Sherri Woodard Coffey

I love looking at all the colors of butterflies leftover from various projects. Speaking of color, there’s a program called Color Schemer that I love. You can download a trial and well, try it out. You could do all this stuff without a program, it just makes it faster. It will take you from one color to its complement in however many steps you tell it to take. And the eyedropper thingy that you get color from a picture is different in that it will actually move from the program to something you have on your desktop. Pretty nifty.

Except for the cold, today has been great. We’re getting some much-needed rain. Unfortunately, it’s also cold. After having days in the 80s, it’s hard to adjust to a high of 42. Now, I know that’s not really cold to much of the US, but it here in my part of Texas. And, of course, no new roof was installed today.

Besides going to the grocery store, I did lots of weaving. I was tempted to start a fire in the stove, but just put on a hoodie instead. I DID have to take about a half inch because a color was supposed to end, but I just kept on weaving without checking where I was. Actually, to me, that’s the ideal state to be in while weaving. Kind of in the zone.

For the last couple of days I have been working on pages to put in a loose-leaf notebook. Since rugs are kind of hard to carry, I am going to make a book of my work and just take a few pieces with me when our guild participates in an event. This is a work in progress, but what I’m using right now is paper that’s labeled for brochures, but it really seems to just be tag board. Somehow pictures printed on heavier paper look really good.

The rain is supposed to continue for several days, so who knows when they’ll get to put on the roof. But more weaving tomorrow. Yeah!

Yeah! Got the two inches and more woven. It’s been a long time since I’ve had this many butterflies going across the width of a piece. I can be weaving along and suddenly realize that a new area was to have started 4 picks ago, but that didn’t happen today. Wonder if I can get two inches done each day? Nah.

For most weavers, this goal will sound ridiculous: I plan to weave two inches today. Tapestry is a slow business, plus I only have a couple of hours available for weaving today. Nice to have goals, huh!

Today did not turn out as planned, but all in all, much was accomplished. Many, many phone calls, looking for long-lost records, and more phone calls. I am LOVING having the new HP printer/copier/scanner/fax. The copier and fax functions have come in very handy to fax off some of the needed records. Took care of lots of business today.

We set up the grid for the booth, thankfully, since I discovered that I will need to buy some grid panels that are 8 feet tall in order to display some of my pieces. I will buy them from Store Supply Warehouse. Then went to Lowe’s to look for track lights that you can plug into an outlet. I’ve heard that they are available, but not at Lowe’s. Also bought S-hooks for hanging on the grid panel and some clip-on lights. Now I have to research the kind of bulbs to put in the lamps.

Next week’s calendar is looking pretty full already. The roofers will be here Wednesday and Thursday, and I arranged to get photographs of my 3 newest pieces on Monday. Then there are the things I need to do to help out my parents.

I am really hoping that some rain will come one day next week. It’s been very windy here, and we’re having a drought.

Today we will be setting up the booth components to see how difficult (or easy) that will be in preparation for the Main Street Arts Festival. I hope the wind lies down a bit or we’ll spend all our time holding up the grid walls. Of course, the definition of a grid is that it’s full of holes, right? So the wind should just blow right through. I also need to call and find out exactly how the canopy is constructed so that I can make a decision about lights.

And, since this is G’s day off, I think I’ll do a little work in the garden. I’ve got an area in the front that’s dry and useless…maybe plant gourds? And in the back I’ve got an old clawfoot bathtub with a couple of lantana plants in it, but there’s room for cucumbers. Digging around in the dirt is always good for the soul–at least for me. Probably no weaving today, though.

Progress

I love my credit union. They have always been great folks to work with, and now that some banks have gotten sooooo big, I’m even more convinced that local is better. Found out yesterday that I can get a seasonal-use merchant processing. I only pay the monthly fee when I actually need the service.

The new roof will be installed next week. Not looking forward to the noise and mess associated with that, but glad to have the decision made. I’m sure everyone knows that THINKING about the decision is quite frequently worse than actually MAKING the decision. Of course, we’ll all probably get flat tires from leftover roofing nails.

Peruvian Fish in progress. I always forget how many butterflies I’m going to end up with as the design progresses. One time I figured out that with a tapestry piece such as this one I can weave an inch per hour. Just had an interruption of releasing a raccoon from the live trap outside. The raccoons don’t cause problems; it’s the squirrels. But at least no more mice so far!

The roofer is coming out again…another interruption.

The Day

I finally got to the good part today. Got the cartoon and marked the fish on the warp, working away diligently, and the damn phone rings–constantly! I had to answer ’cause these were important calls–the roofer, the roofer again, my insurance guy, the roofer, Gardener’s Supply about an order that I had placed, my hairdresser confirming my appointment today. I can go days without phone calls, but not today. But I did get the section started, and it’s going well. In fact, I’m kind of excited about this. Maybe a picture tomorrow.

So, then it was on to the hairdresser (she was running late) and the grocery store. I actually cooked dinner tonight, and it was pretty good. Then I made the phone calls. I only got to talk to one person, though. I’m trying to find “merchant processing”, that is taking credit cards for shows, which means I only need it 2-3 times per year. Taking credit cards can be really expensive. I’m hoping there will be better news on that front tomorrow when I hear back from my other calls.

Don’t read this if you’re sensitive

I found evidence of a mouse in the closet in my bathroom. It also happens to be the closet where I store my rugs. I found a trap (this is the part where it can be bad for sensitivity) and set it near the water heater. Two hours later I had a mouse. I don’t like doing this either, but I also don’t want to be overrun with mice. I have not had a mouse in the house in many years, so I’m wondering if an opening happened when I had the water heater replaced recently. The other issue is finding a place to store weavings. Guess I’d better look for a better spot, huh!

Gardening

It has suddenly gotten warm here, and with spring, I always want to play in the dirt. I’m thinking I may plant my cucumbers on Friday. My order from Gardener’s Supply is a planter with a big water reservoir in the bottom. The water wicks up into the soil as needed. I will plant a tomato in that pot. Many years ago I had a huge garden every year. It may be time to do that again, though the former garden area has become overgrown with grass. That Bermuda grass is almost impossible to dig out. But peppers, basil, and parsley do pretty well in the flower beds.

Hard to believe it’s already March 2, especially when you listen to and see the weather reports around the country. It’s cold here in Texas–I actually started a fire in the woodburning stove last night. This after it was 91 last Thursday! I’ve heard that bluebonnets have been spotted. I’m ready for spring, but that’s ridiculous.

Weaving

This pick and pick is going slower than anticipated because I’ve had to figure out how to best handle the “selvedges.” They’re not really selvedges, but the pick and pick part joins a border so this is done with tapestry. Think I’ve finally got it worked out, but took me a while to get it so that I was satisfied with how it looked.

Other stuff

I decided to do something practically unheard of for me. Started preparing taxes last night. My first real fear was unfounded. For the last few years I have used Turbo Tax to prepare my taxes, but after The Great Computer Crash, I was afraid the previous year’s return wouldn’t be found. But it was, so all is well. I gathered other information, printed out reports, and tonight I will work on this again. Tax day is the same general time as the Main Street Arts Festival, so in the interest of being prepared (what’s that?), I got started early for me.

Nyquist

It just came to me what this method is called, so naturally I Googled it and found the info. The text directions can be found here. This link will take you to a PDF of WeaveTech files at the University of Arizona. The Nyquist text can be found on page 73. I don’t have time to look more right now, but there’s lots of really good information there. The pictures are my own. As you can see, not much warp is wasted using this method. I can never get pictures to go where I want them, but it’s too time-consuming to figure out right now. In the compose mode, they’re side by side, but in preview, they’re one under the other.

Weaving

I’m finally weaving for real. A border about 2 inches wide will be in pick and pick, something I don’t do often. The rest is tapestry, which I really enjoy. I like doing weft-faced ikat, but then want to do a tapestry piece afterward. I don’t usually use a cartoon, but I’m going to have to for the fish. Everything is always drawn to scale and then I just use my drawing for weaving usually. Drawing to scale lets me be sure that I can estimate how much yarn I’ll need, plus I get a feel visually for what the completed piece will look like.

Overhand knot in warp bout

Fold knotted end over warp bout

Divide warp bout with knot in half, slip finger through the division, pick up bout from underneath

Pull bottom portion of bout though divided warp bout–Lark’s head

Slip both ends of shoelace through Lark’s head loop


Pull tight on shoelace. Tighten shoelace to desired level