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Crazy as a Loom

Thursday, July 9, 2009

And a light bulb went off.


Here it is.......a 7'x10' Solmate sock rug. It was an incredible amount of work, and I am beat. Tammy and I both grumble while we are doing it.........I love to weave, but this size rug, in this venue, is plain hard work.
But when it comes off the loom, and we lay it out on the floor, to measure it and inspect it, it is always impressive. It is such an explosion of color, and walking on it with bare feet is like getting a foot massage.
This rug is going to Hilton Head, SC. I have never been there. Tammy seemed to think that there was room in the box.............
All in all, I feel pretty satisfied when we finish something this big.
Now we are going to make more of the same. When I set out to make a custom rug, I always put more warp on than I need. It is just simply good business. If it takes me two days to put the warp on this loom, and I only make one rug, then I have to apply those two days of work to that rug, in a financial way. On the other hand, if I put 20 yards on, which I did, then I can get 4 more rugs that size out of it, so now I can divide those hours spent on warping the loom by five.
Makes sense to me anyway.
So we are going to work on four more, and put them on my web site. A couple of them are going to be wool, still colorful, still socks, just wool, while the rug we just made is primarily cotton.
I have been "off" knitting for several months now. Not sure why. I knit like a crazy woman all fall and winter, but sometime in the spring, I just put the knitting needles down, and didn't pick them up again.
But today, for some unknown reason, this box of yarn that I was getting ready to list on Ebay, spoke to me, so I didn't list it, I brought it home instead.
Yes, dear, I know that I am nuts.
Tammy was cleaning today, after we finished the rug. She said she couldn't stand the studio anymore, too much dust......so she swept and vacuumed to her heart's content. When she finished, she was sitting at the counter, taking a break, eating some yogurt.......
I think I asked her if she was on a diet, or something..............
Sorry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And now, I am off to an Alanon meeting, which I have been a grateful member of for many years. I just started going again, after years of thinking that I was fine, and happy, and didn't need it. But then a family member ran into some difficulties, and needed my help, and suddenly I found myself doing the codependent dance all over again.
I got very out of control, in my head. I made myself sick with worry, and unhappy with my inability to control my reaction.
So I got myself together, and went to a meeting. The minute I walked through the door, I knew I was in the right place. I felt like I had come home.
So every Thursday night, I plan my evening around it. Because I found my way back to serenity there, and remembered why I went in the first place.
More later.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your rugs are absolutely 'to die for' gorgeous.

DI
The Blue Ridge Gal

Hilary said...

Thanks, Di.......coming from a girl with such good taste, I am flattered.

Country Girl said...

I am in love with my rug. My husband has noticed that I suddenly love doing the dishes. And it's because I'm standing on that beautiful rug and it feels so good.
Good on you for the Alanon meeting. I thought of going years ago when my brother was having much trouble but things worked out in the end.

Sharon said...

My friend Linda just started going back as well and is saying just about the same things as you. Denial is not a river in Egypt~

Delighted Hands said...

The rug is gorgeous......would love to walk on it! Glad you are making healthy decisions.

DJ said...

The colors are off the chain!

Funny...my husband just started back to AA last Thur. He hasn't been in years. He's been feeling real stressed and he trusts AA. I'm glad too. He's a good boy. Hasn't had a drink in 28 years :)

Hilary said...

Good for him, that he knows he can go back anytime. That's admirable.

Life Looms Large said...

The rug is gorgeous! I'm so impressed. I feel tired just thinking about all that effort!

I hope you do make it to NEWS in 2011! I'd recommend it to any weaver at any level because there are so many things to do and see and learn here. Plus lots of great weaverly company!!

Sue

Nancy said...

I love that rug, and I'm impressed that you are going to Alanon because you caught a predisposition to be a co-dependent. Not everyone is so insightful.

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