Laffing Horse Crafts

What follows are several pictures of the lovely Jeanette modeling the latest in TriLoom fashion – the Andalusian MultiLoom!

Jeanette is 6′ tall. This is a BIG Loom!

There are 5 rails… the measure 7′, 6′, 5′, 4′ and 3′. Across the bottom you see the hand-carved 14″ weaving hook nestled in its very own storage slot.

The hook a little closer.

Signed sealed and soon the be delivered!

In the description I provided yesterday I said the loom could be used as a tapestry loom and someone from one of my lists said the description was as clear as mud. I hope these pics will help… maybe I’ll add an illustration:

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Something tells me I shouldn’t announce a new product on the same day that Microsoft puts Windows Vista up for sale. Seems like my announcement might get lost. Maybe I should wait until Apple releases the next version of the iPhone before I annouce my new product… nah…

Last night / this morning I finished the Andalusian triangle multi-loom. I’m excited about it! However, I can’t post any pictures as Jen has the camera and is in Albuquerque visiting her son I hear she’s having a good time, but I miss her (and the camera )

So, let’s see if I can use words to describe and you can use your imagination to picture it…

Start with a Laffing Horse Mustang 7′ Tri-Loom:

Add some secondary, modular rails such as those on the Palomino 2:

Then add another couple of rails… 7′ / 6′ / 5′ / 4′ / 3′ and enough hardware to run any 2 rails simultaneously and… voila! You have a loom capable of weaving anything from a 7′ shawl down to a 3′ baby blanket OR… imagine this (Thanks to Lorri… this is her idea) a tapestry loom with the warp stretched between the 7′ beam and the 3′ beam when they are attached simultaneously. This provides a weaving area of about 3′ x 2′… enough to do a small rug or medium tapestry!

Of course Windows Vista (Ultimate) will end up costing more than this loom, this loom comes with better technical support, you won’t weave any shawls or blankets of rugs or tapestries on Windows Vista and you won’t have to upgrade your… well, nothing will need to be upgraded to run it… unless you have really really thin walls and don’t want to use a stand… this loom is heavy (which is why I am only including the hardware to hang 2 rails at a time).

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For those of you thinking about cutting the corporate apron strings and going it solo, I salute you! Oh, how I salute you!!!

It took me years (about 22 of ‘em) to gather the courage and backing (thanks, Jeanette!) to do it.

But I give warning… don’t think for a moment that this will mean more time to spend in the pursuit of other things (like moving to another state ). Rather, know now, that pursuing the dream of working for yourself means never having to punch a time-clock because you never get to take a break or go home when the day is over.

I love it!

I just finished 2 looms and have 6 more to finish… as well as knitting needles and crochet hooks. The fun just never stops!

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So here I am… waiting to move to 32 undeveloped acres in the middle of the Arkansas Ozarks.

Jeanette is packing with the help of her aunt, Jeannie. I am making looms. Lena is spinning yarns.

Why are we working this way? Because my idea of packing for a move it to grab the things we really need and leave the rest for an auctioneer to parcel out. I figure if we keep the things we really need we can replace the things we only want at some point down the road… if we find out we really want them.

Besides, every time I look at the pile of stuff we have to sort through and pack I freeze.

Everything we have I could use… someday… maybe…

So Jeanette, with her level head and critical eye, is sorting and I am avoiding the pile of accumulations.

Is that wrong?

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With apologies to the bard…

I am often told that I should use my blog to market more. Ishould write posts extolling the virtues of my looms or our store on ebay or our farm.

It’s all valid, but it’s also not what I want to do with my blog.

I want to write about my personal experiences… an online diary. Of course, I’ll not put the truly juicy, personal bits in there, but the general observations belong there. Things that amuse me. Things that I’m proud of. Things that I’m working on. Things that I’m not so proud of (remind me to tell you about the felting punch some day).

Today I’m not proud of much of anything. I am working on about 4 looms simultaneously and they’re all going to be nice… as nice as any other loom I’ve made, but nothing to crow about… well, one of them will be, but that’ll wait until it’s finished.

There… that covers about 60% of the things I said I could write about.

I did find one thing to be amused about. Actually, I am always finding things to be amused about, but I can’t always write about ‘em here. Today, though, I read an article in an issue of Time magazine that explains how the human brain works. In the side bars there are lists of numbers explaining what percentage of this that or the other means to this researcher of that doctor. No where, however, did they put a number claiming how many silly schemes researchers have come up with for explaining the human brain. The assumption, then, is that this latest bout of research is correct… just as correct as the last one and the one before that.

When will they learn that there are some things that should not be mapped and quantifies and correlated and nailed down and etched in stone? Funny, huh… ha…

An observation, too…

Averages mean exactly diddly-squat! Here in southeastern Colorado we’re supposed to get an average of about 12 inches of rain – precipitation – per year. So far, I think we’ve got all of it for 2007 in the last several snow storms. What kind of bell curve will that make?

In Fox, Arkansas, where we’re supposed to get about 56 inches of precipitation per year, we’ve already had about 10.

I’m not even going to complain about the moisture! We’ve been in drought for the past five or so years and I’ll welcome every drop, but I do wish instead of feast and famine we could just balance… if we’re supposed to get 12 inches a year, send an inch a month. If we’re supposed to get 56 inches, send an inch-and-a-quarter a week. Heck, I’d even settle for a couple weeks of no rain and then a week of three or more inches. It seems, however, that for the past several weeks, we’ve been getting too much every weekend.

Not a complaint, but it sure does get old taking a week digging ones self out of a snowbank and having the bank filled back up as soon as one is done.

I find I am also getting a case of cabin fever. I am working, as I said before, on looms (and knitting needles and crochet hooks) and Jen is working on ebay and Lena is spinning, but with the weather being what it is, I feel like I’m working in slow motion. I just know I could finish these projects so much faster if I didn’t have to wade through knee deep drifts every time I went to the workshop.

If you’ve read this I hope you’ve foundsome humor in it and did not just feel like you read a long, protracted whine. Maybe my next entry will be a bit brighter…

Maybe I’ll market things a bit.

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After a 2 day drive to our new home in Fox, Arkansas, a busy unloading of vehicles and setting up of camp and utilities, we began to get rain.

Well, that’s one of the reasons we’re moving. We wanted more rain.

But this didn’t stop. It rained and rained and rained some more. We did manage to get the computer and phone hooked up before the rains hit so we had access to weather reports and we know we were lucky. No freezing rains like those they got all across Oklahoma. No power outtages. No flooding like they were getting in Little Rock.

Still, it was a lot of rain. I’m not complaining. Rain is the reason we’re moving…

We did manage to get the truck stuck and I mean STUCK! in the mud. Had to get a tractor to pull it out… no harm to anything except my pride.

We got the car stuck. Managed to pull it out with the truck.

We spent a week and 7 hours on the road, in Fox and then on the road again and we’re back in Colorado. Jeanette’s busy filling orders that could not be filled from Fox and I am busy finishing looms and crochet hooks and knitting needles I started in Fox and then brought home…

Someone out there is mumbling “I thoght you were going to stay out there and build barns by yourself.”

That was the plan. Six to eight inches of rain in 48 hours while living in a camper with little heat and no electricity and working in a shop with no heat can kinda put a damper (pun intended) on things. It was decided that I should return home and help with packing and driving and then Jeanette would be there to help with the building.

Oh, but there’s a lot more to tell… later… I gotta get some rest!

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Before I pull the plug here, it’s been brought to my attention that there may be the perception that because I am moving that I will no longer be making looms or carving crochet hooks, or shaping knitting needles or any of the other things that I do.

Nothing could be farther from the truth!

One of the reasons I am moving before Jeanette is so I can set up shop in Arkansas and continue to fill orders with as little delay as possible. In fact, on our last trip through our new home, we rented a building and dropped off a complete set of tools so that I can open the doors on the new shop with only the drive time between here and there as a delay.

If you were considering placing an order for a triloom or a set of crochet hooks or knitting needles you need not fear. Your order will only be delayed by a few days while I am driving from here to there.

OK… ok… the other reason is because I am a hopeless pack-rat and I refuse to sort and pack and throw away anything… Jeanette’s much better at that

Until then, keep in touch through our eBay store:

http://stores.ebay.com/common-threads-fiber-arts-and-more

via phone:

719-980-2721 or 719-254-3837 (it is our intention to keep these phone numbers… they are cell numbers and we should be able to keep them despite the move)

or via email:

shawn@laffing-horse.com

shawnhoefer@gmail.com

jeanette@laffing-horse.com

jeanette392001@yahoo.com

I’ll sneak a peak whenever I can…

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Today I’m doing something that I don’t often do. I’m turning off my computer.

Don’t misunderstand me. This is not a simple restart. This is a shut-down. Pulling the plug.

Oh, it’s not permanent. It’s just that today is the last day my poor machine can sit on my desk as my desk is being loaded into the truck for the move.

Why is this a big deal? Why does this deserve a blog post? I am a geek, have been since way back and I got to tinker on my friend’s Commodore VIC-20. I’ve owned more computers in my life than most people even think about owning (right now there are 5 computers in the house for the three of us) and this will be the first time since I set up this computer that it will be off for more than the few seconds required for a restart or the occasional unavoidable power outage.

It also means that I will not be posting to my blog or website or email lists… or responding to emails at all until I can hook my computer back up once I am in Arkansas… somewhere around January 11 or 12.

So, if you want to contact me you may do so through Jeanette’s email or via telephone (all of that’s on our web pages…) or drive out to visit the old farm before we leave. I’d say you can drop me a line, but my mail’s already been forwarded.

‘Til I can chat at you from the greener pastures (at the very least less snowy) of Arkansas, farewell.

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Baby, can you dig it. It’s cool. I can dig it.

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