Saturday, January 17, 2009

Sley the Dent and Warped a Dog

So I was thinking about the strange terms that we use in weaving. Some of them have made it into everyday language. For example, "it will all come out in the wash" is a phrase that is attributed to weavers. When you take a woven piece off the loom, part of the finishing is to rinse or wash the item. This sets and evens out the weave so that if there was a little oppsie you did while weaving it on the loom, it would work itself out or "come out in the wash".

What other phrases or terms of endearment can you come up with?

We already have a wonderful explanation of the phrase "Sley the Dent" from Dawn of www.sleythedent.com

I will copy her comment here:

Oh wow. As my weaving studio is called "Sley The Dent" and my son develops computer games for a living, I'll have to ask him when "Warp Drive Mario: Sley the Dent" is being released! What a hoot!
I can see the potential, can't you weavers?! For me "sley the dent" brings to mind my inner-Athena defending my loom from warp tangling goblins. Syne must have had similar thoughts for her pod-cast-drama "Buffy the Reed Sleyer".
Oh, I can see a fun (and educational!) weaving game. Go-go-weaving-gadget? Eliminate warp tangling goblins while you make your way through the game levels, wrong answers result in broken warp threads: (1) pick colors for your warp, from the 2000+ pantone possibilities, see how the colors interact when placed beside one another in a virtual warp wrapping. (2) learn about sheep, goats, pineapple, rabbit, bamboo, silk worms, cotton, yak, bison, rayon, nylon, tencel, possum, llama, alpaca, linen, hemp, ramie, and plarn as you pick out fibers for your warp and weft.
(3) Learn about being "green". What does it mean to be an organic cotton or organic wool? What are good fiber growing and dyeing practices vs un-healthy or non-ecofriendly ones? (4)Exercise your mathematical brain bits while you learn about epi, ppi, take-up, tex, shrinkage, yards/pound, meters/kg, and the mystifying 20/2 vs 2/20. (5)???

*A dent is a space in the reed, the reed is a part of the beater. The reed keeps the warp threads spaced in a fixed density. To sley is the act of threading a warp thread through a dent space in the reed. One of the many steps in warping a loom, before you can weave on it.
I think this new idea for a video game is brilliant.

Here is another: "Warped a Dog"

This is when you take an enormous amount of time and planning on paper (but more than likely you did not do a sample swatch) and you warp up a loom to begin what you envision will become a masterpiece. However, your hopes are dashed when you begin to weave and you realize it is going to be one ugly work of crap...(I'm sorry craft.)

So what do you do? Well, after it sits for a while on your loom collecting dust (cause you are totally disgusted with it, but the thought of wasting that yarn keeps you from putting it out of its misery) you get up enough nerve to take those big Gingher Scissors...you know, the ones that are sharp as hell...and you free yourself from the disappointment and frustration of that "dog". You cut that ugly warp of your loom and breath a sigh of relief.

We have all experienced this, in fact I have a "warped dog" starring me in the face right now. Which, I am getting prepared (in other words, building up the courage) to brutally remove from my loom after I finish writing this post.

What other phrases can you come up with?

Start those fingers moving and post one hell of a creative comment. That is my challenge to you, now get on it!
Thank you,
Wefty Woman
One Warped Bitch

*Edited to add an actual definition of the phrase "sley the dent"

15 comments:

PaintedBullShop.com said...

If there are any other crafters reading this post, enlighten me! Write up a little comment about a humorous phrase you use in your particular craft.

-Wefty Woman
One Warped Bitch

The Dangerous Mezzo said...

There's nothing remotely funny about collage.

(except when I glue myself to my own artwork :) Then I use some bad language which might be amusing for others.

dkf said...

Gosh I think chatted about everything except what sley-the-dent really means. A dent is a space in the reed, the reed is a part of the beater. The reed keeps the warp threads spaced in a fixed density. To sley is the act of threading a warp thread through a dent space in the reed. One of the many steps in warping a loom, before you can weave on it.
(No goblins need apply.)
Dawn ~~ Sley the Dent

PaintedBullShop.com said...

Dawn,I was so enamored by the whole idea of a warrior super weaver that I got caught up, I did not even realize that there was no real "technical" definition of dent in that comment...so thank you for setting it straight. I will amend the post to add your additional description, because it is clear and succinctly stated.

So those who read SleyTheDents comment and think that you are having "deja vu" you are not. You just read the definition of the phrase "sley the dent" twice. Just carry on and post something clever, dammit!

Donnalda Does Art said...

To "upset your basket" is not a bad thing, it means to bring the weaving rods from the base up at a 45 degree angle to form the sides.
The basket actually likes it.
"Randing" has nothing to do with reproduction or the reproductive process, it is a two, three, or four strand twill weaving technique for filling the sides. You will still only have one basket nine months later.

PaintedBullShop.com said...

Donnalda
That is neat, I am frequently upsetting somebody's basket.

Antacid said...

How about "sabotage"? (Does everyone already know this one?) French weavers, in a fit of pique (har) (sorry) threw their clogs, known as sabots, through the mill windows at the dratted looms - et voila - sabotage! :)

skiingweaver said...

(Oopsie, that was me, antacid is my hubby's account, I'm using his computer.)

PaintedBullShop.com said...

Wow, sabotage, I did not know that. Weavers are cool.:P

PaintedBullShop.com said...

Just wanted to post this for all of you that have been so understanding and supportive these past 2 years.
I just got back from Emory, tumors are benign angiomas and I have atypical pneumonia. The pneumonia is something that will take a long time to get over, and I must have my liver checked by MRI every 3 months. He wants to keep a close eye on the tumors because there is an increased risk of them developing into malignant cancer. That pneumonia is something that also causes a lot of my symptoms. I still cannot drive, due to the epilepsy and must remain on the liver medications. There is still a question regarding the lump in my breast, but for now at least it is not what they thought it was, neuro-endocrine cell cancer.
Thank you for everything! -JJ

PaintedBullShop.com said...

Got another one...heirloom.

Orbie/\;;/\ said...

I am sure most of you know that the Jacquard loom is precursor to the computer... we weavers were techno long before anyone ever thought of another use for a punch card so even though the Luddites were against the new weaving machines and now have become synonymous with those who are anti technology (including my husband)I think most of us who weave embrace many forms of technology while keeping our craft alive.

Orbie/\;;/\ said...

JJ I have my epilepsy under control thank heaven. I do worry sometimes about the dust kicked up by all the fiber. White Lung is certainly a real hazard for weavers. Take good care of yourself

PaintedBullShop.com said...

I am thinking about a new topic for the blog, any suggestions?

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much! I will add this to my vocabulary! I didn't know there was a SO-descriptive name for my problem!
HA!
~JD