Shawl project update

Today I reminded myself why I always wear my hair either in a braid or clipped into a bun. I was under the loom this morning, tying up the treadles when wham, I realized that my hair was loose and I was in the process of tangling it into both the treadle loops and clips at the same time. I've managed to spin my hair into yarn I was spinning on a drop spindle and both of my wheels. I've also woven it into a project and caught it while sewing, both by machine and hand. At least it doesn't happen very often :)

So shawl 3 of the set of at 4 is on the loom. The first was the basket weave, then this one in tabby. The drape of the basket weave is nice, despite it being fulled. It is also fairly soft and heavier. The tabby weave one is lighter and a tad larger, because the weave structure doesn't pull in as much when it's off the loom. The red one is in a chevron or herringbone pattern. All of these are a simple straight threading. With a sudden increase in people wanting to view our house I decided that a simple patterning would be easiest to do.
Plus it meant I could get this red shawl on the go in time for a friend to visit for a weaving lesson. Today's lesson was the joys of hemstitching, what a floating selvedge is and when you might need it and wet finishing. I'm absolutely thrilled at what pretty scarves she and her husband have been making and how quickly and fearlessly they are progressing. It's great!

Last night I presented a program at my local Weaver's guild on An Overview of Anglo-Scandinavian Textiles. Earlier in the day while I was adding more last touches to my materials, I had one of those moments when you've been confident that you know lots about something and you suddenly realize that although what you know, you know well, it's only a few drops in the bucket. Of course I started getting very nervous so I packed everything away and went to the loom to relax.

Of course the program went well and the guild members were very enthusiastic and seemed to enjoy it. It was really fun and awesome to present what inspires me to a group that understands the terms and techniques. The only problem was that my warp weighted loom decided at that particular moment to tell the whole world that the wood had dried a bit and wasn't quite as sturdy as it should have been. I don't really need it to see action again until April, so I've a month and a bit to figure out how to fix it up.