Pattern Weights II

Here's a photo of what I called the "nice industrial" pattern weights. They're about 4 lbs., 10 inches long, and cost between $10 and $15 apiece. I got mine for pennies when my roommate went to a huge warehouse liquidation sale. We also aquired two gravity feed irons, tons of pattern hooks and an industrial Juki machine that I can't wait to try out.

My boss has some pattern weights like these below as well. I hate them. It seems like weights should be very stable -- you want no movement at all, right? So why on earth would anyone design a weight that, when filled, bulges out into an almost spherical shape, and rolls with the tiniest nudge?

Also, when I took my very first classes from Sharon Blair in Portland Oregon, she used massive washers from the hardware store (I'm not posting a picture of this. You all know what washers look like). I like them a lot, and only have two complaints. First, it seems no one needs massive washers in NYC. I can't find them anywhere. Also, they don't have handles like the industrial ones, and I like the handles even if they're not entirely necessary.