How I Wet Finish Weaving Projects

This post is based off a reply I gave to this Tumblr thread asking about wet-finishing advice for handwovens. The Tumblrite above me gave excellent instructions for gently hand-washing items, a practice I respect but don't use myself. I've edited a bit for clarity and added a few extra things I didn't think of at the time.

My reply

What @crow-crafting said is a great approach for most weaving, especially if your yarn is prone to fulling (felting, but with spun fibres) and you want to be able to control that process completely. The only thing I'd add is that if you're hanging it to dry, it can really help to hang it over a thick bar or rod rather than just a regular washing line. Some yarns will take offence to the line and set a permanent crease if it's the first time they've been washed.

Personally, I tend to be more aggressive with wet finishing. I know I will never have the executive function to consistently hand wash whatever I've made, so I wet finish my weaving at least as aggressively as I expect its future washings to be. Which means I almost always do samples before getting into the actual project.

2024: New Year, (some) New Goals

An Unnecessarily In-Depth Explanation of How I Set Yearly Goals

It's a new year, which means that for me, it's time for a new set of annual goals. (These are NOT resolutions. Resolutions are fuzzy and vague, usually cliché things like "lose weight" or "be happier" or "achieve world peace". Goals are things that you can actually aim at, and with enough practice, hit.)

I started formally setting and tracking yearly targets a few years ago, and while I won't call it the cure to all that ails me, it's certainly been a helpful practice. And hey, 'tis the season for everyone's "how I set goals" posts, so who am I to rock the boat?

The TL;DR

I usually start this process sometime in December, whenever the urge to wrap up the current year and look towards the new one starts to itch me. (Incidentally, this is almost the exact same process I use when doing monthly goals, just with less introspection/review.)

It goes something like this:

• Review the areas of my life and how things went over the last year.
• Review last year's goals - what I hit, what I didn't, what needed changing part way through the year when it became apparent I'd picked an over-ambitious target/something I didn't actually care about, that kind of thing.
• Do a brain dump of all the things I want to do next year. Delegate them by life area.
• Refine the brain dump over a few days, until I have a reasonable number of targets to aim for over the coming year.
• Break those targets down into the things I'll need to do to actually reach the goal I'm aiming for.

How to keep your shafts steady while threading

I have a counterbalance floor loom. It's my pride and joy. (Counterbalance looms are like hen's teeth in Australia.) I've finished one project on it and am well under way warping the next, so I'm still in the honeymoon phase. However, this honeymoon hasn't been without its issues.

The Problem

Like a lot of pulley-based looms, mine has wooden shafts top and bottom that float freely in the castle - no sides or guide rails. This can make it difficult to thread the heddles. They wave around and bump into each other, and before you know it you've threaded shaft three with shaft four's intended thread, or worse - threaded *both* together.