Spinning wise... a picture is worth a thousand words...

Finished. Before year end. 650 yards, single ply. (Click to enlarge)

Fiber wise... ringing out the old, ringing in the new...

Ringing out the old...
It looks like I'll be finished spinning the rainbow pencil roving by the end of this year. I decided to spin it thinner than it's prepared thickness and let me tell you, it hasn't been easy drafting! But I like the results. Planning to keep it as singles. I will steam it right on the niddy-noddy after it's wound on. This will relax the fibers and straighten it out some as it is quite twisty. I do believe it will then be knit into a rainbow scarf using large needles. I am going to knit length instead of width so I will end up with a true rainbow scarf. On large needles, and after a good blocking it should look a bit misty like--a rainbow scarf!

Here's current spinning progress. The blues and purples and violets are under the green which shows on the outer layers of the bobbin resting on the table. Yellows and oranges are filling up the bobbin on the wheel. Deep orange and red still to go. The remaining roving can be seen on the table:

Ringing in the new...
I have wound 8 "bouts"--they are called--on the warping board and they are now mounted on "lease sticks" taped to the breast beam of my loom, waiting for me to sley them through the reed and thread them through the heddles. I am planning on keeping the lease sticks in place until the warp is fully wound on as I believe I will get a better result this way. The lease sticks are inserted on both sides of the "porrey cross" which I wound into the bouts. The porrey cross keeps the threads in order. (Isn't this weaving vocabulary just wonderful!?) I will need to sley 3 threads per slot in the 10-dent reed to achieve 30 threads per inch. Should be able to start weaving on, or shortly after, the new year. It is hard to see that the big spool of thicker blue cotton in this picture is darker than the thinner blue thread of the bouts, but it is. The darker blue will be the pattern threads:

Speaking of vocabulary, I picked up a book published in 1956 (how convenient considering that's my birth year!) at The Strand bookstore this summer entitled "A Short Dictionary of Weaving" by M.E. Pritchard. It caused me to chuckle when I stumbled upon an entry for "Mistakes in Weaving". She begins the definition thusly:
"Blunders made, usually, during the mounting of the warp, which upset both the pattern and the weaver. ..." HaHa! I think it is funny she thought to have an entry for mistakes at all, and this start of her definition is just too good! :)

Wishing everyone a most Happy New Year! May peace and joy be yours in the coming months, and may your every wish come true!

Subway knitting... has been on hold...

The Wave Stole has been temporarily stalled. I haven't worked on it for about two months. It's because I've wanted to do some reading. I will pick up the stole again after the holidays. It will be one of my resolutions. There will be two resolutions this year, I'll divulge the other one next week. ;)

Here is how far I got with edging the stole:

Reading. It started with Shambala, The Sacred Path of the Warrior by Chögyam Trungpa. I've had the book for several years. I tried reading it back when I was taking piano lessons from a teacher who happened to be a Shambala Bhuddist. It didn't work for me at the time. I picked it up 2 or 3 different times over the course of a few years but never got anywhere with it. So it has sat on the shelf for the past 5 years. Somehow I picked it up again 'round about October and it clicked--I finished it. It was good, but I can't say I'm quite ready for this school. It did, however, point me to the Eastern philosophy section at the bookstore where I picked up a few books by Thich Nhat Hanh.

I came home with Being Peace, and Touching Peace. I really liked them a lot so I went back and picked up Understanding the Mind. Understanding the Mind is not such an easy read but it's worth getting through. I'm almost finished with it. At the moment, my reading list is comprised entirely of Thich Nhat Hanh. In waiting are:

Our Appointment with Life
Walking Meditation
Creating True Peace
Living Buddha, Living Christ

I'm looking forward to them all, so subway knitting will be on hold a little longer.

Thich Nhat Hanh is a Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk who currently lives in Plum Village, a meditation center he founded in France. I hope you'll consider picking up a few of his books. Well worth it.

Zen is a school of Mahayana Buddhism... Mahayana is one of the two main Buddhist traditions, the other being Theravada Buddhism. The main difference between them is that Mahayana (meaning "Greater Vehicle") is geared towards a general population, whereas Theravada is geared towards monastic life... The difference is very beautifully and lovingly explained in this video. It's a whole hour long, but it will be an hour well spent. The monk is Lama Choedak Rinpoche. Stay with him at least 20 minutes as he warms up and he is truly charming and delightful...

Weaving wise... the naked loom...

But first... The mats are out the door. Shipped them via priority this afternoon so they should arrive in time for Christmas. Sigh of relief.

So now my loom is naked again. I'm finding that finishing a woven project is a double faceted experience. There is, of course, exhilaration and all the good feelings that accompany an accomplishment. A wonderful euphoria--gentle drug this craft. But the other part of the experience is being left with a naked loom. The source of many hours of enjoyment is gone and what's left are thrums dangling off the warp beam. Gone is the warp which beckoned and welcomed me into it's web on so many days, for so many wonderful hours. It's a little bit of a let down.

But not for long! Last night I found my next project. Hurray! It will be a runner for the dining table in my new house. It's this beautiful overshot pattern: Table Runner. Overshot was very popular during colonial times. It will be my first overshot pattern. Light blue instead of white, with dark blue. There is a new technique I will learn to do overshot: It requires two shuttles. One shuttle carries what is called a "tabby" thread which, with the warp, creates a background fabric of plain weave. The other shuttle carries the pattern weft and it--surprise!--creates the pattern by floating over x,y,z number of warp threads, hence the name overshot. I ordered some cotton last evening and I'm roaring to go! Hurray!

Weaving wise... cutting it close...

Whew! That was close! Sweatin' the end of placemat #8! I just barely had enough warp left and had to anxiously eek out the last few inches.

It is difficult to weave so close to the heddles as shown in the photo below. I took the picture after the last pick was thrown and you can see how close to the reed I came. (A pick is a weft thread.) About 8" from the end of this mat I had to switch to a smaller shuttle, and when I got within 4" of the end I had to switch to a stick shuttle. The stick shuttle is flat and has little height so I was able to squeeze it through the narrow shed I was getting at that point.

The heddles are changed on each pick (a throw of the weft) and for the last few inches I had to press the pedal to lift the appropriate heddles and also had to use my free hand to press down on the heddles that shouldn't lift for that pick. When the warp becomes short the idle heddles have a tendency to rise when they shouldn't. This technique plus the stick shuttle allowed me to get up real close to the reed.

Just barely made it. But I did and that's what matters now! The weaving is done. The question that remains is whether I can get them seaparated, wet finished, dried, ironed and shipped in time for Christmas? We'll soon find out. Tomorrow won't see much done because I have my cello lesson and will be going in to the office from there. Well, fingers crossed.

Here they are, all eight of them, still attached at the fringe:

Cello... an anniversary...

I let November pass without mentioning that it's been 2 years since I started cello. Taking up this gorgeous instrument has been a life-altering experience. One of the best things I've ever done for myself. I liken it to the first time I had a full-body massage. At the time, one of the best things I'd ever done for myself.

Funny thing is I can't remember what prompted me to actually look up a teacher and start lessons! I always wanted to play cello--the sound of the instrument is so beautiful, but why I started when I did? I can't recall. Nope, just don't remember. Maybe it was a whim, spur of the moment decision--they're often the best.

I'm currently working on some dances, a bouree and a gigue, in preparation--I hope--for starting in on one of the Bach cello suites. Oh, I hope so. It's a dream of mine to work on them. They're divine. Many times I put them on while I'm weaving or spinning. Absolute bliss.

On the subject of playing an instrument, piano is going splendidly as well. The cello work--as I've mentioned before--has helped tremendously. At the moment I'm working away at some Scarlatti Sonatas. They look deceptively simple, but they're an absolute bugger!! There's some tough stuff in them. It's been good to work on them.

I'm also taking time for Debussy's Ballade every day. Oh how heavenly!! Sheer delight! I am finding 2 against 5 and 3 against 5 rhythms a challenge, but it's coming along. The sheer beauty of this music is total motivation to keep working at it. Here is a recording by the master interpreter of Debussy, Walter Gieseking:

A poem ...

For the horrific tragedy that unfolded in Connecticut this morning.

On the Death of My Child

by Joseph Von Eichendorff
translated from the German by Kate Flores

Far off the clouds are striking,
The night is growing late,
The lamp is burning low now,
Your little bed is made.

Only the wind is wailing
Round about the house
While we sit here lonely,
Listening without.

It is as if you were softly
Going to knock on the door,
Tired after straying,
And come back once more.

Foolish, foolish people!
We are the ones who roam
Still lost in dread of the darkness--
You have long since been home.