and then it was Easter

and everything was in bloom!

[----]

I was really tired of the unruly dangling shafts of my George Maxwell floor loom,
so I finally decided for a change and ordered new ones - they have a nice sturdy metal frame
and I also splashed out on some new texsolv heddles!

It was well worth it - weaving is so much better with the new shafts!

o-oo --- ooo- o -- -o-- o-oo --- --- --

I had the seat of these Danish chairs re-woven in paper cord by a talented weaver friend
- thank you Tony! -
You can find her website here

...and I also finished a sample scarf on the newly refurbished George Maxwell loom,
just to make sure it worked ok. And it does!

one proud aunt

my niece is going to be a weaver, no doubts about that!!

the law of buttons

states that:
"no matter how many buttons you have, you will never find six of the same when you need them"

turmeric

Adele is a very active girl,
and this comes with the usual load of washing to do.
Sometimes a woollen pullover can get stained. So what do you do?
Dye it with turmeric of course!

I know turmeric is not as colourfast as I'd like but it's not going to be a problem,
she will grow out of it before it can fade significantly (I used no mordant)
-- but it was the only thing I had ready at hand! --
the result is a really intense colour, I am very happy with it.

This is more or less the procedure:
- dissolve the turmeric powder in lukewarm water
- bring to the boil for at least 30' then leave to cool
- when the dyebath is at room temperature add the object you want to dye
(this is very important especially when dyeing with wool:
it doesn't like sudden changes in temperature - it might felt)
- let it rest (I usually leave it to soak overnight)
- bring to the boil and let it simmer gently for 40'
- leave to cool
- rinse gently (for my last rinse I added a splash of vinegar)