First attempts at weaving

Well I got out my inkle loom, thinking that I would try some weaving with the DMC thread I had been working on my Kumihimo with---well, apparently that's not going to work. I wanted something that was near to a shoelace and made of cotton. This strip that is the result of my weaving is hard around the edges--as if I've done it too tightly--so I'm going to need to talk with my friend Peg to see what I did wrong. She's sort of our spin group's "inside authority on inkle loom weaving", so I should be able to get some good instruction from her.

The new Tyler Fry tenor sticks came in the mail in like a couple of days. Now I can't find the cd that Ed gave me to work with that has all the tunes on it. I thought that I'd left it in the cdrom, but it's not there, and it's not on the table. I'm at a loss, now. I can't even find my ipod, and I know that it's in the house SOMEWHERE. I guess that's what I get for having lots of junk and lots of house to hide things in.

Anyway, there's a band practice today, I get to work with the tenor drum (I think), and I'm taking in my McLeod kilt to have it "let out" so that I can wear it to things like massed bands and the like. I have to clean out the drumming bag so that I can find things...this business of not being able to find things is the pits.

I found out that the Tyler Fry sticks work really well with the "In-Snap" for upward position. I worked a bit on that last night after sewing up the lanyard shoestrings. I left those long, too, so that if I need to make adjustments for "retaining water situations", it's an easy fix. No more of this wide shoelace bit--or the round stuff that doesn't stay on the stick. I suppose that I could try to remove the cotton core of the round laces, but I don't think the outer acrylic covering would last very long without it.

So now it's just a matter of learning the "bits" and playing for massed bands, which I'm looking forward to doing. Of course, some I still have from years and years ago, but some has changed, and I do need to practice it. So we'll see how that goes.

In the meantime, I sort of wish that once in a while my friend Ray would drive so that I can knit, right now, it's sort of a moot point, since I'm trying to relax my wrist. It seems to hurt more and more every day, and the pain seems to be moving up my forearm, which is unusual. I see the doctor in another week, and since it's not any better, perhaps he should schedule an MRI so see what is really going on in there. It's sort of a burning sensation--sort of feels like a cut with salt poured in. In fact, it seems to hurt most when my wrist is "at rest"...and of course that makes no sense at all.

Well, that's about it for today. Sorry there's no pictures of my work today, but there's really no time--between preparing breakfast and packing the car with gear to take to Flint, it's a real madhouse around here...add to that my stress over not being able to find the things I want, and you've got a hot bed for argument right around the corner.

I hope the day goes well. Later!