Well, the trip to Seattle was a success. This is the first time I've been to Seattle on my own, and while city driving is not my thing, I think I did OK. The fact that Weaving Works is fairly close to the highway helps.
Weaving Works. Extremely fun store. Extremely bad for me to go to with a credit card. I spent over a hundred dollars, and was only there less than an hour. But it was all good stuff, honest! I got a Leclerc boat shuttle, 5 extra bobbins, a 60" tape measure (since mine has apparently disappeared), three cones of yarn for dish towels, and two books. They have lots of yummy yarns there. I was going to get a fringe twister but didn't, since I think I can make one fairly easily. Shaun has lots of scraps of pretty wood at his shop, I found alligator clips at the hardware store for 90 cents each, and I think clothes hanger wire will do for the cranks. I'm not quite up to making a shuttle, but I can do better than a $13 fringe twister. So it's not that I spent a lot, it's that I SAVED money, right?! That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
I also stopped at Joanne's in Burlington and got a rotary cutter, cutting mat, and acrylic ruler so I can finally trim fringes properly. I really should finish off the placemats and tablerunner I took off the loom ages (like a year and a half) ago. Although, come to think of it, I did finish 3 of the four placemats, and I'm not sure I like the way the fringe looks on them. I used crochet cotton for the warp and acrylic yarn for the weft (hey, it was my first weaving project and I was impatient to begin), so the knotted thread fringes look skimpy. Maybe I'll just trim the fringe short and do an overcast edge. But I can still use the rotary cutter for that!
I tried out the boat shuttle yesterday, and man, does it make a difference! I wove more than half a scarf the same length as the first one I did, in less than half the time. It is so nice to just toss the shuttle, and have the yarn unroll itself, just the amount I need, and not have to pull miles of extra through each pick. Stick shuttles are for the birds.
I did discover, however, that I need a bobbin winder. I thought I might be able to get by using my spinning wheel, and while a chopstick jammed into the flyer orifice worked, it was definitely not optimal. I checked on Ebay and there are quite a few listed, so I should be able to get one for under $50.
One of the books I got was on log cabin weave, which looks really interesting. I hadn't realized that it could be done on two harnesses (and therefore a rigid heddle loom). The dishtowels I bought yarn for (5/2 perle cotton in white/blue/yellow, which were on sale, so I saved money again-see!) will be log cabin. There are lots of interesting variations in the book, and the towel project may morph into placemats as well.
In other news, I think Emma is about to get some more teeth. She was really good on the trip to Seattle- she did fuss some, but who wouldn't- cooped up in the car all day. Yesterday, however, was not so good. She was fussy all day, and wouldn't nap. She would sleep for maybe 40 minutes, then wake up still tired, cranky, and refusing to sleep. She also cried when I brushed her top gum before bed last night. I can see the two teeth in either side of the ones she already has on the top, and they're getting bulgier. When her other teeth did that they were almost ready to pop through.
She did sleep well last night, though. She woke briefly at 3:15 and that was it. I kind of wish she had woken more, as I was having horrible dreams about her dying. She drowned after being kidnapped by terrorists and taken along with a bunch of other people onto a ship, which then hit another ship and sank. Sort of 9/11 meets the Titanic. I tried negotiating with the terrorists to let her go, but they said there were no exceptions and they had to keep her. It was awful. I woke up sweating and crying, only to fall asleep and start the dream again. I should have just gotten up.
I finally did get up at 7:00, and to try and forget the dream, I started a kid's book I got Saturday at the used book store in town. It's The Hermit Thrush Sings, and I'm really enjoying it. I basically picked it up because of the title (sucker for hermit thrushes), but it sounded interesting so I bought it. I only got about halfway through before Emma woke up, but it's way better than I expected. I'm always a little suspicious of books I haven't read or heard of. I guess it's because I read books I like over and over and over. Recently, though, I've felt like I'm in a rut, and have searched out new reads in the library. The DaVinci Code was good, and The Shell Seekers, and the Elm Creek Quilts series (which made me want to make a quilt). Deception Point was good (same author as The DaVinci Code), but I had a really weird dream after reading it, inspired by the book. I seem to be an extremely suggestible dreamer. I often have dreams inspired by books or TV, usually after watching/reading something scary.
Anyway, back to work. More weaving tonight- finish that scarf!
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