A Weaver is Born

I've finally started weaving with handspun, blindly I might add. 

I made a quiche yesterday and the plan was that we'd pick Alexia up in the morning and then go to a baby shower.  She loves baby showers.  We awoke to this and cancelled the trip - why drive in snow when you don't have to?!  SIL Mikeal brought Alexia to us mid morning and said that there was no snow anywhere until he left the highway and entered our valley.  We had between 3-4" and south of us got none.  It's so typical of our weather patterns which come through in bands.

I told DD Christina that I thought this would be the visit to see if Alexia was tall enough to weave, so she arrived full of antici-
pation.  The first thing she wanted to do was weave.  I'm so glad we had the open/closed shed discussion because she was able to try both and chose closed shed. 
I started her on plain weave, simply because I had those treadles tied up and she could start right away - she was rearing at the gate.  I had direct tie-up for the workshop so stopped her and changed to standard.  She wove twill for a couple of inches and then we decided to try point twill, but she said she couldn't remember it - could I write it down.  She has her very first treaddling pattern to follow.

I threw a lot at her all at once.  She needed to enter the shuttle over the floating selvedge at one end and under at the other.  She understood the 30 degree angle of the warp before closing the shed and beating and became quite concerned about selvedges.

She was at ease and relaxed and quickly under-
stood how to find out where she was in the pattern in case she wanted to undo a mistake, which most times was a loop at the selvedge.  She told me she thought weaving was so much easier than knitting.  In knitting, if you make a mistake you have to tear out the whole row and reknit every stitch.  In weaving, if you make a mistake you open up the shed, return the shuttle until you've found the problem and then weave again.  I do love to knit but I can see her point.

I labeled the treddles to help her keep track of where she was in her pattern.  I tried to make it simple, that 1 and 3 were thrown from the left and 2 and 4 were thrown from the right but that concept of left and right was the single largest hurdle.

Alexia has a hard time accepting her limited access to our tele-
vision.  She brought Harry Potter movies and thought we should watch them this afternoon in a marathon.  She's learning that we might have other priorities, like watching our NCAA teams lose.  She decided to weave some more and when she quit for dinner, the pink is how much she wove since she started. 

I went back after dinner to catch these last two photos.  I love how she retired her shuttle in the center of her weaving.  She's a weaver, with sticky note directives on her castle.  She'll finish the warp on this sampler and I'm already thinking about what we can do so she can weave her first scarf.

Quick Feedback

I understood that the appropriate way to beat your warp was to change sheds and then beat, which is how I've done it all along.  When Rae said she thought it would cause unnecessary draw-in, I came home and posted my dilemma and asked for your thoughts.  I decided to beat on an open shed on my sampler today, and oh my goodness, what a difference that made. 

For one thing, since my harnesses were still up, I knew exactly what shed I was on.  In addition, it naturally forms the 30 degree angle with the weft when you pull the shuttle from the shuttle race.  It disappears if you change sheds and beat.  I've decided to postpone purchase of an end-feed shuttle system until I weave another set of towels this way - then I'll decide.  I also wanted to pass on what I've learned.

I bought this Knitting Pure and Simple pattern last week.  Ian and I have participated in a NCAA March Madness pool for at least 15 years and really enjoy watching the matches.  They are all unpredictable and always exciting - and I'm not a TV sports fan.  I think the hook for me that these are young athletes who graduate from college and go on to other careers.  In a time when news is universally depressing, it's refreshing to see this kind of dedication and disciple.  Color me silly. 

This is the progress of my March Madness sweater.  There are two more days of games this weekend, so I select the contests I know I'll enjoy.  It's been a year of upsets so far and I  knit, knit, knit.  These kids play their hearts out and remind me to be a believer in our young people.

A Trip to Town

I had to be in town this morning to get my beautiful new crown - in my mouth. I love my young just-out-of-dental school dentist. The crown snapped on like a Lego and I got to keep the cast. We had talked a little about this technology over the past two visits. I'm fascinated that the technology for making a crown is the traditional lost-wax casting which means dental labs use is the same technology that Rodin used to make his bronze sculptures. I teased them that I now had an expensive classic work of art in my mouth.

Afterwards I drove south of town to the Apple store and talked to a Genius about a Mac Book Pro. I've been saving my shekels for a new computer and I'm quite divided on wanting to switch to Apple or be comfortable with the software I know. I'm a dyed-in-the-wool Microsoft Office devotee but I'm desperate for better photo management. Fortunately I don't have enough shekels yet. This sculpture was outside the store and I thought it typified my dilemma. The apple the kids dangle is Apple and I'm the beast - so confused.

I've dressed Miss Millie with a dummy warp and am tying on a secondary warp from my handspun yarns. I've been talking about doing this for years and now I'm doing this - a lap robe from Shetland.

The warp is on the right - Mickey - and the weft is on the left - Robbie. I've threaded in a diamond twill and though the color difference is minimal, I'm just going to see what I get for this first run. I think they want to see what I get too.

I'm weaving now on the final sampler from my workshop last October. You need to understand that this was my first workshop since I took a beginner class about eight years ago. So many questions were answered for me then and I want to get every last drop out of this learning opportunity. I stopped by Rae's on my home this afternoon. She took the workshop too and has been a great resource for me. She was letting me try her end-feed shuttle. In the course of my trial I asked her if she beat on a closed or open shed - I didn't want to mess her up. She said she beats on an open shed with the harnesses raised since it minimizes draw in. Whoa! What say?!! I wonder if I've been sabotaging my selvedges by beating on a closed shed. I'd sure love to hear from you other weavers. How do you bet you sheds? Oh boy, I bet that sounds racy to non-weavers :) Anyway, I'd love some feedback.

Seven-year-old Alexia called two nights ago on her Mommy's cell phone - she's going on break and wants to spend next week with us. As she gets older, it's gets a little more challenging to find activities we can do together. She's quite tall so I decided today that I'll see if she can weave on my sampler. After all, that's what it is. I'll change back to standard tie-up from direct and I think she should be able to have some fun.

I've been trying to remove word authentication to spare you that torture and Michelle has been a guinea pig, helping me from the viewer's side. I knew the settings in the old blogger but absolutely couldn't find what I was looking for in the new blogger. I found a tutorial and if you're as frustrated as I was and want to remove word authentication, check out this blog post.

In with the New

I wore these to sleep in the other night and my big toe kept getting caught in that hole.  I didn't mind the heel being gone since I didn't feel it unless I was barefooted, but the toe capture was problematic.  I think the problem is that Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock yarn is superwash so it doesn't felt in areas of wear.  It was time to say goodbye to this pair.

I finished this pair from BFL/silk handspun yarn that I bought at Black Sheep last summer and spun last fall.  It's been so warm that I haven't felt like knitting socks.  As always, Charlie had to investigate.

 I've decided to give the Noro Kuryon sock yarn another try, even with the thin bits wearing out at the heels on the socks I've knitted.  I think their colors are fantastic and the socks are so much fun to wear - until they wear out.  This time I'm continuing the traditional slip stitch heel pattern on down to the sole of the heel.  I think that might be the ticket.  I'll get back to you on that.

I finished the Charlie towels today.  This is the first time I've tied onto a steel dowel at the back like Rae does instead of securing with a lead and larkshead knots.  When I cut the warp off, I slid out the dowel and the loom was clear.  I'm hooked - that's my new method.  Seconds - that's all it took.  Thanks Rae!

 This is the hardest part for me.  The towels looks disgusting when they come off the loom.  They're stiff and misshapen, so I decided to get them hemmed and washed right away.  The problem is that I hadn't changed the clock upstairs for daylight savings time and forgot all about it.  I like to relax before dinner and I ended up washing and drying them while I cooked.  They were still pretty ugly after they were washed so I ended up snipping the threads and ironing them after dinner.  I've had more relaxing Sundays.

I'm glad to have them done - it was a fantastic learning experience in block weave.  I'm not sure I'm a fan, but these are going to be thick and thirsty towels.  For one thing, I know that block weave isn't enhanced with a myriad of colors.  If I do it again, I'll choose two colors and stick to it.   The back towel was my experimenting towel, the first one I wove.  The front two will be gifts for our friend who babysits our car and takes us to and from the airport.  There's an error in the threading but that's my spirit in the weaving.  I needed this pattern to get my mojo working.  Thanks Beryl!

I finished Stones from the River by Ursula Hegi last night for book club.  Amazon gave it four stars out of 366 reviews, I gave it five.  How we enjoy a book is always subjective but that book was my cup of tea - I can see why Oprah chose it for her book club.  I think our group is going to have a very good discussion on Tuesday.

Winding Up

 All of us staying at the beach house went back to Levyland on Sunday morning where other family were stopping in to help clean up and get the kids on their way to honeymoon at Santa Catalina.  Kristie was worried that they had overflowed their allotted ten trashcans and would be charged with an additional trash collection fee.  Yolanda found some rubber gloves in a cabinet in the garage and she, Kristie and I went through all the trash, removing the recyclables, consolidating all the trash into the ten containers.  Yuch!!

Chris and Michelle stayed a while longer, then stopped by with the boys for a visit.  You might wonder what Chris is doing with his hands.  This is his handful, Ben the explorer.

I loved this picture and added it just because I get such a kick out of Solomon, King of Cool.  He can't see the screen but he's not about to give up the shades.  We don't have WiFi there so I'm not sure what the 3-year-old champ of iPhones was doing but he was doing. 

The sunset was fabulous that evening and I don't know why I didn't get a picture of Michelle because we were both jumping up every 15 minutes to see if we could get an even better image of it.  They were the last visit of a wonderful weekend full of family.

Monday was just the two of us, pretty quiet after all the action.  We were stunned by the pelicans feeding on what apparently was a bank of anchovies for a good part of the morning.  I enjoyed another walk on the beach, though it seemed that everyone took the sunshine with them when they left.  We hung around the house, slept and read. 

Tuesday was so different from the fabulous weather the wedding party had enjoyed.  It's like it had been a wedding present.  We had an afternoon flight so were just waiting for the towels to dry when the realtor arrived to show the house, a sobering reminder that we are saying goodbye for good.  We've made some fantastic memories here and I wish that for future occupants.

Wedding Day

 We don't have pictures of the actual wedding.  Ian had some photos on his camera and I have no idea when he took them or what it did with the DSLR because it's big - you don't just put in in a pocket.  The wedding couple have just confabbed with the photographers and are processing to the beach.  As you can see Kristie is barefoot as is Carlos.  He didn't have the camera on the beach and is now asleep - by tomorrow I won't remember to ask him how he managed the beach photos.  Marriage is like that.

After the wedding Kristie is chatting with Sean, the officiate, the guy who was late to rehearsal because he got caught in traffic - so so SoCal.  He is also a coworker, one of the dozen DAs present.  Kristie did almost all the planning and prep work on her own, including arranging her own flowers.  She chose flowers from outside at the estate for inspiration in her arrangements, which included succulents.  I was able to get two cuttings through airport security and am trying to root them here, if I can keep them away from Charlie.

Her 98-year-old nanny sitting there on the wall in a beautiful lavender dress was her matron of honor.  She walked all the way through the sand, though was seated for the ceremony.  I want to be just like her when I grow up!  The guest list was 142 people and half that were family.

These are the two moms and they looked so pretty.  Ian is brutal with his candid shots and Terry doesn't know him well enough, but you can see that Yolanda does.  Ian's kids really take after her a lot.  Oddly, we all get along very well.  This is the wedding as well of two large Catholic families, one Mexican and one Croatian. 

Like Yolanda, I know to pose when I see Ian with a camera.  Because Kristie was overloaded with work and wedding planning, there was a shortage of information on our end.  I assumed I would not be in the wedding party so wore a tunic, leggings and knee boots - oops.  Ian and I were the first in the wedding procession.  I just pretended I was all dressed up like everyone else.

I should be showing the bride, but I cannot resist one more photo of the matron of honor.  Terry, on the left is her granddaughter!  This woman is 98 years old and they have the birth certificate to prove it, and no she wasn't born in Kenya.  She was still going strong when we left at 9:00.  I call that aging with grace and I want a piece of that action.

Kristie had hired a friend who is starting a wedding planning business to help with the set-up but the creative work is hers.  The seating charts are on the window panes that you see the right.  She had taken my name from Facebook that I adopted to differentiate me from Little Sharon - even she and I got confused before I added my maiden name.  It was misspelled and it affirmed my decision to not take it again after my divorce all those years ago.  For the record, it is Greve - no i, no a, no s - it's Danish.

Ian loved his new Mexican wedding shirt and was thrilled that godson/nephew Chis was wearing same.  We were eating dinner when Ian said,  come come - you have to get this picture.  He and Yolanda  helped raise Chris and he adores him like one of his own boys. 

I know how Walter feels.  I've been thrashing my way through the new Blogger for the last couple of posts.  I thought I was taking a peek at it but it's stuck to me like glue.  I'm sure all the old features are present - it's just a matter of locating where they are.  I'll get faster with practice.

We got home Tuesday evening and I picked up my 500-page book for Tuesdays book club from the library on our way home - Stones from the River by Ursula Hegi.  It's an older book but I'm liking it very much.  I seem to be stuck in a time warp - it's about the same time as Downton Abbey right now. 

I came home to a nasty mess with Citibank and Sears.  They cashed my bill-pay check on February 29th but can't find my payment or account or I don't know what, but it makes me think they're a pretty inept bank.  In today's mail I got a photocopy from them of the check they cashed along with a form I'm supposed to fill out and fax to their missing payments division.  I've been on the phone with them three times between yesterday and today.  They say no one in their organization can fix this.  It requires me filling out the form and faxing it - the onus is on me.  They've cashed a $400 check and yet I have to prove something?  I am so angry.  Ian told me about the new government agency where consumers can lodge a complaint so I'm passing along that information.  It's called the Consumer Financial Protection Agency and I filed a complaint with them today.  I can't fax the information that Citibank requires until I go to town again next week and I'm convinced that they're taking this opportunity to use mine and possibly other "missing payments" to invest in overnight T-bills.  I opened this credit card because Sears gave a huge discount for charging the new appliances on their card.  As soon as I get this payment posted and have a balance, I'll pay it and cut up the card.  I was suckered. 

The Rehearsal

We flew into San Diego fairly early on Thursday - the worst part of the trip was the rockiest departure I've ever experienced - we bounced all over the heavens but landed without event and picked up our rental car, using Avis this time.  Even though it was cheaper, I still prefer Dollar - for what whatever that's worth, no pun intended.  We jumped off the freeway at Old Town for a fantastic lunch at El Agave, should you care to know in the future - they were a head and at least one shoulder above typical Old Town fare.

We were settled into Rochelle's house when Pete and Rena arrived from Connecticut - that's Pete with the coffee.  Margi, Elise and CJ came shortly after.  This picture is at breakfast at the Beach Break the next morning - I handed Rena my camera.  It was like a grown up slumber party, if that makes any sense.  

Carlos and Kristie had rented Levyland in Carlsbad for their wedding.  We didn't realize it but it's just a mile south of Rochelle's house in Oceanside, if that tells you anything about how close things are.  One of the reasons the kids chose it is because they could be married on the beach.

We walked down for rehearsal a tad late on Friday.  The officiate was stuck in traffic and the taco truck that we had arranged for the rehearsal dinner was also stuck on the freeway, awaiting AAA.  We mostly needed to get the order of procession - the wedding planners had their hands full.  Noah and Issac are charged with bringing Walter, the symbolic ring bearer to the altar.

Kristie and Carlos are having a laugh with their officiate, fellow DA Sean while bridesmaid sister Elise is shivering in a sleeping bag.  Ian quipped that all the wedding gaffes got used up on the rehearsal day because the wedding day was clear sailing.  This symbolic ring bearer was exhausted.

R

Rasta Taco arrived, courtesy of AAA, about two hours late.  They have an excellent reputation but the chef still had to set up and cook.  Daniel gets my two thumbs up - talk about grace under fire.  He delivered great good food, while disputing the AAA guys dilemma.  His company said he had to impound and tow the van, but Daniel's boss got it ironed out, had the van towed for service and came to pick him up.  All that is behind the scenes, all the while that Daniel is delivering service with a flashy smile.  It's the Hollywood spillover in LA, me thinks.