poof

i was merrily knitting away some 2 color samples when the machine died-mind the spelling- away.
no smoke, noise or other sign, but i think it blew a fuse.
in fearlessness i went inside the machine to check it, but i think i need a thingie to test the fuse and see if it's working.there are instructions to change it; however  there's a bit of soldering. i am fearless, but soldering might prove to be a bit too much.





in any event there's a lot on my plate right now so repairs may have to wait. too bad.













neki desu
 

awol

   

guess where i was last week? more here


neki desu

shuttle maniac

double shuttles for silk weaving. the new one is hasegawa san's. the old one probably too or by one of his ancestors as he is third generation shuttle maker. my friend amanda, whose kindness is overwhelming, offered to buy me one when she was in kyoto last month. she then found a place that sold second hand weaving tools and  got me the old one as a gift. seriously, i am having my will written so i can leave all my shuttles to someone. japanese shuttles are designed for hand weaving, not adapted from the industry, so they feel great in the hand and have the precise weight. one has to remember that in the beginning there was hand weaving and then much much later came the rest.（*▽*）

threading order                  threading mechanism

  

threading 101 using the  threading wire. it has a small eye 

through which the silk yarn is threaded. i just love the ingenuity of the system. the prove it works is that it has been used forever by the  handweavers in nishijin.

neki desu