Saturday 26 July 2014

Saturday

Some of the family were revolting today. We (I was one of them) did not see any profit in getting into a hot car and driving to somewhere where the view was not as good as it is here. So we all stayed at home and variously went for walks, rested, admired the view and brought our Convergence notes up to date. As well as keeping an eye open for yachts under sail, fish eagles and shoals of fish. It is Saturday and there is usually at least one yacht to view. At the moment there are two and a noisy motorboat.

We have been arguing about birds today. There are sea birds in plenty and a pair of eagles but previous few land rids, a pair of blackbirds and that is all. Which is very surprising because a lot of the ground cover is blueberries and there are masses. So where are the grouse, the pheasants, the quail? There are not even any corvids although I would expect to see hoodies here (hooded crows to the English). Possibly we are too near the open sea and they are all inland. But there is no birdsong.

Current textile problem which I have been investigating is whether to buy a nice Schacht umbrella swift for £300 or not. Arguments for are it is a Schacht and therefore will work as it says, my old wooden one saw more than twenty years of service before collapsing into an unrepairable state, my new one is a light weight wire thing which cannot handle the handspun skeins I have been loading it with. Against it costs £300.00. And will I last long enough to get my money's worth out of it? I have found a UK supplier and will make my mind up before I get home. I have a lot of skeining and ball winding to do on the Newbury Coat fabric and, if I am going to get one, it would save a lot of trouble to get it now. The problem is that the weft warn is all in balls and I have to make these into skeins to dye them blue. Then I have to wind the skeins off on to shuttles. I use a ski shuttle for handspun fabric like this. I think I have decided to buy one! I will ask for the delivery time.

The other thing I have done is to buy some addons for iweaveit and look up the manual. Now I need to practise with it. I could do with a printed copy of the manual but I will do that at home.

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I am weaver and - -. I dye my yarns with acid dyes, I paint my warps, put fabric collages and stencils on my weaving. I have three looms, a 12 inch wide, 12 shaft Meyer for demos and courses, a 30 inch Louet Kombo which is nominally portable but has a stand, two extra beams and a home-made device containing a fan reed. And last a 32 shaft Louet Megado which is computer controlled, has a sectional warp and a second warp beam and I am the proud owner of an AVL warping wheel which I love to bits and started by drilling holes in. I inserted a device for putting a cross in. I have just acquired an inkle loom and had a lesson from an expert so I can watch TV and weave at the same time. I am interested in weaving with silk mostly 60/2 although I do quite a bit with 90/2 silk. I also count myself as a bookbinder with a special interest in Coptic binding.