Loom-imous Endeavours

Fantasy is an exercise bicycle for the mind. It might not take you anywhere, but it tones up the muscles that can. --Terry Pratchett

We've had a very wet, rainy, cold week. I usually love rainy weather: no pressure to be outside. In the sunshine, I feel obligated to be out there: go for a bike ride, go for a run, have a picnic, go for hikes. It is frankly exhausting. Rainy weather gives me the excuse to calm the eff down.

The only thing is that this week I had a bunch of things to get finished, a bunch of places to drive to, and a bunch of people to deal with. I feel a little ripped off. What happened to my excuse to stay indoors and knit and nap and play endless games of Spider Solitaire on my phone?

I think one of the reasons I was annoyed about having to be out and about was that I wanted to get started with a new obsession. I've officially joined the ranks of the other folks out there who have picked up new hobbies during this strange and unsettling time. Behold: the loom:

This is not the first time I have had a loom in my possession. Years ago, I had a fancy Dorothy Leclerc table loom that was given to me, but it sat in my basement for years until I finally decided to rehome it with someone who would appreciate it more. I am mildly apprehensive about committing to such a thing. I only have a 50% track record for actually sticking with new hobbies once I take them on. I mean, I still have a spinning wheel in the back room that has two bobbins full of singles on them... plus a couple of spindles with singles waiting to be plied... but anyway...

I decided not to put too much pressure on myself to get started with it right away. I got it on Tuesday for my birthday and it has sat on the floor until today when I finally decided to unbox it:

I even went so far as to go out to buy some linseed oil to finish the wood pieces. I even RESEARCHED it. I never thought I'd know the difference between raw and boiled linseed oil. These are the winding paths that fiber crafts take you on:

I'm supposed to wait 24 hours and then do another coat. I'm already wondering if I can even commit to that. Is this a good sign? I really don't know.

I decided to go with this loom because of its size and relatively lightweight. It also gives you the ability to weave double the existing width of the loom, which is something I definitely want to try, and have already watched a few videos to learn about it. But I'm really trying not to run before I walk with this one. I don't want to get frustrated trying to do something I'm not ready to do, but I am also the person that decided to make a long cardigan out of two different yarns for her very first knitted project. Baby steps are not really my thing. I'm the one who wonders if I can run with high heels before I've even tried them on.

One friggin' step at a time, Adriene. 

I suppose one of the reasons that I have difficulty staying focused on new hobbies is that I find it easier to keep going with a knitted or crochet project. It's a portable kind of craft that I can do almost anywhere (unless I've taken on a mammoth blanket project). And I find that they work up at a gratifying pace... even if they take weeks to complete. Maybe it's because I've done so many of them... maybe if I spent more time on the spinning wheel, I'd get more stuff done.

What a concept. Do the thing you want to get done and it will get done. Heh.

Meanwhile, I am still working away on my stripey sweater experiment. I have managed to complete the back and one side so far. I decided this evening that it would be a good idea to do a quick and dirty blocking job on them just so I can be assured that my slap-dash eyeballing measurements are going to work out. I think I MIGHT have gone a bit overboard with the width of the back, but at least it's not going to be sticking to me. Can I also just say yet again how much I hate the limited daylight I have these days to take photos? Honestly, I am not doing all this work by candlelight, despite what this photo shows:

I have also made a tiny bit of headway on my Christmas cards this year. I've been practicing the design that I've had in my head for a while on some spare bits of watercolour paper, and I think I'm nearly there. I really do need to get a move on, because it only just occurred to me that I only have a few weeks left to get these done. I'll admit that the prospect has made me want to throw in the towel on these things, but looking at this gave me a bit more confidence that I can actually do this:

How weird it is to think of Christmas this year. I will not go into how different it all is. Let's just focus on the fact that this is the year Adriene actually could be bothered to try to make cards. That's enough to make anyone's head spin.

I hope you have a satisfactory week, everyone. Stay safe.