unexpected project

I’ve been meaning to say how much fun I had at the first taster day on Wednesday, introducing Julie and Eilidh to the possibilities of weaving on a four-shaft loom, but I have been crazily running about to meetings and have hardly sat down since then. Oh, wait a minute, they are the ones who are supposed to have fun… Well, they certainly seemed to enjoy it, and produced some beautiful samplers, so I guess it is permitted for me to enjoy... Read More

repairs

It seems more positive to name repairs as the theme of the week rather than emphasise the things which necessarily precede them. We do seem to have had a few of both. The first loom glitch took me by surprise. I was dressing the table looms for the taster day this week and discovered that one of the Ashfords had a misbehaving fourth shaft. Misbehaving in the “goes up but doesn’t come down” way. This was unexpected because it has... Read More

a day late

…for Meg’s challenge. And it was a pretty dull one in the life of my looms, I’m afraid. The only one currently warped up is the improvised backstrap I’m using for band weaving. The Delta still bears the signs of its last use – – that’s the cord I used to lash on the previous warp. And the Megado is still pegged up for the messenger bag fabric. I hadn’t tried weaving with half the shafts inactive before,... Read More

more tent talk

The two days of Open Studios have been brilliant, but completely exhausting. There were several hundred visitors to Meadow Mill — of whom a great many more than I expected managed to get all the way into the far top corner to find me and my looms and to take handwoven scarves away to new homes. The atmosphere was really buzzing, and I’m convinced the fourth floor was the buzziest! Anyway, while I recover I will post some photos of my little... Read More

studio move continues

So. Yes. Open studios. And meanwhile… I’m pleased to report that the loom-van plan worked perfectly, much to my amazement. We picked up the van at 6 pm on Sunday, drove to my mother’s and loaded up the Delta, drove to the studio and took the Delta up to the fourth floor (three trips in the lift — the one with the body of the loom was a tight squeeze! — and of course my studio is in the farthest corner of the building),... Read More

trial run

We moved a loom today. Not into the new studio, but into the Open Studio which starts tomorrow. However, we were pleased at how smoothly it went since this bodes well for the major-move-to-come when both looms need to be relocated. We (well, I, in an anxious obsessive kind of a way) gave a lot of thought to the business of loom transport. Should we ask to borrow a van from X, for instance? But if he said yes, would I actually want to put a loom in... Read More

back at (and of) the loom

I was so glad to get home on Monday, and even more glad that I don’t have to go away again for several weeks. There has been too much coming and going, not to mention fluing, so a couple of months of plain vanilla routine will suit me perfectly — and that routine is going to include some serious loom time. Before I forget, though, here are some pictures for Meg of the Stuff at the Back of the Loom. All these should biggify-on-mouse-click. The... Read More

skiving in silk

I’m currently in the middle of a conference for PhD students in OR, but I skived off this afternoon to go and see an exhibition at Nottingham Castle. There are actually three separate exhibitions happening together and all are about silk. The main focus is Living in Silk, an exhibition — or part of an exhibition — from China. The original exhibition was put together for the Beijing Olympics and some of the items have come to the... Read More

plans, plans, plans

Oh, my head is always full of plans… Harder to find the time to make them happen, though. Well, one plan has been signed and paid for at least: my mother and I are going to participate jointly in the Perthshire Open Studios in September this year. (We’ll be doing that at my mother’s, since her studio is the one actually in Perthshire.) Six-and-a-half months to prepare a jaw-droppingly marvellous exhibition of our respective dyeing... Read More

a day in the life of looms

This is my post for A Day in the Life of Looms 2012 which is being organised by Meg. Last year my looms looked like this. Today, 1st January 2012, at 4.45pm my looms look like this: The only loom with anything on it is the Megado, where I am continuing to weave my double weave study group project. Just for a change, here’s a back view. The Delta is empty, but if you peak through the shafts you can see a skein hanging over the back beam –... Read More