Eye Training

If you can't be perfect...be consistent...  Laura-ism #3(?)

Do you see it?  The inconsistency?  The flaw?  (Click on the photo to biggify it - sometimes Blogger cuts photos so you can't see the whole thing.)

Do I make mistakes?  Yes.  Am I perfect?  No.  Do I strive for perfection?  Yes.  But if you can't be perfect...

Over the years I have trained my eye to see inconsistencies.  Imperfections.  And then fix them.

As I worked with finer and finer yarns, those little inconsistencies became harder and harder to see.  Sometimes I don't catch them until I've woven a couple more picks.  Once the float is 'framed' by more correct picks, it shows up better.

But as quickly as I weave and using finer threads, sometimes I have to rely on other sensory input to realize something has gone wrong.

In addition to seeing the actual problem, I pay attention to other indicators.  I watch the top of the shed.  If it doesn't open consistently I look closely at that area.  Sometimes the shuttle will hit an end if the shed doesn't open cleanly, pulling more slack on that thread.  Then it is looser than the ends on either side and may not open all the way so that the next time the shuttle will go over instead of under it.  Which is what happened in the above example.

I pay attention to the working of the loom and shuttle.  If something feels different than the time(s) before, I look more closely.  I pay attention to how the loom and shuttle sound.  

Staying in focus, paying attention to what I am doing, not thinking about other things - weaving becomes a working meditation.  Staying in the now, setting aside the tensions, the stresses of life, help to relieve the stress.  Putting those stresses firmly outside the studio allows me to have relief from them.  I get aerobic exercise, produce endorphins, plus at the end of a weaving session I have produced cloth.

Mindful weaving - it's helpful, healthful - and brings me closer to 'perfection' than not being present in the moment.