What's on the Loom for 2020?

I'm taking a short break from year end inventory to talk about what's on the weaving horizon.  I have three floor looms and they are all actively involved in the weaving process.  They say you should never leave a loom empty.  Once you weave off your warp you need to get your next project on the loom quickly.  This is the kind of thing we weavers will tell the new weaver.  You are certainly a better weaver the more you weave so encouraging new weavers to keep going is a good thing.  When I tried to google this advise to see where it comes from, I couldn't find it.  What I did run across is the following poem.

If
If you can wind a warp
And never miss the cross,
If you can thread the heddles one by one
And never suffer loss,
If you can reed the threads
And never miss a dent,
And smilingly repeat your pattern
And never once resent
An interruption or a muttered curse
From workers by your side,
If you can start to weave
And find the threads you thought were tied
Are loose; if you can cheerfully retrace
Your steps and do it all again,
Then call yourself a weaver, friend;
Your patience has no end. 

-author unknown

We have always said that weaving doesn't require patience.  It requires a love of the process.  But maybe there is some need for patience, too.

My big Louet computer controlled loom is warped for linen bath towels.  This project has been ongoing for several years. I had the loom only partially warped when I broke my leg almost two years ago.  So far I have finished only one towel.  I worked hard on it in December so I could give it to Peggy as a Christmas present.  Now I need to go on and finish the next 6 towels.

My Schacht loom has kitchen towels on it.  My hope was to finish these by Christmas also but that didn't happen.  It's a new pattern for me - only requiring 4 harnesses.  I usually do patterns that will use all eight harnesses but this one caught my eye.  I'm mostly finished with the 15 yards.  I think I have three more towels to weave but since counting them as I go is surprisingly difficult for me, I'm really not sure.

The Gilmore loom has the warp wound for linen face cloths.  I love weaving these.  They sell well and we generally can't keep them in stock.  We sold the last of last years' run in early December.  Part of this current run will go to my friend Nancy Whitbeck for her goats milk, soap and cheese store in Maine but there will be quite a few for sale here on the website and probably at our first several shows in 2020.  I need to get the warp threaded through the heddles, slayed through the reed and tied on.  Then the weaving begins.

I'm pleased with all three of these projects.  I can't wait to get them woven off - I love the process of weaving but also I have some more different projects in mind.  I'll let you know as they begin.