One of the things I really love about my line of work? Getting to work with professionals from adjacent fields and learning new things. Another thing I love is getting to work with many different materials - especially since I'm also working with textile techniques and tools, that does not just encompass the many different variations of fibres, yarns, and fabrics, but also other materials. Wood. Clay. Metal.
It has definitely proven helpful to have a little bit of basic skill working with these things, and a small but versatile selection of tools. One of my favourite ones: The so-called "Bssst". (You may guess why it's called that.)
I have this stand and another stand/holder for it, and it's been drilling holes and polishing things for me a lot. (My dad bought the original Bssst many years ago, and I've just recently had to replace it with a new one, as it absolutely refused to do anything anymore.)
This time, it was my little helper drilling many, many holes in a stick:
That will be the connecting part between the horizontal top beam of a warp-weighted loom and the fabric. While it's technically possible to sew the fabric starting band directly to the top beam, adding in the Stick Of Many Holes makes things easier, and more comfortable, and uses less string overall. The larger holes are to attach the stick to the beam, and the smaller holes to sew the fabric to the stick.
That will happen on Monday - and I'm already looking forward to that!