(Greek philosopher, name escapes me)
Silk gimp warp with weft....
A great many years ago I was having problems with muscle spasms and chronic pain. During a conversation with Allen Fannin I asked him how he managed to weave so much. He told me he was in pain every single day but if he didn't weave his family had no income. Since Doug and I were in the same position, he essentially told me to suck it up and just get to the loom.
Always one for plain speaking, Allen was. :}
Over the years I've become aware of how many people are dealing with something challenging. I don't think there are very many truly 'healthy' people! We all just do the best we can with the cards that we have been dealt with. Ultimately we have two choices. We can bow to the infirmity and let it set the parameters of our accomplishments, or we can acknowledge that we are battling and do it anyway.
Of course it isn't always that clear cut. Some days the battle is just too great.
Today is one of those days for me - almost too much. One of the things I've been dealing with the last few years is sleep disruption. Either I can't get to sleep in the first place, or I wake up after about 4 hours and can't get back to sleep. Sleep deprivation means my body isn't able to function properly and all my aches and pains are magnified.
Since I can't sleep during the day (unless I'm ailing with something) laying down isn't productive and I just get vexed because I'm not getting anything done. Even if that anything is just sitting and reading. :}
After pressing for a couple of hours my ankle is burning and my neck is aching so weaving on the AVL just isn't going to be possible. Instead I sleyed the silk gimp warp and checked the yarn I was going to use for weft and decided the green wasn't the right colour or value and grabbed this darker purple instead.
The warp has just a little green in it - as the warp goes on there is more of the red/purple so I think in the end the dark purple will be much more effective than the lighter, brighter green.
The added benefit is that weaving such an open cloth means that I'm not really going to be beating as such - just gently placing the weft in place.
And I think that if I can get into the rhythm of weaving I may actually weave fast enough to be gently aerobic and possibly dump some endorphins into my system which will make me feel better. And I'll certainly feel better having accomplished something productive.
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4 comments:
Life seems like one of those hiking trails - uphill both ways! Hang in there.
My first response to your blog entry, having only looked at the photo, was an intake of breath - its so pretty! And then I read. And still see beauty. Courage is beauty.
PS. Philo.
Hi Sandra - you sound like my dr. :)
Teresa - thanks for the credit - I can never seem to remember that name!
The good news is that the weaving worked - I finished the shawl (and the warp - one shawl per warp) and felt much better for it. Weaving truly *is* therapy! I even got all the stuff tagged that needed tags while dinner was cooking. Now to start packing for my trip. :)
Laura, I appreciate you for your beautifully honest talk, about weaving and about what is going on in your life. I think I know those things, but I need a reminder from time to time. I am just getting back to weaving after a long time, and it is a joy to me. I have chronic Lyme disease, and though aggressive treatment (something I need to go back to from time to time) has given me much of my life back, there are days, sometimes weeks, that are challenges. At time, I feel almost as if it all is going to overwhelm me. But it doesn't. I've come too far in this to give up, and there is always something else to balance things out and then some. This is my long-winded way of saying thanks. You show me the way back to courage with your posts.
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