The End is Near…

My eyes are crossed, my back aches, and I seriously need a stiff drink…

I took  Saturday and Sunday off.  I drove to Maryland to be with family, a rare treat, everyone gathered for a Memorial Day picnic at my mom’s.  My sisters and I spent all day Saturday cooking and chatting and being great friends, I’m so lucky to have two wonderful sisters.  My daughter came down for the Sunday festivities (thanks for bringing her down Uncle Rich) and we both drove home together Sunday night, making the long trek up the NJ Turnpike, laughing ourselves silly listening to Podcasts of Bill Maher’s political satire.

You see, we both needed to be home Sunday night, because Monday morning, we both had a date with a loom…

If you are new to the blog, or haven’t been keeping up, check the last couple of posts, they talk about the progress Bri and I are making on our guild challenges.  They are due Wednesday night at the end of the year pot luck.  No pressure.  My wonderful daughter of course, not unlike her mother, waited until the very last minute to attack her project.  In all fairness, she is busy with so many school functions, college prep, SAT’s, finals, etc. that there never seemed to be an appropriate time to tackle this assignment.  Nothing like waiting until the last minute.  I have no excuse other than I wasn’t in the state for most of the last four months.

So Bri got her warp on and ready to weave by Friday night.  She checked her threading and started troubleshooting and then worked all day Saturday at the kennel.  Sunday she met me in Maryland.  This morning, we both started in on our projects.  Bri wove her little heart out, carefully working through loom mishaps, broken threads, loose threads, letting a curse word slip out occasionally, while I worked through my own tedious warp from hell.

By 8pm, Bri squealed in delight as she encountered what every weaver dreams of… Oh the joy of seeing the knots rise up over the back of the loom.  🙂

Her fabric is quite lovely.  She is planning something sculptural with it, not something functional, since the recipient encouraged her to think way outside the box.  She is finished with the fabric, has cut it off the loom, and has done her washing samples.  There is considerable shrinkage, and she is waiting to see what the sample that has been put through the dryer looks like.

As for me, I have woven until I can’t weave anymore tonight.  I can’t say I’m seeing the knots come up over my back beam yet, but I’m really really close.  In all fairness, this was a sticky warp from hell, see previous posts, and I had an extra yard to weave and my picks per inch were much denser than my daughter’s.  And I’m just making excuses.

I’m really proud  of her, and am anxious to see what she comes up with.  I’m just presenting my recipient with yardage.  Thank goodness she sews…