Counterintuitive

January and February have been exceptionally busy with commitments nearly every weekend.

While extremely gracious and chatty when entertaining, I am truly not a highly social individual.

As an introvert, I am gregarious in exactly two situations: 1) when nervous and uncomfortable, awkwardly so, and 2) when in the company of those with whom I am extremely comfortable.

As my sweet, big hearted friend with whom I rode to New Mexico and back a few weeks ago, well knows, I chatted nonstop. Bless her. She did not complain, at least not to me.

In my defense, it had been a very long while since we had actually spent time together in person, rather than just texts and emails.

When I was a young child, I had an aunt, my father’s only sister, who was not very nice to me and who made me anxious. She worked as a bookkeeper for my dad. During the summer, I was often in his shop. She would offer to take me town with her occasionally, but she would sternly advise: “You may come with me, as long as you don’t say anything.”

Sigh. 

Most interactions outside my close group of friends are exhausting.

Away from my home, I can still smile and chitchat, but it truly drains the life out of me.

This is absolutely no reflection on people beyond my comfort zone, it is simply how I am wired.

Suffice it to say, activities outside the home environs are stressful and deplete energy quickly.

For the last few weeks, I have been dragging.

Work is work, and I am so fortunate to be able to do something I actually still enjoy, as well as be able to telecommute most days. I am most grateful!

Outside of work, I have been making warps, warping small looms, and making plans, but I just did not think I had it in me to do a lot of weaving. I was just flat out tired and out of reserves.

In fact, I have been kind of wishing my life away, trying to get to March, when my weekends will become my own again.

Well, in July I acquired the smallest Macomber, a 24” 8 harness I named Meg.

Before I even picked her up and drove her home from California, I placed an order with Macomber Looms to add a sectional beam, replace her aprons, and replace her rods, as well as change out the ratchet brake in her plain beam to a friction one.

The aprons arrived fairly quickly, within a couple of months, but the sectional beam and other items were not delivered until mid-January, a week or so after I put a warp on Meg for a run overshot snowflake towels.

About that time, I also decided to try my hand at dyeing warps..

Life also got really busy.

Updating the little loom fell to a back burner, until Tuesday of this week.

I had not been spending time in the studio due to lethargy.

It showed in my personality. I had become cranky and a slug. I did not think I had the energy for anything. After work, I plopped down in one of the club chairs in the living room, glued to my phone or iPad.

The husband thought I was ill.

I flipped through my large purple binder filled with color cards for threads and the drafts/patterns I hope to make. It is actually my queue for weaving.

Frustrated nothing was being created, I went up to the studio to access the progress on each loom.

Lil Miss (who recently announced her name is Blair, of course my looms speak to me!) was recently dressed with my first attempt at hand dyeing cotton.

I am so in love with how it turned out, I could sit and weave the entire warp!

Beast is dressed all in wool for an overshot blanket.

The oldest warp was on Meg, the overshot snowflake towels.

She was the one who required attention.

We needed to upgrade her to make sure we received all the parts we ordered before we got too far away from the delivery date.

Her warp was enough for nine towels, and I had not finished the first one.

Hmmmm.

So, Tuesday, I committed to finishing all nine towels by the weekend.

While I have plans for all day Saturday and all day Sunday, the handsome and handy husband agreed to work on her for me.

By the time I retired for the evening, towels 1, 2, and 3 were done!

On Wednesday, I completed 4, 5, and 6. Number 7 was underway.

I pushed through today and finished 7.

Then, I was done. There will be no 8 or 9. 7 is an excellent number. I cut the warp off.

Woohoo!

Here is the backside of the fabric. Usually, I have a problem with not being able to tell whether a draft is a riding shed or sinking shed. This time I knew the tie ups would give me the backside because so many harnesses would have to be lifted (6, in some cases), it would be too hard on the loom.

Overshot is not difficult.

All it requires is using two shuttles, instead of one.

I thought all I could handle was a bit of easy, thoughtless weaving, but I could not have been more wrong.

The treadling on this pattern was easily memorized. The shuffling of the shuttles required establishing a method and a rhythm, but, again, it was not difficult or challenging, just different.

This project was just different enough to completely engage my attention.

I was so surprised at how motivated I became to work on this.

Moreover, I discovered the more I engaged with this weaving the more energized I became.

Hard to believe, but focusing on this project consistently and diligently has started to refill my tanks and rejuvenate my whole being.

Next up: Completing the overshot blanket on the Beast and hemming/finishing all the projects which have come off the looms since the first of the year.

I have a 30 yard warp waiting to go on Meg’s new sectional beam, too!

Yay!

These towels are from a kit by Georgia Yarn Company.