Day 173: A moment of utter panic occurred this morning when I went to wind my weaving project onto the cloth beam and couldn't get tension on the warp threads. The gear had seemed a bit loose to me as I was finishing up a table runner a few nights ago, but this morning, it just spun 'round and 'round. With warp for another six-foot runner still on the loom, I had no choice but to remove the bolt from the frame with the beam resting on a stack of books and a box. Much to my dismay, I discovered that the two wood screws holding the gear to the beam had stripped a groove in the wood to their full depth. I was able to effect a repair with longer screws, but having let down my work, I was worried that I wouldn't be able to get the tension even when I re-mounted the beam. Fortunately, the Weaving Gods smiled on my efforts and I'm now back in business. Once this project is finished, I'll replace the screws with even longer ones.
