Weaverly

Penland, NC

Today we found ourselves in North Carolina again. First stop was a visit to the post office in Penland. This P.O. was established in 1879 and is still operating in the original building.

Postmistress Becky Davis greets customers at the window.

The original boxes are still in use.

We also paid a brief visit to the Penland School, a place dear to the hearts of craftspersons. If you've ever studied or taught at the school (I've done both), you will certainly recognize this vista:

A Short Drive Into the Mountains on a June Day

Warp Spreader Thingie

So many people asked about the warp spreader thingie, that I thought I'd add some more information. Janice said she bought one from Ken Colwell at The Looms in Mineral Point, WI, around 25 years ago. Now that I think about it, I believe that's where I got mine. Sadly, Ken Colwell and The Looms are long gone. For those of you who wish to replicate this handy device, I'm posting a scan and a photo to help you with dimensions. Notice that the two "legs" taper nicely at the bottom. As far as permissions, I have no idea who this belongs to. So you're on your own for that one. If anyone has additional information, please let me know and I'll post it.

To all those who sent anniversary greetings—thank you! I'm really touched and overwhelmed.

A Celebration

I met him when I was fourteen. Eight years later we were married. This weekend we're celebrating our fiftieth anniversary.  

Fish Story, Continued

You saw the beginning of the fish story a few days ago, and we now pick up where we left off. 

A broken warp! This handy tool comes to the rescue. I don't know what it's called. Do you? 

I place it behind the reed, to spread out the neighboring warps and isolate the empty heddle. It's a great help in performing the repair.

All fixed! The weaving continues.

You may be wondering about the spotted backgrounds, not part of Karl's original drawing. I find that the cloth is very unstable if there are large areas of unconnected double weave. So I add meta-patterns to these areas before I apply the weave structures. Different meta-patterns introduce different tonal values to the large areas, too, such as the darker water, lighter sky, etc.

Inkle Band

One of the fishermen in the family needs a new hatband, so out comes the inkle loom.

One Thing Leads to Another

I finished up a bobbinful of singles, spun from one of the River's Edge blends called "South Beach Dye-It." This is a combination of merino, banana fiber, bamboo, and soy. Yum! There is another batch of the same to spin, and it will eventually be plied and woven into shawls.

And speaking of bananas, here's a picture I took this morning at Earth Fare, while I was shopping for cheeses:

I love taking my camera into supermarkets. You never know what will turn up. I found a really nice display of ginger root, and my camera (which has a facial recognition feature, really cool), insisted on finding faces in this picture:

I guess if you click to enlarge and really study it, you might find a few faces. Maybe. Sort of like finding the pope in the pizza. 

A Fish Story

Karl gave me a drawing he made in Microsoft Office, on his own computer. He said I might want to use it for a weaving.

Well, of course I would! I have a brand new dark & light warp on the TC-1, and this will be a perfect test file. I want to do a few projects in duo-toned double plain weave. Black and beige warp, dark brown and pearl gray weft.

Here's a sample for aspect ratio:

It weaves almost perfectly squared. On to the actual file. As you can see, I've added a polka-dotted border as a frame.

Order Has Been Restored

Tied to the cloth beam:

A view behind the heddles (this is the view I love the best—I think it makes most weavers' hearts beat a little faster):

The first inch. There was one warp that had gone astray, and it is now fixed:

Order has been restored. Ready to weave. Ah-h-h!

Hand Hemming

A pleasant evening's occupation while listening to Earl Hines.