The Things I Think About.

Plenty to talk about but first -

The Spinning Loft is going to be open on Friday from 10 to 4 and Saturday from 10 to 4. So, if you want to come and spin with me, come on over.

Saturday from 10Am to 12 noon is the 4th Saturday spinning clinic where you can bring your problems and questions and leave a better spinner.

Ok. now you all know and I expect there to be a crowd. Please don't make me regret missing out on door buster sales at Kohl's. (hee, hee)

Experiments
O.K. on to the fun stuff. When Jenny was here she told us that Ingeo has a low melting point of 170 degrees. I googled it and came up with several websites corroborating her information. I was curious and decided to do some experimentation.
Here is the original sample which I spun in the New Wave Fibers class last Thursday.

So I first got some boiling water (at least 212 degrees) and poured it over the sample in a bowl. Then I poked at it a little with a spoon. Nothing happened except it puffed up a little.
Here it is right out of the boiling water.
So I dumped out most of the water and microwaved the sample - first for 1 minute and then for two minutes. Some dye came out.
But the sample is still intact. Now I need to do some dry melting experiments. Maybe with an iron or a curling iron. The best I can find for curling iron operating temperatures is between 100 and 200 degrees. (I'm hesitant to use my Rowenta Iron on it.) More to come.

Birthdays
We went out to Red Robing for dinner on Monday night to celebrate Ryan's 4th birthday. Shannah came along and we had a great time. Here are the two of them looking for our dinner delivery. Shannah is food aggressive and so I try to stay clear when she is eating.
Then came the sundae and the singing wait staff. He got a little shy. After the ice cream and the singing we went to the Hockey store and he got a new helmet complete with a cage and a hockey stick too big for him. He and dad cut it down last night and now all is well. He's destined to be a hockey player.

Spinning Wheels
Look what came today.
We had twins.
Each has it's own little ladybug birthmark. This one on the back support.
This one on the flyer holdy part. (That's the real technical name. Call Schacht and ask them.)
Look how cute they are.
The one on the left is set up for Scotch Tension. The one on the right is set up in double drive. Both work equally well. I love these wheels. Simple. Easy to use. Smooth to treadle. Good price point. Schacht engineering and quality. Come in a try them out. I will definitely be stocking these on a regular basis.

Other New Stuff
Last time I was at Ikea was over 10 years ago. I still haven't been back. Not really by choice. Mostly has to do with proximity. My darlin' went there today to pick up this table which I found on the website. Gate legs. This photo is showing only one leaf set up. It also has 6 drawers. I was pleasantly surprised at the Ikea quality for the price. I will definitely be shopping there again. I hope I actually get to visit the store next time.

Weaving
This warp was wound and I began warping back in May. Hmm. I decided I'd better get to work. So I got to work. I was unsure of what condition the warp chains would be in. Couldn't;t remember. Sometimes when I make them I do a pretty bad job of it so I was a little nervous. Also, unmercerized 8/2 cotton likes to stick with it's neighbor so it's not the easiest thing to straighten out.

I got all of the heddles threaded after about 2 hours. 1,2,3,2,1,4,3,4. Over and over and over....and over. Lou stopped by to pick up the car seats so he could go get the kids. He asked my favorite question. What's for dinner? My answer? 12321434, 12321434, 12321434.

Then while I was winding it on this song came into my head. Strummin' my pain with his fingers, Singin' my life with his words, Killin' me softly with his song...

What!!!!??? Where did that come from? I haven't heard that song in ages. I don't even like it. Maybe I'm going crazy.

Anyhoo...
Here I am with the freshly warped loom. I still need to tie it onto the front beam. 3 cotton towels coming right up.
Look how red my cheeks are. I have a cold. I'm fighting it as hard as I can. I can't get sick until mid January. Crazy. Now I'm scheduling the germs.