Just In Time!

 

With the Weavers Show and Share booked for Sunday afternoon, I was getting concerned if the latest issue of WEFT would arrive in time.  

Voila!  This morning's mail contained the magazine.

I have to confess that when I write (and I actually include most authors) I sweat bullets trying to include ALL the information, work hard and choosing the words that best convey what I did, hoping that anyone who wants to do the project, or even just learn by reading what I did, will get enough information to take them a step further.

I don't know if most newer weavers are aware of how hard authors, editors, publishers, work to make their magazines/books informative and interesting, and how many of us get so wrapped in the task that sometimes it's hard to *stop* polishing and just finally accept you've done your best and let it free, out into the 'wild' (so to speak).

Frankly, it has been months since I finished the article for issue 3.  During the time between I wove the napkins and finished writing the article, I have had an 'interesting' time, with the brain bleed on Aug. 28, 2024, continued adverse effects from the drugs I was hoping would make things 'better' and made things just...worse.

It was with a considerable amount of trepidation that I opened the envelope this morning and holding my breath, read my article.  (Yes, of course I read mine first!)

To my relief I was able to read the article in its entirely without wincing once.  I have not looked at the drafts - I sweated bullets at the time, and since I was using computer generated software, I'm pretty sure the drafts are accurate enough.  The question that will arise is if I have done a good enough job of explaining what I did.

I am hoping some of the weavers that come on Sunday will bring their textiles, too.  It is by sharing that we all learn.  I have been encouraging weavers to contribute to the magazine, and the guild ordered a subscription.  I am hoping that the new book I ordered will arrive tomorrow so that I can bring that for people to see, as well.

Weaving is an ancient craft.  We keep it alive by learning it, writing about it, reading about it - from actual practitioners.  In a craft that changes every time circumstances change, it is easy to forget that very few weaving questions have definitive answers.  It depends!  And that the individual weaver will need to produce their own 'samples'.  But we can still share our knowledge and encourage others to develop their own foundation of knowledge.

And if you are interested in my long form writing, my 3 books are still available at blurb.  Printed in the US, they will not have a tariff on them if you are in the US.  If you are not in the US, they are also available in pdf form.  

Marketing

 

A few days ago I saw an ISO post looking for The Intentional Weaver.  I hesitated to say anything because not all such queries are looking for a 'new' purchase.  Maybe they specifically wanted a used one.  So, if you see someone looking for one of my books, they are still available on blurb

November continues to be...challenging.  I did manage to weave yesterday and felt 'ok' - I suppose.  The weather is far too warm - for here, this time of year.  While I'm relieved for no snow on the ground, due to my difficulty in walking, I would much prefer that the temp was -10 C and the sky clear.  Our days are short, but not too bad if the sun is shining.  Which it is not, right now.

And I think about people under 20 - they think this is...normal.  They believe there is no climate change because the weather has been doing...whatever *this* is...for their entire lives.  People my age remember - some of us.  But we are given an eye roll and ignored.

Turmoil continues.  Trying to deal with the alt right is like whack-a-mole.  You get rid of one and a dozen more pop up.  

We (or at least *I*) are on tenterhooks waiting to see if the budget will be passed.  The opposition party is behaving more and more like fascists.  The government needs two more votes to get the budget passed, or we wind up with a winter election - and millions more spent to very little benefit to the average Canadian.  But I fail to see any (as in *any*) solutions being advanced by the Cons and the Leader of the Official Opposition sounds more and more like the loose cannon down south with each report that becomes public.

In the meantime, I continue to try and help others.  I don't see any other way to get through this time than by lifting others up, not smacking them down.  The new book I ordered should arrive next week.  I'm hoping to feel up to reading the thesis on hemp (sat for too long, an open tab on the desktop) and then the new book.  The new cream seems to be helping - some.  I'd sure like some more energy though.  

Anyway, if you see someone in search of my books, maybe all y'all could share the link above?

Remembrance Day

 

Dad, in larger photo, wearing his Canadian uniform in WWII; smaller photo about 10 years old

Dad served in WWII, first in the Aleutians, then being sent to England to prepare for D-Day.  He was pretty much a pacifist, but he did his duty.

He was born in 1919 in Red Rock, BC.  The family had arrived in the US, going first to Grandpa Peter's brother, who was living in San Francisco, then making their way north and eventually crossed into Canada.  Two of dad's sisters were born on the prairies with dad the 'last' here in BC.  They obtained land under the Homestead Act (as I understand it - some family stories have been heavily 'edited' by my mother) and they carved some 'farm' land out of the forest on the east side of the Fraser River.  They actually did not do too badly for themselves with a large number of boys, hiring themselves out as harvest crews, making instruments and forming a band.  Plus the gold in the river to pan.

One story is about one of my uncles who had panned gold and bought himself an accordion from the Eaton's catalogue.  One night they were playing at a dance at a village called Woodpecker (I think), Uncle Emil met some buddies and after the rest of the band packed up, Emil and buddies continued to shoot the breeze and drink more beer.  Buddies assured Emil that they could give him a ride home and the rest of the 'boys' left Emil to his visiting and drinking.

Turns out the 'ride' was in a canoe.  Having had several beers too many the three of them were tipsy and well, the canoe did what canoes will do - it tipped the boys and the accordion into the water and away it sailed, never to be seen again.  And Emil set about panning for gold to replace it.

None of the other men in the family served in the war.  Dad was so much younger than the other 'boys' that by the time war was declared, they were married, with kids, most of them farming.  But dad had none of that.  So when he was told to report to enlist, he did.  

The first few years were 'easy' - he was sent to the Aleutians and served alongside US soldiers.  Because the family identified as 'German' - spoke German, read it, had family that had been left behind when they left Europe.  He was likely suspected of being sympathetic to Germans/Germany.  But dad was born here in Canada, and he hadn't learned to speak German much, especially after his mother died when he was 10.  About the time of the smaller photo.

Life on the farm was not easy.  Most of the stories were related by mother and are, therefore, 'suspect'.

But I do believe the one about what dad did when he was de-mobbed.  He stripped all the 'medals' he had been given, keeping only his regiment identification, and when he returned to Red Rock, he packed up his two hunting rifles and handed them to a nephew and never went hunting again.  I'm pretty sure this is true because I was 16 before I knew there was such a thing as 'rare' meat.  If there was 'blood' on his plate, he would shove the plate away and wrestle with nausea.  

As for the regiment badges, he kept one of his army jacket pockets and pinned the things he kept to that - which I still have.  A testament to his personal values.  Yes, he went to war; yes he did his duty; doesn't mean he liked it.  But he did go - and fought the fascists.

Yes, my father is one of the antifa 'terrorists' that the current crop of fascists are warning us all about.  He fought for democracy - as flawed as it was, and still is.  He fought for freedom of being bullied by others who wanted to control everyone else.  He fought for his life on Juno beach, and on into Holland.

And it left him with PTSD, an aversion to seeing blood, an aversion to being bullied.  When my brother stood up to a bully who was picking on one of Don's friends, dad supported him.  Was even proud, I think.  It was a bit hard to tell, at times.  But there was no punishment, from either of our parents, in the end.  It was a short, sharp lesson, and one I have not forgotten.  

Rest in peace, dad.  And Don.  And mom.  You all made me the person I am now.  I hope you think I'm doing ok.  And on this coming Remembrance Day, I vow to continue the resistance to fascists and bullies.  As best I can.

Gratitude

 

I've been 'quiet' this week as I have been dealing with more 'stuff' than I have energy for.  But I have been so grateful for the good wishes people have been sending.

Times are definitely 'interesting' right now, and on-going health issues don't help.  I can say with some tiny amount of certainty that so far things are slightly improving.  As I have been warned, repeatedly, by several of my health care team...it's going to take time for the body to sort itself out.  Dammit.

The pain doctor used a different 'approach' to do the back injections and that seems to have effected some improvement.  The cream arrived on Tuesday and there is a slight hint of improvement with that, too.

The appointment at the cancer clinic was just a blood draw (follow up appointment later), but I was asked to participate in a research project.  The BC Cancer Agency is setting up a 'bio bank' and wanted to know if I would provide a blood sample and allow my contribution to be used in research projects regarding lymphoma.  Since I have a 'rare' cancer, of course I was.  

The eye doctor was happy with my left eye - not so much with my right which has developed a patch of dryness.  Yet more drops and ointments, now in both eyes.

Massage yesterday detected some improvement from the shots on Tuesday, and chiro was able to gently adjust my neck and relieve some restrictions there.

Today is meant to be a 'rest' day and I had thought I would try weaving for 30 minutes.  Instead I will work some more on 'light duties' and leave the weaving another day.

I was told of a new weaving book and ordered a copy.  Once it comes and I've had time to take a look I will let people know if I feel it is good for people to have in their personal or guild libraries.  

Speaking of which, I had someone email asking for some help with a technical issue they were having.  So I spent an hour this morning going through one of my books, then asking questions and giving some advice they didn't ask about but that *I* knew they needed to know.  Because I suspected they didn't know that part.  

So I spent an hour with Allen Fannin's book and remembering all the help and advice he gave us when we needed it.  And all the support and encouragement he generously offered.  

Today isn't as nice a day, but I had no need to leave the house - and won't, unless I go with Doug to the pharmacy to pick up my eye ointment.  Maybe a few minutes out from these walls would be good for me?  

I'm hoping to be able to weave some over the weekend - I have more appointments next week, and the major one (that I will need another several days to recover from) on the 18th.  And I'm already booking stuff into December because November was already 'full'.  Or full enough that I could manage.

Now if WEFT magazine would arrive for the weavers meeting, but never mind I have the samples to show/share and might bring my latest towels fresh off the loom and now hemmed.

Gold dust to all who needs it.

The Countdown

 

Some of my pain 'meds' sitting beside The Golden Thread and the Jack Lenor Larson biography.  Hopefully I'll begin feeling well enough to read more than just posts on Facebook.

I have been battling peripheral neuropathy for years, on top of the damage to my back.  For over a year I had been trying various nerve blockers as nothing 'usual' was dealing with the level of pain I had been living with.  

The back damage shoots nerve pain down my right leg and into my right foot; the PN causes nerve pain of a different sort, in both feet.  I have been getting injections every 4 months or so for the sciatic pain, but nothing much was helping the PN.

Various people gave suggestions.  The first pain doctor I saw suggested lidocaine cream.  That white and red tube is 30 grams and costs about $50.  But lidocaine is short acting.  It helps in the moment, but not long enough to sleep through the night.  And it gets expensive.

From there I learned about alpha lipoic and tried that.  It takes about an hour to kick in (if it will) and then if it helps, I can usually get back to sleep for a few hours.  

The nerve blockers were helping but at the cost of adverse effects - muscle pain in my thighs to the point I could barely walk.  Finally I was convinced to try ketamine.  Before I went that far, though, I started red light laser therapy after the recommendation from my local pain doctor.

All of those non-drug (so to speak) treatments worked for a while, but the past few months things were getting 'worse'.

Once I had stopped the nerve blockers my massage therapist suggested magnesium chloride (I think) in gel form.  That seemed to reduce the nerve damage (if that is what had happened on that nearly 1.5 years of trying various nerve blockers).  But the slight improvement in my thighs was being wiped out by the increasing PN in my feet, which seemed to be crawling up my calves.

I read.  I read as much as I could find.  But PN is one of those 'weird' conditions which is tough to nail down, and a huge number of patients are 'idiopathic' - or, cause unknown.

I had a list of risk factors, some maybe nothing, some definitely something.  As a child I had planters warts on the soles of both feet.  Another kid in my class had his 'burned' off with chemicals and wound up barely able to walk until the burned tissue healed.  My family doctor suggested having mine burned off with x-rays.  Risk factor?  No one knows.  But I had massive amounts of x-rays aimed at my feet for about 20 minutes a treatment.  Which continued for weeks and ate up that summer.

I also danced ballet.  Including toe shoes.  I experienced blisters, bruises under my toe-nails, pain in my feet.  Risk factor?  No one really knows.

My body has multiple allergies and lack of some vitamins seem to encourage PN.  Since so many different foods are allergens, I have experienced deficiencies in both vitamins and micro-minerals several times in my life.  All I know was that for a time in my 40s I had horrible pain in my feet, plus my shoe size grew from the swelling such that I had to buy new shoes.  Interestingly when I started a new one-a-day vitamin, about 3 weeks after, the pain in my feet disappeared.  Plus I have had 3 shingles outbreaks.  The virus continues to hide in the body, living on the the nerve endings (I think.)  Is that a factor in all the nerve pain I'm having?  No idea.

Then in 2011 I was diagnosed with cancer, requiring chemotherapy.  One of the ingredients was Vincristine - a *known* cause of PN.  Sure enough I developed a 'weird' sensation in my feet and then in my hands.  I was assured when treatment stopped that should disappear.  And it did.  Until a few years ago.

Reading as much as I could about PN, it is one of those 'it depends' kind of thing.  So I read, and read, searching for answers, finding very little.

More common in diabetics, but a huge number of cases have no 'cause'.  The person just...learns, as best as they can...to live with it.

But constant pain with little to treat or manage it, is horrible, whatever the cause.  With so little actually known about the condition, and such a complexity of issues, the market is rife for 'miracle' cures.

A friend sent me a link to one.  The ones I had seen previously were based on a couple of 'spices'.  Given my track record with 'spices', I was not going to go there.  (Some spices make me seriously ill, no matter how medically helpful they can be for others.)  But this one was different.

So I ordered some and today the shipment arrived.  I have tried a dab of the cream on one foot and there appeared to be some lessening of the pain in that foot.  Nor do they claim it is a 'miracle' drug - if you read the small print, they say to use 3 times a day, or more if needed, for at least two weeks to see if it is going to be beneficial.

I'm not going to call it on the basis of one cautious dab, but I'm willing to give it a go.

In the photo the 'new' cream is the little 'pot'.  It's 4 ounces and the pot was filled right up to the brim.  And it was on sale for the same price as the lidocaine cream.  It's not made in Canada, but comes from the Netherlands.

Oh, and that tiny little vial sitting on top of the new 'pot'?  That's my crop of hope.  I'm sitting it on top of the pot in hopes that some of my hope will sink into the pot and encourage some relief.

When doing web searches, remember to ignore the AI 'recommendations'.  Look for actual medical websites and keep looking.  The last one I tried didn't *look* obviously 'medical' but when I opened the site, I found the most information I'd found to date.  

I'm now on light duty tasks for a few days, until I get the next ketamine infusion.  I'm hoping to get this warp off the loom and the next one beamed so that when I can begin weaving after the infusion it will be ready.  Or at least beamed.  Because I found 8 spools of the singles 6 and now I am back to 3 large cones of that yarn when I thought I was about to start on one of those cones.  

Oh well.  Onwards.

Hanging On

 

People of a certain age will be totally familiar with this meme (or versions of it).  The one I remember was a ginger and the 'rope' it was hanging from was a single strand of rope with a big knot tied at the end.

I wasn't actually doing 'well' when I fell last year and experienced the brain bleed.  And then things got way 'worse'.  It has been 14 months of me trying to scrape my life back together and it is like trying to put jello back into the mould.  

But I keep trying.  And 'failing'.  But every time I lose heart, I remind myself I did not die that day in 2024.  What is it I'm meant to do?  Can I?  I must be able to if I must do it before I can shuffle off this mortal coil?  

I keep seeking answers.  Solutions.  

Tomorrow begins two weeks of dealing with a multitude of health issues.  I don't know why they all wound up bunched up all together, but here I am.

I had every intention of getting to the loom at least once today, hopefully twice, because I will be on 'light' duties for the next 3 weeks.  Giving my body time to recover from the procedures, and the stress of getting test results, then either putting those out of my mind for another 6 months, and to start using the 'new' topical cream that promises me...my life back.

I hope they are right.  Because if there is something I need to do, I also need a functioning body.  Or at least, one that is functioning better than mine currently is.

One of the nice things about having friends around your own age, they remember things that you do.  So when I talk about hanging on by a thread, she immediately sent me kitty hanging.  When I said I felt like I should post The Desiderata somewhere I could read it daily, she said she had it on her current playlist.

While I love my younger friends deeply, there is nothing like having your social cues understood.

In the meantime, I have some 'light' duty tasks that should provide some distraction over the coming weeks.  And I still have books in my TBR pile.  Maybe I will finally get to them?

Anyone who wants to send light and love for the next 3 weeks?  Will be welcomed.  A friend uses 'gold dust' as a way to send best wishes, comfort, whatever.  I send out a cloud of gold dust to anyone who needs it.

Teaching

 

wet finished

loom state

Since it appears to be the season in my life where I reflect on my life, I have been thinking a lot about teaching.

I started teaching almost as soon as I started weaving.  Teaching spinning, which might surprise, but I knew two cents worth of spinning and was willing to share what I knew.  And I wasn't alone - I had a co-teacher, who knew maybe 5 cents worth about spinning and together we tried to help people get their wheels turning in the 'correct' direction and how to draft and twist their fibres.

It seems I was a fairly 'natural' teacher - I have no credentials saying that I know a thing or two about teaching.  But I loved learning, had some really excellent (and some not so) teachers and had taken 'note' of those I felt were good and why, and those who were not, and why.  I learned about how to teach as well as the subject being taught.

It was not a dream or desire of mine to teach.  I really wasn't interested in teaching people who didn't want to learn, so teaching as a paid instructor in a school was of little interest to me.  But if you were interested in what I wanted to teach?  I would pull out all the stops.  

As per usual, when I wanted to learn more about something, I read about that something, and so I read books on how to teach.

It was only a few years ago I saw the quote:  A good teacher shows you where to look, not what to see.

So it is with a great deal of satisfaction I now see some of my Olds students beginning to teach - writing, speaking.  

And I think about the really hard task they will have going forward, when so many people are putting their trust/confidence in...LLM/AI. 

The thing that irritates me (one of them) is that the LLM/AI has been 'trained' by having the companies literally steal the written materials from the legal copyright holders.  And then instead of quoting them honestly, they 're-write' the stolen materials, even to the point of inventing citations for books that were never written by the authors that are listed.  (The negative environmental impacts are another thing, which I won't go into here.)

The information is a word salad of 'plausible' information that only needs to 'appear' accurate, not to *be* accurate.

So when I set out to create Magic in the Water, I did not have to 'fight' for space in the market going up against a plagiarism machine.  I had an 'honest' relationship with the people who bought my book.  I shared what I *knew* after extensive experimentation and documentation.  I continued that approach with The Intentional Weaver, and have always followed in any magazine articles I have submitted.

I'm very nervous about the next issue of WEFT.  Given I wrote most of it in the aftermath of the brain bleed, I struggled to get my words lined up in a way that made sense.  I had enormous assistance from Sheila, and I know that Jacey and Lisa worked - *hard* - to go through my text and try to present the documentation and words in a way that explains what I did.  The topic turned out to be complex enough that I over ran my assigned word count - by a lot.   And still did not cover the topic in as great a detail that I would have liked.  Subtlety is like that.  

The topic is only one of the more subtle aspects of building a textile and most people make certain assumptions - which do not hold in practice.

There are weavers currently studying varying aspects of weaving, one topic at a time.  If you are interested in such a thing, Complex Weavers has a number of study groups.  Being part of a collective search of the topic of textiles means that each person takes one aspect, researches it, then shares with the rest of the group.  And everyone learns more than they knew before and exchanges that information.

While the fallout of LLM/AI continues, this is one way for us, as practitioners who want to keep learning, can do that - with integrity.

And that is why Magic has an extensive range of samples (samples above created just for Magic). Because everything depends.  Change one thing and everything can change.

If you, like me, don't trust LLM/AI to provide accurate information, buy a book.  Or several.  Hell, acquire your own personal library!  

I am old enough now that I tend to hear about projects that are being considered.  Now, creating a book can take years.  Quite literally years.  Some of them may only ever have limited numbers published as the book industry takes hit after hit by AI produced word salad.  But I do know, for a fact, that several people are working on books and may have something ready to present in 2026.  Or it might take longer!  I spent years of my life creating Magic in the Water, using a local printer (are there any of those anymore????) and self-publishing, then marketing it.  The official publication date was July of 2002.  In 2008, when my brother died, we were *still* assembling books and it took years after that before I sold the last 'major' book, in 2011, and created the pdf version.  The Intentional Weaver took 4+ years.

It is not my place to announce things that others are doing.  But when they let me know I can do that, I will share the news.

In the meantime, I'm anxiously awaiting the appearance of the last issue of WEFT, which due to the Canada Post rotating work stoppages still hasn't appeared, and more especially the next issue. 

As usual, three of my books are available here in either pdf or print versions, and in my ko-fi shop in pdf download.

I know budgets are incredibly tight right now, but now is exactly the time society needs to recognize expertise and support it happening.  If you want to do your own research, please ignore LLM/AI and research actual knowledge, be that in books, or blogs like this where I try to explain the craft, honestly, magazines written by people who actually know stuff, don't just repeat myths that don't actually contain the 'whole' truth.

Because change one thing, everything can change...