Pushing Boundaries

 

Yesterday I got some studio clean up done and beamed the above warp.  Colours are not competely accurate on my monitor - the values are actually somewhat darker.  And I ran out of two of the variegated spools and didn't have more so had to substitute a different colourway which looks different, but oh well.  They will still be towels that will dry stuff.

The weft will be a hairy tow linen which also has a fair bit of chaff in it but I have used this linen before and after several times through the laundry, the cloth broke in nicely and I quite like the quality of cloth that developed.  Of course this warp is 2/8 cotton, not 2/16, so it will not be identical, but close enough that the towels should behave nicely.

This will be the 'last' in the current series.  I'm not sure there is enough of the tow linen to weave off the warp, so the back up weft will be something else from my stash.  I have some cottolin from Brassard - four tubes of it, which should be plenty with some left over. 

But overall, I'm pleased with how the warp looks on the beam.

The colours are a dull olive green, a dark grey with a red undertone - slate, I think Brassard named it -  lavender and one strand of a blue.  There are four ends of a variegated deep rose through to pale with a kind of purply blue.  I subbed a variegated with more blue than rose in it.  I'm calling it a design element to have one edge of the towel be not identical to the other.  People will judge the towels for the way they are and like them - or not.

This is not a colourway I would have actually worked with 20 years ago.  The colours are not 'mine' - too dull for my taste.  But I think they look good together and should look nice in a setting that has a lot of neutral colours - stone, granite, wood.

In many ways my career has been all about pushing boundaries.  Boundaries set by society, parents, friends (in some cases).  Elements of the weaving community.  When I decided to do the Guild of Canadian master weavers program, it was partly to satisfy my own desire to learn more, but also?  To indicate to the weaving community at large that I had been tested and found acceptable.  That I actually knew something about weaving.  Because I wanted to teach and the test program was a way I could get some kind of credential that others would accept because they could easily access the testing materials and see what I had to do to pass the program.

Doing a course is as individual as each person.  Not everyone wants to 'prove' anything to other people.  Sometimes it is purely for personal growth.  Sometimes it is a good reminder - especially on 'bad' days - that something has been achieved.  My final Master certificate hangs on my wall for that reason.

There are many ways to learn in the 21st century, and after the pandemic there will continue to be ways to learn on line for those who cannot easily access in person classes.  On line may not be as good as in person, for many reasons, but if you have difficulty travelling, don't have the budget to attend a school, learn easily from viewing video, on line can be a good way to move forward in your craft practice.

The pandemic forced me to examine where I am in my life (retired, for certain values of) and to figure out how I could continue to teach.  The study groups have been one way for me to continue serving my community.  But the production values are not great.  It irritates me that the lip sync is so often out of kilter via Zoom.  Sort of like a typo in the written word - it hits me bang in the eye and annoys me.

But that is what I currently have, so I continue with the scheduled lectures.  Just another boundary to push against.

No one knows what the future holds.  I try to focus on what I can do now, today.  And try not to worry too much about tomorrow, all while making plans and doing the prep work for the Next Big Project.