As the Spindle Turns . . .

Between the snow, single digit temps, and wind, well, its been a great excuse to ignore the outside world. There's been cooking, and cleaning. Warping the big loom with 13 yards of 20/2 wool. And with the temperature set to dip well below zero, sock repair! I have bunches of wool socks I bought from a sutlery years ago. I haven't seen anyone carrying these socks so I've been busy patching more holes. About half the loom is warped at this point. It really goes inch by inch. Chronographia has been helping me comb out the knots. I have been starching the warp as I go.



I asked Mistress Meagan what would be best to sell at GW. Someone had suggested winningas but Mistress Elsbeth will have that covered. MM suggested the fabric because ME couldn't keep up both fabric production and winningas. So a warping we will go. I looked over the complex weaves for the middle ages. This is a really awesome newsletter: http://www.cs.arizona.edu/patterns/weaving/webdocs/mnm_mt35.pdf
I'm going with the Goose Eye, Chevron, Pointed Herringbone threading by Marguerite Davidson with the number IV tie-up. It will give me the most useful warp and I won't have to change the threading for a while. I went with a sett of 24 epi, two threads per hole in a 12 dent reed. I measured out 13 yds and used Master Jose's method of warping with loops and a post. It works great since I need two strands per slot. I'm using my nifty oriface hook from Pin Money. In my stash, I have 2.5 lbs. of a light grey 2/20 wool. I also have a gull grey slightly thicker wool/alpaca blend. It's what I have in quantity and its mostly wool. Moreover, it's the right thickness, a 2/14. I like my weft slightly thicker than my warp.







My mind is on Gulf Wars. The lure of Mississippi is strong in this weather. So I also started my volunteer's gift for GW. They collect "thank you" gifts from all the merchants for the volunteers. The cold weather has inspired me to make socks this year. I am taking all the leftover scraps from other socks I've made and putting them together. The knit night folks have also been giving me scraps. It's amazing how much yarn that adds up to. It's going to be colorful.

Many thanks to Turmeric Saffron for the wonderful recipe for Abgousht Bozbash!
http://turmericsaffron.blogspot.com/2014/01/abgousht-bozbash-persian-lamb-stew-with.html