I am covered in sawdust and my fingertips are fizzing whenever I touch a hard surface. I spent today preparing looms for next week’s project. I wanted to see how the heddle sticks worked (I have not used this particular type of heddle before). A slow process of warping up, not too tightly or the top bars begin to bow, but when I twisted the stick, I found the cuts to tight and rough to allow the warp threads to sit in the gaps.

So, I cut the threads and I have spent the rest of the day sanding the grooves. About a third of the way and I have run out of sandpaper.

I am thinking about the time spent in preparation again – all that unconsidered labour, the time you only know about if you are familiar with the technique. I am wondering about the preparation for embroidery, the marking up and stretching of the cloth but what about the materials? The spinning, weaving and dyeing… Or is that beyond the scope of this research?