drive and I love the back up camera!    Smaller cargo space but then we don't have a large dog like Calli any longer or her big kennel....   still miss that girl!

After the long weekend, Bruce had to go back to the dealership to get help with some of the features and was stunned to see that a large portion of the building had burnt down! It would seem that a Santa Fe was up on the hoist and it caught fire.  Our hearts sank when we heard this news, but they quickly told us it was a 2015 Santa Fe and not ours.  Our old car is actually the white car to the left of this picture.  They were only down a weeks time and in that time they had cleared away debris and brought in building materials already....

So this Hansen e-spinner has been a wonderful distraction for the past weeks as my shoulder healed.   I have become quite at home with the machine now and using it for both singles and plying. There is a difference between an e-spinner and a conventional wheel but nothing difficult. Its more about a change in technique really. I know my feet appreciate the break and so I've decided to sell off my spinning wheel.    If you want to keep doing the things you enjoy, you must adapt.  The Woolee Winder has made using the e-spinner much easier.

So, yes I am weaving but not anything fast  or even every day.  The shoulder injury is simply something I don't care to repeat if I can avoid it.  I'm easing back into things and slowly building on time spent throwing a shuttle. The spring loom has 9.5 yards of cotton for towels, and I'm up to towel number 4 of  8 or 9.   Simple 6 shaft herringbone and cheerful colours which seem to make everyone happy who see them. 

This blue version was started yesterday......

I'm also planning a shawl warp with a beautiful painted warp I bought on line so that's next up for the Megado. It currently has two scarves underway but more on those next time. 

So that's may update on the goings on and interesting turn of events around here.  🌺 🐝

Some of our gardens right now....

chest nut blossoms

Clematis

snap dragons and white iris

 

Herringbone Twill: a Classic, Elegant Weave

As soon as I finished one men's scarf warp, I had another ready to go. I had more men folk to weave for!  This time I chose a soft silk yak blend in a silvery grey beige and sett it at 36 epi and I used 30/2 black silk as my weft. Now I would have chosen 20/2 but it seems I'm all out. I found a black 20/2 in thick and thin but the lines of this twill need to be sharp and crisp. The. pattern is a classic four shaft herringbone twill, using a standard twill tie up.

The total warp was for three scarves and I'm glad I was generous with fringe allowance as it gave me room to cut off each scarf as they were woven. Reason behind this was that I had some tension issues on the right hand selvedge. It was beamed tightly so I'm not sure why this happened again. (Last 16/2 cotton runner project had the tension go weird there on me too.) I'll look the loom over before reloading! I think it may have to do with how fine the warp was for this project and the last. It seems finer threads show tension irregularities very quickly. I'm going to read up on warping fine threads. Maybe see what Lillian Whipple has to say. She's the queen of beautiful fine thread weaving.

There was a section of plaid at either end for some interest but the middle was straight herringbone twill. They were woven for a total length of fifty four inches, plus a two inch fringe. I hemmed stitched every four ends to neatly secure the edges. They were washed gently in mild sudsy water and hung to drip dry. Next day they pressed up beautifully and I trimmed the fringe up neatly with a rotary cutter.

plaid section (before washing)

fringe before wash and trim

After the 'magic in the water'....

Very fine and butter soft!    Then after the magic of  our postal system...

My Dad wearing his new scarf,  with the picture taken by my brother.  Dad was a little hesitant about appearing here, but I thank him very much for stepping out from behind the camera for this shot! I think it looks great on him...

Now, what next for the Louet spring?   COLOUR !  

one warp wound....

...and the next to go!

More treats from the downsizing sale proceeds have arrived:

I swapped old books and yarns I'll never use for cash and bought these:

30/2 silk

60/2 silk from Japan (by way of Oregon) 

I'm hoping to paint silk warps this coming summer and have them ready for next winter's weaving...
But for now I'm resting as I've not been well. I'm typing this from my laptop in bed....I won't be here long as I have too much to do!