Plodding along, or why being a Process Person isn't a Bad Thing...

As I write this, I haven't done any spinning yet today - which might put me behind schedule. You see, I made another decision that might end poorly - I opted for contiguous yardage over speed. Here's how far I've gotten, in 8 days.

(I might be halfway through this HALF of the braid... this is not ideal.)

What makes it worse, is that I need to spin some of the contrasting colour too - so that I can make the intended 4-ply. This braid will be chained, and I'll combine it with a similar-grist singles in a coordinating polwarth/silk.

It's a different ratio wool/silk, but getting a reasonable match should be do-able.

I'm fighting my own physical limitations and stamina on this, as much as anything else. There's just enough strain, even with Scotch Tension, that my hands are feeling the hours of drafting required to add a few new 'hills' to the bobbin. 

I'm trying to mix it up a bit, and do some exercises to help, but this is a BIG departure from the last few months' spindle spinning - and my body doesn't like all the 'sameness' as much as the variety of movements required for spindling. I can *definitely* marathon spindle better than wheel-spin.

This is a good thing to know - especially if I plan to work up to more spinning this year. I'll have to look at the decisions I make, and decide whether the result is worth the cost of admission. I think it mostly is - I'm certainly learning a few things about my body, and its limits.

Now, the GOOD part of being a process person, is that I'm not finding ALL this time 'boring'. I'm reveling in the look and feel of this colourway, and it's a very bright spot in a dreary 'January grey' existence. I'm hoping the same will be true - eventually - when I get to cast this on, and start knitting the planned shawl.

The current plan is to get through this half of the fibre, and see how long THAT takes... if it's past the 15th, then I'll *have* to ply the first half, so I can start knitting the shawl. I think that's a good tradeoff - because I can't spin full-time, so it'll be nice to have the option of switching gears.

I've also committed to tracking for the #15forSCA challenge - so every day I work on an SCA-related project, I can count it... Apparently there are going to be coins minted for participants who get over 30 days tracked.

It's a good way to get a couple motifs done on the purple tape. Here's the one session I got done this past week.

I may be eating some elephants, but at least they're pygmy elephants - so the 'one bite at a time' stretches a bit further.

Three steps forward, two back...

 ...or, just use the right tool for the job, already!

When I started the #SMAL (that's the SpinTogether group's Selfish Make-along), I was feeling lazy, and used the wheel that was closest, even though it wasn't ideal.

It was working - mostly.

Only the Thumbelina is a low-ratio, double-drive wheel, that pulls like a small pony, even at a tension low enough to make it occasionally throw the driveband... so my hands were crampy and unhappy, and the yarn was a bit undertwisted in places... and I was concerned it might drift apart if I wasn't super careful with handling it.

...So I took a deep breath, grabbed a handy spice jar, and gently rolled the contents of that bobbin onto it. 

It only drifted apart twice at that stage, but there were some dodgy bits, and I expected it to be... interesting. It was! In all the ways implied by the old curse. I know it doesn't look like much, but the process of winding it off, and adding twist as I ran it onto my Lendrum (joining it together a few EXTRA times, of course) - took several hours. I was being fussy about trying to get a good foundation on the bobbin, so took more time than I could have - but the first couple layers are the most crucial to how a bobbin fills.

...Ended up with this:

 My Lendrum is OLD - like, it has a bolt holding the footman on, old... and I'm at least the 4th owner - I haven't invested in the newer fast flyer - so I'm using the ancient, hooked (rather than sliding hook), 'fast' flyer - with ratios of 10 and 12:1. This makes it about twice as fast as the previous wheel - which should help. It also has offset hooks on both sides, so I have more control over how to fill the bobbins.

I also own the Very Fast Flyer, but I'm spinning this for a shawl, and figured I would get as much of it in one piece as I can - the VFF bobbins are comparatively tiny. 

With that done, I settled in to my second Zoom meeting of the day, and got this far before I needed a break. My hands were still tired from the work of spinning everything on the wee pony, and I was getting sloppy with my technique.

I'm hypermobile, and I got into the TERRIBLE habit years ago, of rolling my thumb back when managing twist. I'm working on changing that habit, but it's always gotten me results, and it became somewhat ingrained.

I stopped for the night because my thumb knuckle was getting grumpy, and I wasn't having a lot of success focusing on NOT hyperextending it, because my hands were fatigued. Making it worse wasn't going to help things proceed. (it's a part of my process that needs to change, because it's going to be harmful in the long run)

Now I get to see what sort of progress I can make on a better tool. I hope there's time to do what I want - this will be a lovely yarn when I'm done. (most of the credit goes to SweetGeorgia Yarns though - it's one of their old Club Braids)

Resolutions, or another idea? (Word of the Year, 2021)

 One of my friends has inspired me (after another too-long hiatus from blogging)... 

Here's her post:
http://blog.cayswann.com/word-of-the-year-2021/?fbclid=IwAR1SGWBPyy4KM9qmtLgRP9O-KgOcFRAsVmbS3WAnQj9jDX9-0J4glh0gbuo

I love the idea, and when she started talking about it over the past while, I realized that maybe this would work better than traditional goal-setting, or resolutions, for me too.

I keep paying for my business license, I keep plodding along making things - but I don't document things enough, and I don't finish what I start - almost ever. A lot of GREAT words that I might use are already on her list - so for this, first go, I'll make sure I find something that doesn't duplicate hers (but still fits).

I know, that whether or not the things I envision and create get done - there can be no product, no end result without

PROCESS

There's a process to building physical strength and stamina - and I'm re-starting a 100-day movement challenge today.
There's a process to getting enough inventory together for the web storefront I keep dreaming about - and it starts with more than just opening the webpage.
There's a process to growing my core textile skills - and I'm grateful for the opportunity to study with Abby Franquemont, and chat with the other students on her Discord.
There's even a process to getting my scattered thoughts onto some page, somewhere - whether it's here, or my Facebook business page, or some other venue. I've started, slowly, by trying to post more on the Loomacy and Lace Facebook page. 

...and once there's more widespread vaccination, and the world opens up? There will be a process to that, too.

I have thoughts, and goals, and dreams - I always have. Maybe by recognizing that I'm a PROCESS person, and honouring that, I'll get further than I have by ignoring it.

I did finish a small item or three last year, and started some that were real firsts for me. Here are some pics.

A Bang, or a Whimper?

...probably both.

Things have gone a bit mad - right from the outset, this was going to be a big year!

I got confirmation earlier this week that a workshop I'm teaching is at 9 students and counting, plus I'm awash in other projects - an abundance of riches, to say the least!

I'm working on several things at once, and *need* to always have a project with me - even if it's just knitting squares - I have more bunnies on order, and several requested where I volunteer.

I'm also hip-deep in a biggish-yardage weaving commission, due in a few weeks, so I've got to keep this brief - but I wanted to at least document that stuff is happening. (possibly too much stuff, but it sure is exciting!)

Sorry I have to be vague about most of this, but some of the above are 'cone of silence' projects. The client has asked not to disclose anything until they reveal the finished item, so that's what I'll do.

Onward!

Gearing up again...

Wow... over 3-and-a-half years since my last post.

That's going to have to change - or at least I'll work at it some more.

New endeavours mean new dedication - and a new page title! I'm now approaching 'Official' status.

Business Name registered - check.
Relevant Tax stuff applied-for... - check.
Local Business Licensing paperwork downloaded - check, but not yet handed in/paid up.
Out-of-pocket before I see a dime... sadly, - check.

Loomacy and Lace (PST number not yet finalized, official launch date set for Jan. 2017).

Now I see whether putting money in helps me focus at better than kinda-sorta levels. I suspect I've been on the right track for a couple years now - my productivity in my Facebook 'projects' album has been on the rise - but I have yet to really mean it.

Truth be told, I've been afraid to - because it might work, and some sorts of 'work' seem to put the 'dead' in 'deadline'. I'm working on it, though - and managed to do at least one time-sensitive project this year, which is a *major* first for me. (...actually, there were several smaller time-sensitive projects, too - but a 4-yard belt is kind of a biggie...).

...and in other news - that spindle from my last post? Used it several times, until the glue failed this summer - so it's been re-glued with E6000, and we'll see.

Gonna burn bright - even if it IS on re-entry... but it's high time I went for it.

Tragedy strikes...

It had to happen sooner or later...

Sometimes having a _really_ portable hobby has its drawbacks. In this case, the spindle I just bought - the camo turkish - got crunched in a car door.

I've been dragging a small spindle around for months now, in a nylon drawstring bag that hangs from my purse handle. Easy to get to, easy to put away - and easy to not notice when it falls into the hinge of a door in the dark...

Suffice to say, physics won that round, and both the shaft and thinner arm snapped.

I've glued them as best I can, and will test for strength/sand/rail at the Universe tomorrow morning. (no pictures, because I just didn't have the heart to document this... if it's useable, you'll see it in future photos)

If the glue doesn't fix it? Well, I've already overspent, so for the foreseeable future I'll cut my losses, and carry a bamboo skewer spindle and my new nostie instead.

(and ALWAYS check the location of the spindle bag before closing a door)

Incremental progress still counts...

I've been in a bit of a stall since the new stuff arrived last week. Some of it was worrying about that Etsy shipment, some was my ever-growing list of other-other-other obligations. I recognize the signs that I'm about to get overwhelmed, but I don't always choose to address the procrastination behaviours right away.

...because I've also learned that those time-wasting things accomplish something too - they let my brain idle, just a bit, so I can get back to coping with the too-dang-much that I've put on my plate - to a point.

One worry was cast aside today!

The nostie (insert spelling variation here...) arrived in today's mail, and I've tested it on the 58.5 yards of 2-ply Gold Colonial that came with the camo spindle. I like the more-compact yarn cake for small amounts like this, and it'll help my old, abused ball winder last longer. It has a better taper than the Etsy photo showed, and a nice tacky wax finish that helps the first few wraps stay in place.

I need practice to tidy up my winding, but it'll be nice to have at events, and the tighter-wound balls will pass between the narrow gaps on my inkle better too!

In other news, I can now use my other tiny turkish for silk spinning (the purple merino/silk is freshly-plied and waiting for wet finishing). The camo is wearing some romney I was given a couple years ago - it's not the nicest roving I've dealt with, but it's behaving better on the spindle than it did on my wheel.

On the weaving front, I've un-woven nearly as much as I've done - stupid mistakes, and beat variations I didn't like, so out they came. As those decisions are also 'progress' of a sort, I still declare win.

It's all stuff that wasn't done at last writing.