Winding On

The Queen Anne's lace is very slowly but surely being wound through the reed and the heddles on to the back beam of Deanie... my Mightly Wolf 8 shaft loom.  Inch by inch... I'll get there eventually.  The half way contrasting tie is in sight.

It's all coming back to me.  I'm beginning to remember the tricks and techniques that I was so comfortable with for years.  This warp is going so much more smoothly.  I skipped a peg as I was winding the warp on the warping board and didn't bump my knuckles this time.  I wound the 400 ends 4 at a time  (even numbers are easier to count.)  I wound 3 narrower bundles -- 2 of 5 inches and 1 that was almost too much with 10 inches.  I'm tying the new warp to the old warp to save time in threading, as I want to explore the reverse twill again.  I found 3 threading errors... eek.  I thought something didn't look quite right in a couple places... but it will be fixed this time around.  The 3 colors on my first warp helped me tie on so I didn't twist the warp that was 2 per dent in a 10 dent reed -- dark, medium, light.  I tied the back tie-on bar up behind the castle to the metal part of the heddle frames.  I tied the the lease sticks (one made out of a metre stick and one an actual lease stick) to the beater frame on each side and to the front beam.  It's all coming back... bit by bit.  Feels great!

The best part (or maybe the worst, I'm not exactly sure yet) of being "retired" is the lack of urgency.  I have time... and I don't have to hurry.  I've always  worked well with deadlines.  They push me to get something done in a certain timeframe.  But I really don't have any deadlines... at least yet.  Maybe I'll have to do some self imposed deadlines.  But the problem with those... like dieting... they can be put off to another day.  But really, sooooo what!

I haven't found the right idea yet for the summer top I'm going to make from my first warp.  It's coming... but I can't quite bring myself to cut into it yet.  Should I have darts or a loom shaped garment?  Should be sleeveless or cap or 3/4 length sleeves?  Decisions, decisions, decisions...  But... there's time!

Springtime in Savannah means azaleas!  The city is ablaze with massive azalea bushes;  some are trim and symmetrical while my favorite reach out covered in massive blooms in every shade of pink imaginable.  This photo of azaleas peeking through the Spanish moss in one of the downtown city squares is very "wabi sabi!"