Melba wrote to me today and asked how my weaving was going; had I run out of handspun yarn yet? She has much more beautiful yarn ready.
Unfortunately, I am still at the warping stage. After chaining the front and back shed, I moved on to making the heddles that will pull the back shed to the front. The perfect diagram was in the Oppstadvev pamphlet from Osterøy Museum. I tied a helper rod to the back for what I hoped would be just the right length.
Around the back, around the front, make the buttonhole stitch. Listen to a little music, listen to a little news, and voila! All tied.
Then my big worry was–would the heddles be the right length to make a good shed? Well, I didn’t need to worry about that, because while I went around the back rod, carefully, between all the right threads, I DIDN’T GO AROUND THE BACK THREADS! So when I pulled the shed rod forward, like magic–no heddles.
But finally, this evening–a shed! I made my husband come upstairs for the moment when I took out the helper rod and pulled the shed stick forward, unable to believe that it actually worked. Three weft threads are entered, and I’ve almost gotten the warp spread evenly. This it going to take FOREVER to weave.
