Tidying Up

Yesterday, the builders finished off inside. There are things to do outside but that won't happen for a week or so and won't (I hope!) impinge on the inside. I put everything back into the loom room and had a clear up/out at the same time. The most important thing was rationalising my holding of paper.  I went through everything, put like with like and found folders to hold them, labelled them on the outside and put the whole lot on one shelf. This might help me to remember what I have and where I can find them. Why have I got several packets of papyrus? And all this coloured card? Not to mention some sheets of stuff that looks like a plastic version of silk paper.


I did find enough coloured paper to prepare my course on drafting which is in 3 weeks time. For a beginner, it is quite daunting to get a hold of what a printed draft mean. A few years ago, I had them all using gridded paper and coloured pencils but clearly not everybody grasped this. I had obviously got the explanation wrong. I had a long think last year and remembered that someone talked on Weavetech about weaving with paper. So all the students got A4 sheets with a draft printed on it. The grid is on a centimeter scale  and cut so that paper strips hang down (see photo) . The students were also suppled with coloured strips of paper slightly less than 10 mm wide (makes it easier) and told to weave the draft. Not one of them failed to grasp the method and some of them raced off to infinity and beyond and use the method for checking on their own drafts now!!

There is plenty of coloured paper for the 'weft' though guillotining it is going to take some time. All the preparation is done, thank goodness, and all that needs to be done is to print out ten copies of everything.

I have managed to do the accounts, pay the bills and finish the waffle weave towels off, currently in the washing machine. The Voyager has to be warped up at once because on Saturday we teach the class how to find errors and put them right. This is done by warping up correctly and then putting errors in, demonstrating to them and putting everything right, putting in some more errors, then saying 'Right, you have a go' to the nearest student. Last year's class was a bit surprised to be shown how to mend errors using needle weaving in the finished weaving. I was told that 'it doesn't say that in any books'. Doesn't it? I am sure it must.

What I would really like to do is to warp up the Kombo for the fan reed but I don't see time free until Sunday.