The Warrantee has Expired.

The warrantee has expired.  On me!


Still working out details of the compu-dobby to come.  In the meantime, I have been wanting to weave, but not able to, and as always when I need to making things but can't, I start feeling squirmy.


Recently, I'm squirming because of a pinched ulnar nerve in my right arm.  It's been that way for several weeks, but one day last week I woke up and my entire arm was numb, as if it was asleep; however it didn't wake up.  It's better this week, as in most of my arm is working again, though the pinky, the side of the ring finger that abuts the pinky, and the line up my arm that follows the ulnar nerve, are all still numb. 


I have also been waiting to weave because I had removed the mechanical dobby from my AVL; I was anticipating a functioning compu-dobby much sooner, so I had bundled the mechanical dobby parts up carefully and put them into a storage box.  But it's now going to be a while before there's a compu-dobby again, so while I'm waiting, there's no reason to not temporarily re-mount the mechanical dobby.  I've had an idea for a silk obi (sash) using creamy tasar organzine as warp, and some of the spectacularly beautiful Lao tram that a weaving friend gave me.   In preparation for this, I managed to wind off two whole skeins of the Lao tram, and with very little tangling loss.  The Lao skeins do not have an obvious place for the beginning of the skein (I always attach the end of the skein to one of the ties, so I can always find it again) which was at first alarming, but after an hour or so (!!) I managed to find *an* end, and wound from there.  Many tangles, but all disaster averted, and by dint of this, I now have two kiwaku bobbins wound with a wonderful grey-blue and a lac red silk tram.  The blue is especially beautiful - it looks a lot like 'gorge de pigéon' silk used for the taffetas caméléon from the old Lyons weavers.  Iridescent!  And the obi will not be very wide, which means there'll be less stress on my shoulders and ulnar nerve if I'm not hyperextending.  Hopefully.


I've also been continuing to spin the combed bombyx mori silk that friend Sylvia gave me.  It's moving right along!


This weekend my goal will be to clean the cardboard box heap near the loom, refix the mechanical dobby, and warp the obi.