Bare Bones Dismantle

Halloween is nearly upon us! Was it worth waiting for?

I'll let you know next week. Something that I've been waiting for...although I still have some meat on my bones...was definitely worth it. Remember when I got the loom for my birthday, and we had to wait "for the snow to melt" to move it around the outside of the house and downstairs? Well,the snow was gone by early June, and we just—finally—moved the loom to my fiber studio.

It was too heavy to moved own the outside steps completely assembled, so I had to take it apart. The parts that I could carry went down the indoor stairs. The "castle" went around the outside of the house, minus the shafts and heddles, warp beam, cloth beam, beater and treadles. Here's what it looked like after we got it in place, just the bare bones. 

(You should know that we had to remove an entertainment center bigger than our big stone fireplace, along with two big, boxy TVs.)

You know how when you take something apart, you're never sure you can put it back together again? That was my worry. So I took photos of the parts I thought I might forget. That worked, except for one place, where I had to take the bolt out twice and put it together again because I

a) forgot to put in the four washers that belonged there the first time, and

b) I realized it would be difficult to reinstall the brake-release lever with everything assembled the second time.

While reassembling the loom, I wiped everything down with Howard's Feed-N-Wax, which was Joanie's recommendation for care of the lovely cherry wood. Here is the reassembled loom, with the treadles all tied up for my next project:

I worked all day Saturday to reorganize my "mess" in that part of the fiber studio. Here's the room tidied up a bit. There is still a lot to do, though. We want to install a flat TV on the wall and replace the futon with a sofa bed. I might move my wheel down there, too.

Here's another view. We haven't figured out if the components for the TV will work sitting on the bookcase. We'll look at the options. 

Vintage Stitchers met at my house this week. Rebecca and Carol both had knee surgeries during the week, so they didn't come. I gave Barbara the scarf I made for Rebecca, since she was planning to visit her. 

Barbara has been working on an appliqué block. Julie designed the bird for it. Here's the appliqué block with the sewing just started.

Janet brought a finished quilt top. This one is "Civil War Scrappy" from Jelly Roll Quilts by Pam and Nicky Lintott. She used the same fabrics she used in her "Daisy Chain" quilt from the same book. They will go on twin beds in her guest room. 

My Delectable Pathways is progressing. I'm on the third panel. I've finished a couple of leaves since taking this photo, but it will give you an idea. 

I like to use Connecting Threads thread for appliqué. I bought this bobbin holder at the quilt show. Now I don't have to carry all those big, economical spools of thread along with me with my appliqué stuff. 

The weather has been nice, so we're getting in some Autumn hiking. Here's DH tidying up the "Fairy Tree" while Sunny supervises. 

We didn't have any cuteness last week, other than the pups, so here's some Soren for you. (What does that young man say when security asks if anyone has touched his luggage?)

What's on my needles: Dogwood Blossoms, Christmas Waffle and Green Tea socks with a few more pattern repeats finished.

What's on my loom: Lots of Howard's Feed-N-Wax! Winding the warp for more scarves for Christmas presents. Also need to warp the table loom for my rug class in a couple of weeks. 

What's on my wheel: Full Circle Roving in "Wolf". First bobbin finished. 

What's on my Sewing needles, Featherweight: Delectable Pathways, piecing the Delectable Mountain block panels. Appliqué panel #3, Making progress.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished Icebound by Dean Koontz on the OverDrive app. It's starting to get cold here, so maybe it wasn't a good choice. Its a good book, though. Just started The Power of Six, also on OverDrive. I enjoyed the eBook Out in the Country by Kate Hewitt, purchased through BookBub, is on my iPad in the iBooks app for bedtime reading. Now I'm reading Cry of the Peacock by V. R. Christensen on the Kindle App, also purchased through BookBub. Listening to the Fiber Hooligan podcast and the Knit Picks podcast.

What's my app of the week: Talkatone. It's a free app that allows you to make and receive phone calls using Google Voice, which makes phone calls over the Internet. I'm finding the 300 minutes a month I get with my cell service adequate for most months, but it's nice to be able to make some phone calls without using my minutes, just in case. Since I have unlimited data, it doesn't cost me to call. 

What's in my wine glass: Concha y Toro Frontera Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot. A. If name for a big bottle! I needed the whole bottle after reassembling the loom, but I shared nicely, as I was taught. 

Note: This blog post was produced on the iPad and the MacBook, using the iPhone for some photos and some photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for, cleaned or broken. No animals were harmed during the production of this blog post.