Christmas has come and gone leaving me with a wonderful selection of weaving books. I have to admit to being extremely specific when I was asked what I would like as presents this year. I have Strickler’s ” 8-Shaft Patterns.”, “Overshot is Hot” and “Finishing Off” by Virginia West, not a new book but useful to a beginner. I have browsed and gazed and am almost ready to get my unused 4 shafts which are lying in an untidy pile threaded up and running.
Just before Christmas I ordered a swatch catalogue from William Hall of Cotton/linen mix and other Scandanavian yarns. The colours are so exciting and I thought I would try some interesting combinations for Summer and Winter tea towels as my first 8 shaft project. Problem is I am unable to make a final decision and trying to place tiny bits of yarn on the card in close proximity with each other is almost impossible.
I have also had some interesting feedback via the Internet about Margery Fulleylove, the first owner of my Bergman loom. Someone working in a university archive in Detroit sent me some newspaper photos of Margery working at a loom. I was disappointed it wasn’t my Bergman. I can’t work out where she is, it looks like a carpet warehouse which
seems unlikely.!!! Her furniture appears to be in the background as well.
The other picture is a much younger Margery, but I am not sure what she is doing. I know they were hard up and living first in Canada later moving to the US. I presume she was earning money by doing whatever she is doing, possibly weaving tape or trimmings of some kind.
Another person searching for genealogy connections was googling Dudeney as they were related to the family and stumbled on my blog and the family history post. They contacted me and have sent me a copy of “A Lewes Diary 1916-1944 written by Margery’s mother, a well known novelist of her day though now forgotten. It contains many entries about Margery and her family, and a few references to weaving (but nothing about my loom!!)
I haven’t written my blog for weeks.Two reasons. First I had hurriedly put a mustard yellow warp on the loom in time for Christmas so that I could show off my developing weaving skills to visiting family and grandchildren. It was wool and almost unweavable. The ends broke the selvedge streatched and I didn’t even like the colour. I became completely trapped by it, trying to quickly make a scarf out of it, hating to waste yarn and get rid of it, and responding by doing nothing. Today I went out to my workshop (converted garage!) chopped it off the loom and disposed of it in the bin. .Hooray!! Freedom to progress. I have spent today tying up the 4 extra shafts. I now have an 8 shaft loom.
Yesterday I ordered some Cottolin over the phone. It arrived today ! Amazing. Unfortunately the gentleman at Halls informed me that I was lucky to get my order in as they will have to increase prices by 10/12% due to the collapse of the pound next month.I want to weave some tea towels but now can’t decide the most useful way of initiating myself into 8 shaft weaving. Should I use a twill, M and Os or Summer and Winter? What a ditherer!!
The second reason for neither blogging or weaving is that Derry and I watched a DVD of Anna Karenina after Christmas, then started reading the book., and both have become completely absorbed in discussion about the characters motives, culpability, integrity as if they were living breathing people. How can an author create such a world? I have bought a commentary on Tolstoy as I am ashamed to say that though once starting War and Peace but never finishing it I have somehow reached 65 without reading him. I also discovered a wonderful book in a Charity shop called “Tolstoy or Dostoevsky?” by George Steiner which explores the philosophy , belief and world views of these great writers . I am in one of those mind expanding moments which challenge ones knowledge and attitudes. So just for now weaving has not been my burning interest. But today I returned!!
I will post this as I haven’t any more relevant weaving news, but I’m still here and about to get down to tea towels. In the end I chode black and white, and I,m going to start simple with an 8 shaft twill. Plenty of time to experiment later.
Swifter than a weavers shuttle my days have passed 