Thursday, March 15, 2012

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.


8 comments:

Marion B. said...

I can't wait to see what handspun you use for your weaving. I spun the yarn for the warp quite firm and it didn't give me any trouble warping and weaving.
I Hope yours works as easy too.

Have a nice weekend.

Theresa said...

How cute, you think those sheep are going to come close for a peek to see their fleeces transformed. I wonder if it will confuse them if you smell like them?

The lost wax technique is also used quite often in jewelry making.

Have fun with Lexie! You all will figure something out.

Benita said...

Yes, start that child to weaving!

And I think your Shetland weaving project is going to be lovely. I love tone-on-tone work.

Nina said...

I had to check it out at the loom. I guess I beat with an open shed and switch sheds just as the beater is on it's way back. I'd not actually realized it. I've never had a huge issue with draw in though, so maybe it's true.
I love the look of Mickey and Robbie. I can't wait to see the lap robe on the loom.

Valerie said...

FWIW, I beat on a closed shed. The reason is: If you go to the trouble of throwing the shuttle and making sure the weft is just wrapped around the selvedge and at a 30 degree angle in the web.....I undo all of that when I hold the shuttle with the catching hand and use the other hand to beat.

It's just the way my body works....pull the beater forward with one hand and the other hand will also tend to pull back and away. When it pulls back and away, it tugs the weft against the opposite selvedge and takes away the nice angle in the web. A closed shed tends to 'trap' the weft in place better.

Then comes the question of a single beat or a double beat.....

Glad you have been "crowned"! I'm betting Lexia will love weaving.

Cindie said...

I think I beat on an open shed, I never really know unless I go to the loom and weave in slow motion. I'm pretty sure it's open with the beater hitting the fell line right before I change sheds or right after. If I had something on the big loom I'd go make sure, I know I'm beating on an open shed on the AVL just because of how it works.

Michelle said...

So NOW we need to find a tutorial on how to add back a box to check that will send all following comments to our email addy! Grrr. Why did they fix what wasn't broken?

Speaking of Apple, my MacBook (6-7 years old) is having issues and I think I'm looking at replacing it SOON. Rick told me to get what I need, but I know how tight money is right now and just can't bring myself to push the "order" button for a new MacBook Pro (after doing my research I need the $1799 one; sob). I need to do another back-up so I don't end up in crisis mode, spending EXTRA money retrieving hard-drive info AND buying a new laptop....

Laura said...

I love the sculpture - looks like a Thellwell pony (brit child lit).

I begin my beat with an open shed, but switch sheds as the beater returns to rest. What Valerie said is true, but what's funny is that I only do it on one side, so only one selvedge is messed up. I need to pay attention to that when I get the next project on the loom to see if I can keep from doing it (one direction, the hand with the shuttle goes up, the other way, my shuttle hand follows backwards with the beater - weird...).

Lexi will love weaving - it's the perfect thing for active children! There's always something different!