The hammock begins

The 7/32-inch rope arrived yesterday afternoon.  I spent most of the evening cutting it into 50-foot lengths, hooking them onto a dowel in doubled lengths of 25 feet, and tying up the long ends into bobbins.  Now I've tied knots in the first foot or so.  The triangle pattern is a little subtle.  I hope I was right about multiplying the feeder cord by three to get the finished length, because I seem to be using up the bobbins alarmingly fast.  I may have to bone up on those splicing techniques.


Having discovered how to make my laptop read aloud to me, I've spent the day so far knotting while listening to the articles I'd otherwise have sat and read.  Unfortunately, the program can't read a Kindle download, because I can't highlight the text in that format.  The artificial voice is mildly annoying but comprehensible.  You have to make allowances for its inability to distinguish between noun/verb pairs like PRO-ject and pro-JECT.  If it gets too confused by a name, it reverts to spelling.

10 comments:

raven said...

I see you are a spinner. A seemingly simple art with a boggling array of variables...

Texan99 said...

More accurately, I have a spinning wheel and two friends who have been trying to get me hooked for years. Somehow I can't quite get into it. Apparently I need other people to make the thread/yarn/cord/rope, so I can hook or knot it into repetitive patterns.

Grim said...

All of these productive skills are beyond me. I'm great at breaking things, though. If you want a garden, I can break the ground. If you want firewood, I can break the trees. If you want to crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentation of the women, I can handle that too.

Make something? That's harder. Well, I can make bread, and food generally, but you know what they say about that -- you've gotta break some eggs.

Texan99 said...

And very lucky we are to have you, too!

raven said...

Every skill is valuable, applied at the right time- there is a season...

douglas said...

I dunno Grim, you produce nice written works. I think that counts.

MikeD said...

It does indeed. Grim, have you yet tried your hand at making beer or mead? I think it is an endeavor that would appeal to you. And apparently, it's now quite reasonable (price wise) to do.

DL Sly said...

Grim,
I resemble that remark!!
0>;~}

douglas said...

I know he's made mead before.

Grim said...

I have made both beer and mead! I was never happy with my beer, though, because it was too buttery-yeasty. It needed to be properly filtered, and I never had the money to spend on the equipment.

Now my mead has at times been highly successful. The last time it was so successful that, when we broached the keg, by the end of the evening I gave the whole thing away in a fit of generosity -- the mead, the keg, and all my mead-making gear.

Just as well, really. It's best not to get that drunk very often.