I didn't exactly drop any balls last week, but I definitely had too many in the air at once last week. Just as soon as the Tour de Fleece was over, I had one full day at work and then a four day rug weaving class with Jason Collingwood, during which I attempted to work a few hours in my office every day. Which made for a rather stressful week - but we all got through. Bills were paid, performers were paid, and while I didn't get much actual weaving done, I was able to attend most of the lecture time for the class and I certainly learned a lot.
Above is the one photo I got in class - my 4 colors at once section. I did get to weave a little with the shaft switching technique which Jason & his father Peter Collingwood are well known for, and now I understand what all the fuss is about. This simple device can open up a whole world of design on a fairly simple loom. Pretty cool - it would work better with my Mighty Wolf loom because it has a castle above the shafts, so I may have to design a rug to weave on that loom sometime.
I did finish weaving the samples for my weaving exchange, and here is a quick view of the treadling variations possible in summer & winter weave.
This is a lovely old draft. I would like to thread this up again sometime soon for some kitchen towels. Wouldn't that be nice?
And I have been doing a little spinning - I carded up my Cormo sample at the Middleburg concert last Saturday and started spinning it on my Bosworth Moosie spindle. It's working up very nicely, spinning to an even, fine thread. It's interesting how different this fine wool is compared to the CVM that I spun a few weeks ago - the CVM has a lot of crimp and is very springy, stretching to 150% of it's length, whereas the Cormo is very fine and soft but has far less crimp.
It will be interesting to see what the final yardage will be as compared to the CVM. I'm afraid I overplyed my CVM, so I will go back and let a little of the twist out. I wanted to finish it up on the last night of the Tour de Fleece and I generally find that I don't do my best work when plying late at night. But it's only twist, and it can be undone!
I will be singing for some of our Bluemont concerts this weekend with the Flaming Shillelaghs - Jesse Winch, Joe DeZarn and Tina Eck. I'm really looking forward to the concerts and spending time with these fine musicians and good friends.
