Today was a glorious blitz of getting-stuff-done:
First, I got in a 27-mile, 2:20 ride in today. Nothing fancy and nothing fast, just time in the saddle. I had planned a slightly longer ride, but decided to turn back a little early because I was feeling a little saddle-sore. (“The legs are willing but the butt is weak.”) Next week I may do a CAT1 AIDS Lifecycle training ride on Sunday. Haven’t decided yet – the length of the CAT1 rides is right, but speed-wise I’m really a CAT-2 rider.
Second, I got my warp painted! Started working on it shortly after dawn and finished up by about 11:30 am, after which I popped the painted warp into the oven to batch at 140 degrees for an hour or so. Ate lunch, went for the aforementioned ride, came back, rinsed out the warp, rinsed it out again, rinsed it out again, rinsed it out again…er, you get the idea. An hour or so of rinsing later, I finally got most of the dye out. And I had the cleanest hands you could possibly imagine – if you ignore the dye stains.
I have mixed feelings about this warp. My fuchsia did not come out nearly as bright as I had planned – I suspect I may have made a mistake in mixing the dye – and the darker colors generally came out muddier than I had anticipated. The gold and orange, however, are magnificent! brilliant and quite beautiful. I had mixed 1/2 tsp of sodium alginate into each 3 cups of dye to reduce bleeding, and while I did get some (intentional) color blending it was enough to prevent the runaway bleeding I had trouble with last time.
No photos right now; the warp chains are still drying and I really didn’t like the photos I took of the chains.
Now, of course, having indulged myself in the matter of warp painting, I am way behind on other things. I was supposed to drop off the garnet shawl and the silk/cashmere jacket to the Black Sheep Guild member in charge of the computerized weaving display at CNCH this year (the first time I will have exhibited my handweaving!), but the garnet shawl is not done. It needs to have quite a few beads applied, and be hemmed, before it’s done. Monday evening I have a conference call with China, Wednesday I have a meeting down on the Peninsula, and Thursday I have to get the shawl to the display organizer, so I’m just about out of time. I think Monday and Tuesday I will be laboring hard to bead the shawl.
At least it will be beautiful. Here’s a photo of the shawl, partially beaded. It does not do justice to the shawl, alas, but I couldn’t really capture the play of light on the beads with my little camera.
I am at this point woefully behind on emails (80+ and counting), and that’s unlikely to improve in the near future (see previous comments on being busy), so if you sent me email and haven’t heard back yet, that’s probably why.
Off to pick Mike up at the airport! I’m so glad he’s back. I’m sure the cats will be happy too – they adore him and it will give them an extra human to lord it over, so it’s all good.
