Kyle Rankin @kyle@librem.one

Estate sales are the way to go for quality yarn if you know what to look for. I just bought this collection of yarn (mostly wool and cotton) for the price of a single small skein of the yarn you see in front, if it were new. ⁨#weaving⁩ ⁨#yarn

The fabric is off the loom! The next step is to do a quick zigzag stitch across the end of each napkin to keep the ends from fraying when I separate them later. Then I'll wash/dry/iron the fabric, clean up loose threads, then separate and hem the napkins.

Yesterday my Comptometer Model 3D11 arrived! This last Comptometer model was made in the 1950s-60s and has all the final refinements they made to what was the fastest calculator for accounting before digital calculators dominated. I'll clean and refurbish it this weekend.

Here you can see the yards of fabric as it wraps around the cloth beam. In between each napkin is two or more passes of another yarn so I can more easily separate them later.

Last night I finished ⁨#weaving⁩ the 8th (and final) overshot napkin! I *barely* had enough warp left for it. Now to take them off the loom and hem the edges.

I found a gold-plated Stahly "live blade" vibrating safety razor with case that matches the vintage ad hanging next to my sink! It cleaned up really well with some metal polish and cotton swabs. ⁨#shaving

I found a mint condition vintage mechanical pocket calculator (with a vintage insensitive name) along with part of the box and instructions at a local thrift store for $5. Only missing a stylus.

I realized I'm bad at estimating how much time ⁨#weaving⁩ will take. First I estimated a napkin took about 3 hours, then after weaving 2 hours this morning and not finishing I figured it would take 9. Another hour and now it's done. So maybe 5 hours?

Weaving napkins is like making pancakes. The first one doesn't count. The second one is better but not quite there. But by the third one you finally got it down. ⁨#weaving⁩

I'm practicing ⁨#weaving⁩ doubleshot patterns by making a full set of napkins with free and cheap yarn I already had. I'm learning a lot about weaving complex patterns with this project. It will be hard to wipe my mouth with these napkins when I'm done.

Since the Librem 5 runs the same OS as Librem laptops, it has the same software. I recently got an SDR (Software Defined Radio) dongle, and I can connect it to the Librem 5 and use the same tools (gqrx) as on a laptop. Gqrx isn't adaptive, so I just dock the Librem 5. Pretty fun.

Update: I finished threading the heddles. It took me about 5 hours total. This is why I'm making a set of 8 napkins, not just one at a time--the up front work to "dress the loom" is the same regardless of how long the warp is.

I'm warping the loom to weave a set of patterned cloth napkins. A 20" napkin x 24 ends/in = 480 individual threads. These are threaded through metal heddles in a particular order to make the pattern. Imagine threading 480 needles but which needle you pick next *really* matters.

All in all this is a nice little adding machine, if a bit limited. The cover and carrying handle is a nice touch. ⁨

The red lever on the side is used to clear the registers. All of the registers are spring-loaded on the inside so resetting them is fast (when they are oiled properly). ⁨

Like other simple adding machines you subtract by the complements method. Use the tiny digits next to the larger digits for the subtrahend. The red buttons along the top prevent the carry mechanism. Here's 1000-1, which you get by adding 9999. ⁨

Adding is similar to on a chain adder like the Gem Pocket machine I featured earlier. In this case instead of a stylus, you put your finger next to the corresponding lever and pull all the way down to add the digit to the register.

Here is what it looks like after restoration and cleaning. There is a hinged lid that can come down to protect (and even lock) the adding machine when it's not in use.

Here is a view of the machine from the front, and a look at the internal mechanisms. A few of the input registers were pretty sticky and as a result wouldn't reset properly so I spent some time oiling and working those mechanisms to loosen things up.

Today I'm restoring a Star Adding Machine made by the Todd Protectograph Company in 1925 or early in 1926. Later in 1926 these machines were redesigned and sold as the Todd Visible.