Rest for the weary came first. A deep breathe of clear mountain air. A day or two playing ball with the dogs.
They clearly needed to rest after all that exercise.
An afternoon spent with weavers that had been missed. A bit of sleep. A day with a heart monitor and a stress test. All is fine.
But there was a wait. Something was coming. Something good.
You see, the pattern for the project on the loom required one pick of double thread. (oh, no. She lost me.) The pattern needed two threads where one usually goes. It CAN be done with one throw to the left and one throw to the right without beating the threads. (beating is pushing them together with that weird thing that gets pulled by the weaver.)
Too technical?
That’s ok. It took nearly a year to learn to speak weaving. It is a difficult language.
In that span of time, the first word that made sense was “shuttle”. That is because it is the thing that holds the thread that goes back and forth. A shuttle (as in bus or spaceship) goes back and forth. From here to there.
Most weavers have several shuttles of all shapes and sizes. It really depends on the project.
The collection in this house was two. Just two.
There was a lot of changing of the bobbins That is the long, round thing that holds the thread in the shuttle. Think of it as the comfy seat in the cockpit of the shuttle. (Too much on that metaphor?? Nah.)
That meant that more shuttles of different types were required for projects to be completed in a bit less time.
Meet Fred and Ethel. They are not only useful, they are gorgeous!
But the pattern for the thread on the loom required that extra thread in the weft so Ethel (pictured in red, not pink) had to do double time. And she was tired.
So the command went out for a double shuttle. Basically, a two seater shuttle. Like a two seater fighter plane. (That metaphor is really getting overused…)
The wait was several days and the anticipation built until….
there she was- my RBG. She can handle more than one thing at a time!
And she loved being followed by Fred.
So here they are together after finishing a few inches of fabric.
Yes, a day of relaxation and creativity. Brought to you by that shuttle.
Talkin' to Myself 
That all looks fascinating – and lovely too – but keeping the shuttle rhythm in my head would definitely be highly stressful. Relaxation? Not a chance.
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It must be good to be back to normal after all your exertions
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It is, Derrick. I have also been writing. It seems I really can concentrate on two projects at once. Who knew?!?!?! Many hugs to you and Jackie.
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It really is a sort of zen thing. Don’t ask me how but it works for me a lot of the time. The rest of the time I have to restrain myself from throwing the entire loom out the window! hehehe
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🙂 Thanks, again
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Beautiful weave you have. The colors radiate and the pattern caught my breath. I love your reference to RBH. And thank you for giving me the name “shuttle.” I have an antique piece of weaving-related something (all made out of wood) and it came with two of those “shuttles.” I didn’t know what they were until I read this. Thanks!
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You are so very welcome.
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Very beautiful work. I love the names. I named my rotating heddle bars 😊
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Just popped over from Senior Salon and I am so pleased I did… a beautiful weave something which is done a lot here where I live and brings back happy memories of my childhood watching my mother weave. Happy weaving 🙂
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So glad you read my post. I love weaving. Never thought that I would but I do. Thank you for your kind words. I am glad it brought up good memories.
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It shows that you love weaving …A lovely hobby 🙂
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What a lovely post! When I was a child, I had a little mini loom that I used to use to weave – I loved it! Your post has brought back some lovely memories, thank you. And I’m so happy for your that you now have your 2 seater shuttle. Visiting from Esme’s Salon and pinned. 🙂
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Wow! I am so pleased that you liked it. I am even more pleased that you found me through the Senior Salon AND I am ever more pleased than that when the post brought pleasant memories! That is a trifecta!
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