Check out these uber-cool things. These are fiber cards made from teasels. I had lunch with a very good friend and weaver who got these when she was in the Peace Corp back in the 70's in Ecuador. Thought I'd share.
I really wanted to take the class with Jason Collingwood at the Mannings this summer, but unfortunately, I can't get away from work in the summer. That's our busy time. So next best thing? His video on block weaves and shaft switching. Above picture shows the floating warp ends tied to the heddle eyes on shafts 3 and 4. The warp ends on shafts 1 and 2 are not floating and have no effect on the pattern. I have to say that when I was finally finished warping the loom, I was one sore puppy. I tried to take breaks but I didn't take enough breaks...I was just getting so into it. Definitely need more lighting though in the Weavatorium (as it's come to be known). I'm having a hard time seeing in there.
And here you can see the little blocks starting. Neat-o! I'm using a lot of left over stuff because it's just a sampler. I have a 6 epi reed so just sleyed it single to sort of conserve materials. And I didn't have a temple small enough for this piece so I'm not using one, but like I said, it's a sampler. I'll use one on the first rug. I'm really loving block weaving. It's like doing puzzles. And the video is really good.
Meanwhile, here's old man Sam hanging out with his doppelganger. 
