My MIL Barb and I were at the Shenandoah Valley Fiber Fest last weekend, and I noticed her lovingly stroking and eyeballing some of the woven scarves.  (On a side note, can I mention that the owner of Just Our Yarns was there, and rather rude?  She immediately blew me off when I mentioned I used a RHL, and couldn't wait to tell me I couldn't do anything on it; and proceeded to imply that I wasn't a real weaver.  Sure, and I'm surrounded by all this imaginary cloth that everyone else can see too.  Sorry, just had to get that off my chest!)  Anyway, digression aside, I have a Cricket that I use for sampling, and was thinking about taking it over to Barb's and some worsted weight yarn (8 dent heddle) to help expand her stash, warping it and showing her how to weave.  The only problem is she is legally blind, and while she can see well enough to knit, for many things she uses a 50x magnifying glass.  I wouldn't mind going over and warping for her, since she only lives 15 minutes away, if she finds she really enjoys it.  I'm wondering if anybody here has any tips and ideas for how to help her succeed, or can think of any possible stumbling blocks that we'll have to overcome.  I was thinking about having my husband buy her one of the Ott lamps with built in magnifying glasses for xmas, does anyone have an opinion of those?

Thanks in advance, folks!

Stephanie

Comments

Thu, 09/29/2011 - 20:20

Claudia Segal (not verified)

Hi Stephanie,

I am legally blind and weave on several different looms, including my Cricket which I LOVE!  Ott light makes a light with a magnifier attached and it's a wonderful tool for those of us with low vision.  I use a hiking/caving headlamp for my knitting and weaving.  It puts light exactly where I need it.  I have a Black Diamond I bought at Zappos.  Here's the link: http://www.zappos.com/black-diamond-gizmo-lunar-gray

If you can warp and thread for your friend, I believe she might enjoy using the Cricket.  It almost does it for you!

BTW, where do you live?  I am in Poolesville, MD and teach weaving.  If I hadn't been out of town, I would have been at the Shenandoah Valley festival representing Weavolution.

Claudia, Weavolution co-founder.

Thu, 09/29/2011 - 21:25

tautriadelta

Claudia:

Oh man, it would have been sweet to meet you!  I live in Winchester, so its only a 30 min drive to SVFF.  I grew up in NoVA, so while I remember the name Poolesville, I can't quite remember where it is.

Which Ott light do you use?  They have a couple, as I remember from my search.  I'll ask her if she thinks the head lamp might be useful; we have a few here at home.  My husband used to go caving a lot before the NPS closed them down. 

I thought my mother in law would enjoy the cricket as well.  Its such a fun little toy, altho it can be used for some serious applications.  I really want to do the WAL on here for Four Shaft Patterns using three heddles, and show that to everyone who says a RHL isn't a real loom.  I've just been on a spinning kick lately, and weaving has fallen by the wayside.  Not for long tho, since I have a short attention span!

Thanks for replying!

Stephanie

Fri, 09/30/2011 - 01:59

Claudia Segal (not verified)

I have several Ott lights and the one with both the 13 watt light and the magnifier glass on it is the one I thought your friend might find helpful. Poolesville is across the Potomac River from Leesburg, VA. I am in the most Western corner of Montgomery County. We are about 30 minutes south of Frederick, 10 minutes from Germantown. perhaps we will meet next year at SVFF or MSWF in May 2012. Always the first weekend in May. Claudia
Sat, 10/01/2011 - 03:53

tautriadelta

Claudia,

My credit card is afraid to go to MDSW!  One of these days, I'll get there... Just not while my gov't employeed husband is worrying about getting his paycheck.  Stupid Congress... How dare they prevent me from getting all the yarny, sheepy goodness!

I'm going to find a link for that light, and send it to my husband, so he can buy it for his mom for xmas.  LOL, she says his presents have gotten much better since we started dating 8 years ago!

Stephanie

Wed, 10/05/2011 - 00:00

tautriadelta

Just in case you're curious, Claudia, I went over there this afternoon, set her up, talked her through every step and left her four hours later, happily weaving and petting the slowly filling cloth beam.  She loves the headlamp idea, so I'll get the husband to dig one out for her to borrow, and she already knows about the OTT lamps.  It wasn't long before Barb wanted to know how much her own cricket would cost, knocking the lamp out of first place!  It was fun to watch her confusion over my crappy explainations vanish as I showed her each step.  (Barb's look of horror when I went to cut the ends after winding on was just outrageous!) 

She gave me the usual, "I don't want to be a bother!" when I told her I would come over and warp her up, and I may not be doing that for too long, anyway.  It seemed to click pretty fast for her, so hooray for me enabling yet another person!  It looks rather good, so far; Just a few skips here and there.  So, yeah, victory is mine!

Stephanie