Happy weekend gone by

[mmcnealy]

This weekend was a really good one, once I was able to get out of bed on the right side and not be so grumpy in the morning. ;)

Saturday we took our taxes in and got them done, then went and did a mountain of grocery shopping. 

Sunday we had a really nice lunch with old friends and then we went ice skating. Matt got his new skates fitted on Saturday and they finished water-proofing them at 4pm yesterday. I went out on the ice for the first time in 20 years, and didn't do so badly, no falls and kind of got the hang of the feet movement for the basic "go forward and don't fall over" move. Matt was skating backwards and using his toepicks to stop, I'm still running into the walls. ;)

Today I worked on putting some CD's up for sale on Amazon, not everything was listed in their database, so have to find someplace local to sell some of them.

Still working on the tablet weaving, the tension gets all wonky from using the backstrap tensioning, so I really want to get one of these looms, as a couple of folks on the SCA-Card Weaving list say they are easy to change over from rigid heddle to tablet,  and they keep the tension nice. Its also about $100 cheaper than any of the looms that are specifically made for card weaving, which is a major plus.

The sun is slowly coming out of the fog, hopefully it'll get bright enough for clothing picture taking today.

 

Comments

If you're feeling crafty

[linuxwitch.livejournal.com]

http://www.thescholarsgarret.com/loom/plans.html

Tablet weaving loom plans (probably will have to make one for myself)

Re: If you're feeling crafty

[mmcnealy.livejournal.com]

Yah, I've seen those, but there were several messages on the SCA- Card Weaving list about how difficult it was to keep the tension firm and so forth.

Also, I think it would be cheaper to buy the loom than make it, knowing me and woodworking projects, always seems to break even when I have the tools, and when I don't its always MUCH more expensive.

Re: If you're feeling crafty

[ciorstan.livejournal.com]

I have been a weaver for a while-- floor, inkle and tablet. My favorite looms for narrow wares are a Howell inkle loom, because it is VERY sturdy, and a Louet floor inkle loom, which doubles as a warping board for a floor loom. It can hold up to 27 yards, yes, that's yards, of warp for either an inkle or tablet band, and the tension I can get on it is sufficient to bounce a soda can off of the band, which is my preferred tension.

My Louet inkle loom cost about $150 and I got it from Halcyon through mailorder. One does have to assemble it, but that's not very difficult. I bought my Howell inkle loom at Robin & Russ, in McMinnville, OR. Howell also makes a tablet weaving loom, which is similar to the posts sold by Linda Hendrickson, but the Howell has a centerboard its posts bolt to.

Another way to set up a custom tablet loom is to use a long board, any board, and put two c-clamps on it, upside down. You use the long pole of the c-clamp as the warping peg. Need to change tension? Move the c-clamp on the board. It's a little awkward to transport to an event, but, hey. The advantage of the c-clamp and board contraption is that it's cheap and well nigh indestructible since if one uses an inkle loom, the high tension of good tablet weaving will eventually destroy the loom.

Re: If you're feeling crafty

[mmcnealy.livejournal.com]

I've looked at those Inkle looms, and I am really looking for something small enough to sit on my lap or traveling in the car, and won't eventually be destroyed by usage. I've also experimented with the C clamp on the board idea, and I find that it messes up my back to be weaving from the side.

Re: If you're feeling crafty

[ciorstan.livejournal.com]

Then I think you should go with one of Master Herveus' looms. He and his wife are both Laureled-- Mistress Megan's was specifically for tablet weaving. I saw her work last Estrella.

If you have enough foot space in the car, an inkle loom can be tipped down so its business end is within reach, so can one of Master Herveus' looms. You can load more warp on the Herveus model, and it's specifically built for t-w, so it's a lot stronger.

If I didn't have the Big Inkle and a sturdy Howell, I'd go for one of these in an instant.

http://www.radix.net/~herveus/loom.jpg

If you backtrack on the URL to herveus, you'll see more pertinent info.

Re: If you're feeling crafty

[mmcnealy.livejournal.com]

I found those a while ago, and I LOVE that design. They are unfortunatly $130 dollars, which is right out of the budget. I hate not having extra money, if I was working I would buy that in a heartbeat, but unless I sell a whole lot more books quickly, not at all likely to happen anytime soon. Maybe someday in the future.....

[wengeue.livejournal.com]

Using his toe picks to stop while skating backwards? Ugh, that chews up the ice. :) So he has figure skates, then? Very cool.

Hey, if you ever want to get some folks together to go skating, let me know. I stopped skating when I 1) hurt my knee and 2) started grad school, but I kind of want to skate now and see what the knee can handle. I can never get anyone to go with me, though.

[mmcnealy.livejournal.com]

Well, he does this backwards stop thing that I think uses his toe picks. But he grew up skating on ponds in Maine, so I don't think chewing up the ice was that big of a deal.

We are going to be having a skating party in a couple of weeks, I'll put you on the guest list. ;)

Re:

[wengeue.livejournal.com]

Cool! Keep me posted. I really need to skate again. I miss it.