It occurs to me that I am unnecessarily doing something the hard way. Repeatedly. For every new project, I pull out my tape measure to find the right set of lease sticks. The tape measure also helps me select the temple needed for the current weaving width. No more! I do like my tape measure, but why am I measuring these things every time? Why not measure them once and label them?
Solution
- Measure the lease sticks and write the length in centimeters and in inches on one stick of each pair, in pencil.
- Use a wood burner to trace the pencil markings. (My husband Steve does this part for me.)
- Thread a cord through one end of each pair of lease sticks, to keep pairs together. Hang the lease stick pairs with the measurements clearly visible.
- Look up the temple sizes on a website that sells them, and write the size range in centimeters and in inches on each temple, in pencil.
- Use a wood burner to trace the pencil markings. (Steve, again.)
- Store the temples in a manner in which the marked measurements are easily seen.
Now I have permanent at-a-glance measurements for each of these frequently-used tools!
May you find something to simplify.
Happy weaving,
Karen
What a great idea, Karen!
I am going to start measuring and marking today!
Thank you for sharing and may you have a blessed day..
Hi Annie, Good! I’m glad it’s an idea you can use.
All the best,
Karen
Great organizing tip! Thanks, Karen!
Hi Beth, Now that I’ve done it, I wonder why I never thought of it sooner.
Happy weaving,
Karen
i read the whole thing hoping i would see a place to store all those long things that fall all the time, like the reeds, lease sticks and other things. what do you do with those? i knock them over every time i try to use something in the pile.
Hi Ellen, I’m still working on a system for storing those long things. Currently, most of them are leaning in a corner of the room or along one wall, where they are out of the way, but accessible. When I get that figured out, I’ll let you know.
Happy weaving,
Karen
I know it helps the weaving process tremendously to get a system for everything. Thank you for all your inspiration! I still have some organizing to do. These last couple of weeks I have been working on a total overhaul of my workroom, I guess I may as well dive into the weaving “department” today 🙂
My daughter, who is finally launching her professional organizing business is helping me. She has been doing this kind of work for three years now trying hard to get away from it, but it just keeps coming back to her 🙂 I feel it is so easy to ignore what God wants us to do and try to figure it out on our own instead. Sometimes it is totally unexpected…who in the world would have thought that my daughter would end up a professional organizer, and be so good at it?! Other times it is obvious, but still so hard to see…I guess I fall into the latter category. I am trying very hard to open up my ears, my eyes, and my heart, so that I can see what is in store for me. I believe I have found a lot of stuff in my work room that is not 🙂
Hi Elisabeth, That’s fabulous that your daughter can use her gifts to help you! I admire your aim to open up your ears, eyes, and heart. I’m sure you’ll see rewards from that!
Happy weaving,
Karen
My floor loom is too large to move set up and has to be dismantled to move. (weekend house to spare bedroom and eventually to the new weekend / retirement house) To make the process easier the corresponding parts of the loom were marked with a @Sharpie. Matching ‘2’ with ‘2’ on a joint made set up easier.
Now I will have to mark the tools and instruments I keep for weaving and set up some hanging hooks.
Thank you for direction on so many levels.
Nannette
Hi Nannette, That’s a great idea to mark corresponding parts on your loom to make the tear down and set up process easier! Thanks for sharing!
All the best,
Karen
Great idea Karen, sometimes it takes my old brain awhile to think of things, and then wonder why didn’t I think of that sooner??
Thank you,
Libby
Hi Liberty, It’s interesting how we get used to doing things a certain way, and don’t notice the easy adjustments we can make in our process.
Happy weaving,
Karen
Hi Karen, I have a large ceramic vase shaped like a cylinder that I keep all my stick-like tools in. It is heavy enough that it doesn’t tip over and can sit in the corner so the longest things rest against the wall. It keeps them in one place and it’s easy to pick out the ones I want. I love hearing about your weaving adventures.
Thanks for all the advice.
Fawn
Hi Fawn, That sounds like a great way to store the stick-like tools. I do something similar. My warping sticks are in a tall-ish small wooden crate that came from the creamery that was down the street from my grandma’s house when I was a child. It sits in the corner, and the sticks in it rest against the wall.
I may look for a ceramic vase that I can put by my Ideal loom to hold its sticks.
Thanks!
Karen
Do your temples fit sitting on the side in the drawer, with the text facing up? You would see all measurements at once, and it would be easy to grab the one you need. Leave styrofoam with opening on top and lift the temple out, which “saves” the spot for when you put the temple back.
Hi Elisabeth, Why, yes, they do fit sitting on the side in the drawer… Which only goes to prove how much I need people like you in my life!
Gratefully yours,
Karen
Thank you! As a designer, I am so much about function. But I don’t always see solutions that quickly…it took me four years to make s small change to the better in my laundry room 🙂
And may I suggest hanging your lease sticks on a peg rail of some kind…so easy to grab one set without messing with multiple loops.
The peg rail is a great idea. That will probably happen at our hill country place.
Karen