The Trash Can and a Pair of Scissors

Leftover Monk’s Belt on my four-shaft Macomber

I am wealthy in looms. So very wealthy. I also tend to put very long warps onto my looms and sometimes I get stuck. I have pre-pandemic production warps that some day I will deal with (I really hope soon). A symbol of the sudden transition that happened over two years ago. I had thought that I would continue to do craft fairs and the demand for jewel toned scarves will always be there. Then there are warps from dishtowels that never got finished and add to that a few sample warps from club kits. I never know how much warp I will need to explore an idea fully, or at least as fully as time will allow.

And now I have a warp that needs a loom, and a deadline looming. There is one warp that would be easy to pull off, but I don’t love weaving on that particular loom. I want this to be as easy as possible right now. I could weave off the Monk’s Belt warp, but it is more fiddly than I have time for and because the warp is solid, I am not so excited about weaving it in plain weave.

So yeah, I am going to make good use of a pair of scissors and a trash can. And I am going to try and forgive myself. I am not even going to take the warp off the loom carefully, maintaining the cross, in the hopes that some day I will come back to it. Because I won’t. Instead what would happen is it would sit on a shelf for years, taunting me. I know this for a fact because I have many other warps that have taunted me over the years.

Here’s the math…it looks to me like there are 3.5 yards left and it’s 350 threads wide. Approximately 1225 yards of warp. That’s less than one tube which retails for $12. When I compare that with my mental health and the anxiety that forcing myself to weave it will create, it’s a clear choice.