But that doesn't indicate a lack of activity.
With the arrival of the black silk with which I plan to dress the loom, great enthusiasm blossomed forth, along with prodigious planning of warp and weft.
How to best determine the amount of yarn to put on each bobbin, so that it was exactly what was needed and none of the precious black silk wasted? Without a counter I could rely on I went back to the warping board, - measuring off the lengths of warp, winding them on to a ball, and from there to the bobbin, using the bobbin winder which Husband made so cleverly many years ago. A job that I found I could not do all at once, so it has been spread over a number of days, in odd and pleasurable moments.
At last the moment has arrived to clamp on the tensioner, thread it from the bobbin rack, figure out how many turns of the sectional beam, and start to dress the loom.
Husband has contributed greatly to the practical side of weaving, having made the spool rack, the tensioner, and the sectional beam. A veritable treasure, and well worth keeping I think! Both Husband and the sectional beam with accessories.
The picture is a tea towel warp, and the overseer is Miss Roo. Gone from these parts, but not her spirit. Her grave by the fence is marked, and planted with flourishing meadow rue, and the new little kitten mirrors her image and her friendly disposition.
Winte
r continues in these parts.....But Groundhog Day approaches, and then can spring be far behind????? I have not yet given in to scraping away the snow to see if there are any signs of green bulbs pushing through the ground. Certainly the Lenten Roses have not made any signs of forming buds, but they are such little stubs they could be loitering just below the surface. If that is so it must be Hope that is springing around, dropping faint intimations of approaching green grass, new calves, lambs and mild weather.
