But No Grey

Day 55: All but one of my looms stand empty, the last being the bonker loom which I warped with something to the tune of fifteen yards which is going to keep me occupied for a while in that regard. Now the question is: what's next? I have a cupboard full of 8/2 cotton, bins and bins of yarn, specialty threads, bouclé, even a small amount of silk which was handed down to me by another weaver. I know what I want to make, but there is no grey among the two dozen colours represented here: no dove, no slate, no pewter, birch or battleship, no grey at all to make the wool of little sheepies in a field of blue flowers. It is hard for me to think about other possibilities when a particular one is in the forefront of my mind. The lack of grey is a plug in my mental plumbing, through which no creative juices can pass. I valiantly try to counsel myself to restraint. My supplier's annual sale is coming up in January or February. I must hold out until then. Somewhere, a small voice suggests another summer-and-winter project with yarn instead of thread, a scarf or shawl instead of a coverlet, but the yarns in the bins do not inspire me. I need grey. In the gloom of a Pacific Northwest winter, I want grey. As Mr. Spock would say, "Illogical."

International Tatting Day

Day 171: Who would have thought that there was such a thing as "International Tatting Day?" I didn't know it until I called to order more materials from my favourite supplier and was told that in honour of the day, I would receive a free ball of thread for every four I selected. Since I already had seven balls on my list, the offer was a no-brainer. Known also as "frivolite" in French and "chiacchierino" in Italian (the two countries famed for their development and execution of the art), tatting looks complicated but in fact is nothing more than a series of rings and chains made up of clove hitches or half hitches made over a core thread. It can be made with a shuttle or with a special needle. It can be very delicate when made with 80-weight thread or finer, or it can resemble macramé if done with heavy cord. Its lacy appearance is influenced by picots (loops of a single thread) placed between the knots. Surprisingly versatile in the manner in which its elements can be joined and combined, tatting is less popular among needleworkers than crochet or knitting, yet it is easy to learn and very portable. I am happy to say it seems to be experiencing a resurgence of interest, as evidenced by the fact that in the late 1990s, it was accorded its own international day, April 1.

Sticks And Strings

Day 87: A few days ago, a friend asked me what type of shuttle I use for weaving, and included a link to an article describing how tuberculosis was spread throughout the weaving trade by the practice of sucking the thread through the pirn (core) to start the winding process. These days, we have health and safety regulations which prohibit methods which might transfer diseases, but such was not always the case. In any event, I use stick shuttles for a variety of reasons. First of all, they're much cheaper than boat shuttles and second, you can wind a lot more thread on them. The drawbacks to them are that they have to be wound by hand and when the weaver is nearing the end of the thread, the tips have a tendency to catch in the warp threads and may result in a broken strand. That said, if I was working on a loom wider than four feet, I would invest in a couple of boat shuttles because they "sail" across the supporting threads much more easily. However, I seldom work the full width of the loom, so sticks suffice quite nicely.