A Dog’s Life??
I don’t really understand the phrase “a dog’s life. “A dog’s life” should mean a happy, care-free life spent napping in a ray of sunshine (see above). The phrase meant to denote hardship and struggle should be “a grouchy middle-aged person’s life”. As the dog soaks in the sun, we are out putting hay bales around the foundation to try to keep the heat from seeping out of the old stone foundation. While the dog is sleeping in front of the fire, we are working or worrying, cooking, cleaning, paying bills, etc. While the dog is happily tearing his tennis ball to pieces my youngest and I are building a Mapuche frame loom for his school project on Chile . . . okay, okay that was no hardship al all!! It was really fun poking around in the woods for materials, researching Mapuche textiles, warping and weaving together. And we learned so much about Chile, home of the driest desert in the world, the largest anthropomorphic geoglyph, the Atacama Giant, penguins, chincilla, Cape Horn, Easter Island . . . Boy, I am so glad to get a second chance at 7th grade:)) Now if only for an educational TRIP to Chile . . .
Check out the Chol Chol Foundation site for some interesting information on Mapuche weaving.
http://en.cholchol.org/the-mapuche-loom.html
And if you want to see some beautiful mapuche-inspired designs, check out Laverne Waddington’s site.
And finally, thanks to all my wonderful commentors, I love hearing from you. We are at 38 . . . but 10 are mine! So, just 7 more to go for the first drawing! What kind of warp would you like, I have some vibrantly colored wool, some exciting mohair, silky bamboo, lovely hemp . . . comment and then . . . we’ll talk warp!
Pam Parenteau
Wow! Your weaving is amazing! So colorful and unique.
Sandy
Love the loom. Looks like a fun learning project the other students should be impressed. Appreciated the links also.
Sandy
Debbie
I think part of it is that most dogs used to have to earn their keep.
Cool loom. Off to check out the Mapuche link.
By the way, have you noticed that the URL addresses in the postings are not showing up as links?
Debbie
Oh, I missed the request for warp comments. Your color sense is amazing. If the wool is the best for colors, I would go for that. Mohair sounds interesting,too. Do you size it?
Elisabeth Hill
Wow – an embarrassment of (comment) riches! Thanks so much. I am still learning the ins and outs of the site and I haven’t yet mastered adding a link in a post. Sadly, when I tried, the link ended up on my links list on the “About Me” page. Drat the learning curve! I haven’t sized mohair in the past, but after my recent triple weave blanket debacle, I might rethink that. What would you use to size it?
Debbie
I haven’t done a mohair warp, so no direct experience here. I have sized linen and wool warps with gelatin to excellent effect. Someone on WeaveTech recommended Cowboy Magic Detangler for mohair warps, so I’ve been wondering.
Elisabeth Hill
I bought some cowboy magic in hopes of magically saving the triple weave, but sad to say even the powers of the cowboys were not sufficient . . . I have woven many mohair blankets and shawls (NOT TRIPLE WEAVE!) successfully using direct tie-up and lots of tension though.