Weaving

I've been spending a lot of time away from the house working and socializeing, so today I decided to stay home and have a weaving day. I have so many things I want to get finished as well as lots of loose ends I need to tie up, figuratively and litterally. I took the early afternoon to sing along to some tunes (my space mix, Bowie, Joanna newsom) and document some of the things I've been making and dyeing. I took the Ice River Scarf off the loom yesterday.

Ice River Scarf:
This was woven by hand on a four harness Jack loom. The warp is scottish tweeds with a supplementary warp in icey and watery blues. The weft is a delicate cotton and linnen slub. The weave is open and airy with a subtle waves due to the varying thickness of the weft. I am happy with the results so far and once I ply the ends it will be ready to go. (This may end up being for my friend Danes, but if not I will put it up for sale on my website, which is currently in the works. I will post an update whenever Dan and I finish putting that together. It may be a little bit though.)

Foliose Scarf:
This was crocheted with cream coloured wool and mohair, which my friend Dana Lumby dyed with acid dyes. It's curly and hyperbolic, very comfy and textural. I am definetly making some of these to sell as well. I will post some other photos of it being worn soon, so you can really see how neat and biological it looks.

Space Elevator

The idea of a space elevator is pretty far out, but now seems entirely possible due to nano technology.

From an intuitive standpoint the space between earth and sky appears vast, the landscape seems to move away from us in every direction, but really it is only thinly spread around the planet. We forget that space really isn't that far away, it's only about 80 km up. That's a sunday drive away! (At that point you would be in the thermosphere, the area above auroras that stretches further still.)

The elevator would move from a platform at sea up a huge cable made of super strong nanotubes. The whole thing would be powered by a lazer beam and it could cheaply transport cargo, and people, out of the atmosphere. I'm glad I'm alive to see these types of things in the works, even if it is just the beggining. Rockets are too expensive, use too much fuel and an elevator would be much more efficient. Plus it's really quite bizarre. I think it will help renew the publics interest in space and at the same time it could be humbling. It might help us to realize we are anchored to this thin veil of habitable space.

It is amazing that this is only possible due to Nano technology as well. The cable is made of Nano tubes. They are spun to create a fabric which is thirty times stronger than steele. I watched them spin the miniscule tubes in to tiny threads on Nova, it is the same as spinning fleece. It's strange to see it on a microscopic level. This huge undertaking will only be possible due to the strength of the very small. The estimates for the cable at the present is that it will be 3 feet wide and thinner than a sheet of paper.
Watch the program on the net at the Nova website