Collective Learning

"The life so short, the craft so long to learn"

Recently someone posted this quote in reference to learning the craft of weaving (any craft really) amid a discussion of how one learns all the things there are to know about how to create a textile.

New weavers are anxious for definitive answers when the truth is, there aren't any.

Recently had a discussion with Jane Stafford about how, even after decades of weaving we both still feel like 'beginners', something new to learn all the time.

During this pandemic time, it is difficult for new weavers to learn - classes have been cancelled outright or postponed, or gone on-line.

The challenge with on-line learning is that students don't get the experience of feeling the resulting textiles, when a+b+c is done.

Textiles are, by their very nature, tactile.   The feel of them is a large consideration.

New weavers are told to sample, but when you don't know where to start, how do you begin?

For me I just jumped in and started exploring all the things - yarns, density, weave structures.  What happens when I change this?  What happens when I tweak that?  I have boxes and boxes of samples that I am loathe to get rid of - I spent lots of time, effort and money making them and they always come in handy when I'm teaching because the students can *feel* the results and begin to understand how multi-level and subtle the creation of textiles really is.

I studied all kinds of textiles.  I had been working with textiles in one way or another for years so I found it fascinating how tiny subtle changes could and would make a difference to the resulting fabric.

As I became more experienced I joined sample exchanges.  In return for weaving a bundle of samples, I got a variety of different samples in exchange.  The samples were documented and I could see - and feel! - the cloth, study the fibres used, examine the details, analyze the results.

It was a starting place and jump started my base or foundation of knowledge.

Instead of 'just' samples, sometimes people will do a 'thing' exchange.  The most common is tea towels.  These are great (although a larger investment for participation) because you get a functional textile that you can actually use and evaluate for how well it performs that function.

These exchanges can be done within a local guild or by mail.

The Guild of Canadian Weavers Bulletin still includes a sample with each issue.  Complex Weavers has a number of study groups where people exchange samples.  Conferences sometimes organize things like tea towel exchanges.

Some publications over the years have included textiles as well.  Those are by their very nature more expensive, but worth it.  (eg, the original Magic in the Water, the series A Good Yarn and others)

Some guilds subscribe to newsletters which also have samples in them.

Once the pandemic is 'over' it might be well worth a deep dive into guild libraries to find out what treasures they may have in terms of actual fabric samples to study.

"The life so short, the craft so long to learn."  Indeed.