Biking! And more weaving :D

[helwen]

Oh no, it's yet another post!

It being so warm today, fitzw suggested we take our bikes to go to the hardware store and then on to the bank. The hardware store also has a bike shop, so we got bike stands installed (not needed for mountain biking, but handy for city and road biking). We also picked up one set of fenders (will get 2nd set when they have more of the right size in), and a couple of replacement chimneys for some oil lamps we have. The chimneys fit easily in the backpack, but the fenders fitzw carried in one hand. We're slowly figuring out what we need for the bikes, trying out one thing at a time. For the not-so-knowledgeable about bikes, it takes a while to put fenders on because you have to pretty much disassemble the bike to get them on. In retrospect we probably should have gotten them on a walk, but oh well. He managed quite well, actually.

Navigating the slushy bits and deep puddles was a little interesting on road tires (narrow, built for smoothness of gait and for speed), but we managed those as well, and riding on the road proper was fun. It's been a while since we've biked, so I'm glad we opted for wearing our bike shorts under our clothes - extra padding! The sun and the breeze in my face was simply wonderful... I'd forgotten how much I loved biking.

It might be a little too chilly the rest of the week, but next week there's at least one day that will be in the 40s, so we'll be out on the road again then for sure!

Meanwhile, I've only managed to sley 3 repeats of my diamond twill pattern so far, so I'd best get out to the studiolo and put in some more time. Yesterday I had to re-do some of the threads I had sleyed through the reed because I'd doubled a couple of them through the reed slots. Technically one _could_ weave with two threads going through the same reed slot, and the same for skipping a slot... but every time you bring the beater, which the reed is in, back to beat the weft down, it'll compress or spread the warp in that section (depending on if you doubled or skipped), so it really won't look very good at all and you really can't fix it later.

Once I'm done warping, I have to choose the color for my weft. I know, I should have done that already, but I have more than one color that would look nice with the med. grey I have for the warp... I have a lovely speckled blue and an equally lovely speckled green. I suppose I could always alternate between them.... this is just for me, anyway, not for some spectacularly medieval fabric. Oh, and I also have a grey that's slightly different from the warp grey, which could be subtly interesting.
LOL! It's probably a good think I have a _Lot_ of the grey warp; I think I'm going to need it!

'cuz then I have these other two smaller cones I got, vibrant heathery purple and blue, which would look very smart against the grey, possibly in a plaid of some sort...

Comments

[loosecanon.livejournal.com]

check out www.bikenashbar.com.

think about a back rack and a "trunkbox" with "touring bags". They take the weight off of you and if packed properly ( even weight on both sides ) dont affect the ride ( much ).

Also, please consider learning about shoe clips. Proper foot placement has a lot to do with safe energy transmission from your body to the bike, minimising knee risk. There are a number of options available, I like a "locking mountain shoe" in a "cage" rather than "clips and cleats". It means you can transition from riding to walking without changing footwear. Diadora makes some excellent ones, though nashbar has many options.

must shut up before I ramble.

[fitzw.livejournal.com]

We have the "clips and cleats" already, but opted not to use them on this first excursion. The pedals have the clipless connectors on one side, but the other side can be used with ordinary shoes or sneakers.

I use to use the toe cage style when I was younger.

I agree that a style that allows you to walk around without changing shoes is good. We got these when we first got the bicycles for trail riding.

[helwen.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the site! We have been thinking about possible types of carriers. I'd like to be able to transport my backpack, but have some doubts about whether I can get the bike started with it on my back. Even a rack to support the butt end of it would be good, but maybe some panniers would be good so I could redistribute some of the weight out of the pack while travelling.

I'm not keen on cages though. I do have clips, but wasn't using them today. We have modified pedals - 'normal' on one side and clip on the other.

[peregrinning.livejournal.com]

My experience with multiple threads through a single reed is that it looks bad when it comes off the loom, just as you describe, but once you wash it, that effect disappears. I weave my towels at 30 threads per inch, on a 15-dent loom, and the difference between just off the loom and washed is startling. :-)

Now, two threads through the same heddle (or through heddles on the same frame), that makes for permanent stripes in the cloth. :-) The two threads push up next to each other, and there's no way of fixing that short of pulling one of the threads out. It's amazing how visible this little glitch is, even from a distance on single-color fabric... Makes for nice effects when you choose to do it, though.

[helwen.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Good to know. Although I'm just as happy I fixed it, at least this time... Fortunately I'm using as 12 dpi reed, so beating wouldn't have been as dramatic as say, with an 8 dip reed :D

[helwen.livejournal.com]

with an 8 dip reed

*sigh* that's 8 _dpi_....