How does the indoor garden grow, lanyards

 I chilled my Christmas cactus accidentally when I opened the patio door, making it drop its buds, sigh, just when it was going nicely. So I've moved it to the kitchen with that collection, and it's made a couple of new buds.

All the plants in the kitchen are doing well, the ivy sprouting, the wandering dude wandering and even the peppermint which I thought was dead suddenly sprang up when I put ivy in the same pot. My first aid aloe plant, which I use regularly for cooking burns, is happy.  So all's well in the kitchen. It's west facing, and most plants seem to do well.

Meanwhile back in the studio, well the living room where the weaving was set up,  I finished the band weaving for the lanyard. I had crocheted another, and I can stickweave another.

The woven lanyard still needs finishing and joining. Meanwhile I've contacted Sister M. at the Knitting Ministry to ask if she'd like some for the people we're providing with gloves and socks. They're certainly at risk of harassment, I think. If she agrees, I'll send them.

I have more warp threads ready for another weaving, so that will happen.

And the Christmas newsletter from the sisters arrived with a picture of some of the knitted items from the Knitting Ministry. 

The gloves and socks are from your humble blogista. Nice to know they arrived safely.

Happy day everyone, keep warm if you're in the US. Well even the southern hemisphere doesn't seem to be very summery yet.

Band weaving resistance

Here's where art goes subversive. I needed to do some weaving today, namely band weaving using the rigid heddle I carved from stiff plastic. 

Then I thought it would be good to make the band into a lanyard for a yellow (the color of resistance) whistle, the current anti ICE device.

So I'm giving this to someone at risk, art in service of activism.  Here's the order of events today, with breaks for lunch, crunchy tofu, afternoon tea, tea and pumpkin pie, and stretches to avoid getting sore.

The closer pictures of the work in progress are blurry because at that point the warps are attached to my belt, too close for the camera to focus well. Bear with me, I think you'll get the gist.

 

That plastic thing with holes and slots is the heddle. This device is thousands of years old. Well this particular one is a few months old.

 

Here's threads, nine, one per hole and slot 

Threaded up, one thread per, using a tiny crochet hook as a sleying tool. Sleying is threading the heddle. Listen up, there will be a quiz 

Here's the other end of the warp threads, knotted together then attached with linen nonslip thread to the ADA compliant grab bar where there's a step up. You don't have to be ADA compliant but it doesn't hurt.

Ted and Big Ursy checking I've got the warp threads even and the heddle straight 

And here's the band under way  it's weft faced, meaning the horizontal threads, the weft, are what you mainly see.

The narrow part was where I was establishing the band. I can go back and undo that when I finish, so that I end with a fairly consistent width. It's a workaround because you weave with the skills you've got.

Happy day everyone.

Ah what a tangled web we weave 

When we arghgh the warps by forgetting they're attached and get up to leave.

Sez Ted and Big Ursy, who photobombed a picture here and there.