January 30, 2003

Lots of good movies helped me get a couple of things finished up this weekend.
I saw Signs, then watched the 1934 The Rise of Catherine the Great
on History International, Analyze This, Finding Forrester, and
finally, The Mummy. It was a great day, my family all had plans to
go out to different parties to route for the Eagles, unfortunately that didn't
have the desired results. I finished weaving the brown
and white plaid blanket on Saturday, and twisted the ends and washed it
yesterday. I finished the second
scuff (Nancy Lindberg pattern) for my youngest son, Josh, yesterday and
fulled and fitted
them before he left to watch the playoff games. The
mohair shows up iridescent on the picture, but they are not so glowing in
person. He likes them, but I think I'll try the Fibertrends
clog for me - it seems to come up on the back a little more. I have the bootie
slipper, but I want something I can kick off.

I got the 6" Schacht bobbins for the old shuttle
I had, but I guess I didn't measure right, because it has the little flanges
on the ends and it just fits. But did I think it through before I forced it
in? I think you know the anwer to that! So now I have to either crush the
bobbin, or try to get a hacksaw blade down in there to cut the metal. I think
I'm going to have to sacrifice the bobbin since there's only about an 1/8"
on either side. Duh... The good news, I've ordered a new Schact shuttle that
will accomodate these 6" bobbins. I want to be able to cut down on bobbin
changes when I'm using thicker weft yarns. Speaking of shuttles, I love my
new Bluster
Bay shuttle. It just shoots across the loom, but since I won't be using
the 15" shuttle that often, I really don't want to put out that much
money.

I have about 25 rows left on my Pi Shawl. I haven't decided what border I'm
going to do yet. I've been using the alpaca from one my UFOs
and it is so soft and drapey. I've been thinking about my next shawl and although
I haven't narrowed it down yet, I think it will be from Folk Shawls.

Once I get three scantron keys filled in for 3 different 200 question midterms
AND my eyes begin to focus again, I'm going to start spinning
some more Beast. I find that if I use a tennis elbow strap on my arm and alternate
projects my tendonitis is minimized. Besides, I know I'll want to play with
my new Schacht as soon as it gets here, so I won't be up for any thick yarn
on the Louet for a while.