Old Glimakra is the new new

Buffy, what a thrill you must have had -- "Twirl about!!"

I'd do a double-take if I were Kaffe Fassett. What a thrill it must have been for him, too, to see the grand coat appear in front of him. I know you worked feverishly to get your Romeo and Juliet Coat to the point of being able to wear it as a garment, and the finishing work can take a long time, too.  But the pressure is off, now, and the pleasure is back.

And you have the added pleasure of contemplating your next Kaffe. What will it be? Something with poppies?

I've bitten off a lot and am chewing hard!  The Long Leaf Coat is halted while I start birthday and Christmas projects, and finish several started earlier. Christmas comes early as I visit our mutual grandson for his fifth birthday. I leave here early in December so all must be ready and wrapped. His is the first of the birthdays and the only one I can attend. His mom and dad both have birthdays after his and before Christmas, and so their birthday/holiday season is packed with many parties and celebrations, food and libations, and gifts galore.

And if Christmas and birthday projects were not enough, I've completely emptied a small room in the house of its couch, chairs, chest, table, and wall art,  and filled it with  the Glimakra loom I bought in the late sixties--oh, my-- and have retrieved from it's various piles of sticks and bits stuffed into closets, boxes, and bags. It was last together about 20 years ago and, amazingly, only one of the grey "shoes" had been lost between teardown then, moving to a new house a decade ago, and the setup now. The shoe was easily replaced from GlimakraUSA.

The impetus for this frenetic activity was the discovery of what might just be fabulous weaving material at the local recycle shop where the college kids donate their unwanted belongings which other students quickly snap up at a bargain to furnish new digs.  I found these large balls of what I thought was the selvedge edge of blue denim cut from yards and yards of material. But instead it was narrow gimp, finished to never ravel or shed. The skein, once a large ball, measures 75 yards, so there is plenty for almost any project.

The cost:  $4. Who could resist?

My better half is being a bit stubborn. He says he will not help me beam a warp onto the loom because he harbors bad memories from earlier times. He is, instead, sending me to Vavstuga, the Swedish weaving school in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts for my birthday less than two weeks from now. There's a two day class on dressing the loom that he says I must take. So I must!

I see the gimp woven into fabric for the front and back of a coat, lightened with mohair, with striped puffy sleeves knitted from pastel pinks, yellows, blues and greens: Kaffe sleeves! Or maybe I see a simple rag rug.

It's really great to have the loom set up and ready to use, and most of my yarn, needlepoint, books and equipment gathered together. But the Kaffe Long Leaf Coat has suffered from neglect. I'm soon back at it.