Busy Squirmy Wormy Weekends.

It was a busy weekend watching my sweet squirmy wormy kiddies again as mommy and daddy are working on sorting and moving the rest of their stuff. The spray park here in Mundare is open and we spent a great deal of time there and the little kiddie playground there as well.  What good planning to have both so close so that little ones with short attention spans could do both.  Great job Mundare.  It is so nice finding out all the really good things about a new home.

But that did mean that not a whole lot of knitting happened.  A row and a half I think it is.  And there won't be much knitting this morning either.  I am determined to tidy my house.  It is awash in little cars and books and puzzles. And Cheerios from last week.  (A two year old can find all the cheerios you missed in no time at all.) It reminds me of when my own kids were small.  I prefer a house that is tidy, but tidy never come before kiddies.  Tidy houses are for when you are older and have time for that.  Of course this doesn't excuse the mess of knitting, but then knitting too, is far more important than tidying. Clean is different though many think of them as the same thing.

I've been thinking this morning about weaving and looms.  I have been waiting till I was settled to make a decision on what I wanted for myself.  I started planning for a rigid heddle loom that was wider than my little Cricket loom was.  And I still want that, but I have been on such an adventure of learning about looms and I have settled my mind on what I want.  

I am going to get a tapestry loom to start.  Not one of the enourmous Gobelin tapestry looms that take up a room and cost thousands, but rather the widest Penelope II looms from Leclerc.  I have always been interested in tapestry.  It is connected to my interest in history, European medieval history particularly.  It is directly connected to my fascination with embroidery and has been with me since I learned to read the old Book of Knowledge that my dad had for us as children.  I want to understand the technique to understand the lovely tapestries that survive today.

Penelope II has the advantage of also working well as a rigid heddle loom, being very much an adaptation of their Bergere Rigid Heddle Loom.  

My next plan is one I have settled on for a while.  I don't have the room here for a floor loom.  I could but I would have to get rid of some furniture first.  Giving that much living space to something I am not sure of, isn't in the cards.  It's kind of sad, because there are a regular parade of 4 shaft floor looms on the used market here.

I want something where I can play with more than 4 shafts.   Patterning interests me for towels and other fabrics.  I do want to weave curtains and the idea of weaving something I could use for clothing interests me too.  I want more than scarves and blankets.  More than 4 shafts is what will make it hard to find locally even if I was looking at floor looms. There are several 4 shaft Dorothy looms on the market used, but while I could upgrade the Dorothy to be 8 shafts, the price of the used loom, plus the upgrade kit is pretty much what I would pay new for exactly what I want.   Only 1 Dorothy currently on the market is more than 4 shafts and it is the narrower version of the loom as are most of the others.  For fabric, I need at least the 24 inches. That is not negotiable.  So I have settled on a Voyageur loom from Leclerc. 

I can't quite do the Voyageur yet.  In another month or two I hope too, but I can do the Penelope now, without waiting.  And today, that is what I am going to do.

And now to other adventures here.

My tomatoes season begins.  And I might have to harvest some rhubarb. It's a good day all around.