Shoulders of Giants

 

As a new weaver, I was keenly aware of how little I knew so I bought books.  Lots of books.  Books held knowledge and I wanted to learn.  Even though I had an in-person class in weaving, it soon became apparent that it was going to take a very long time to even begin to scratch the surface of what might be learned.

Eventually I focused on a smaller section of the craft so that I could take a deep dive into aspects of cloth making that particularly interested me.  And, of course, maybe earn some money by doing so.

As the years went by I had the opportunity to learn from many different weavers, sometimes in person.  I carefully saved my pennies so that I could travel to conferences or workshops to learn more.  The thread of knowledge from those elders (they were mostly older than me) was palpable and I felt the continuity of the passage of knowledge from one generation to the other, especially as I sought out more books.  If a book had a bibliography, I made sure to pore through it and frequently dropped off inter-library loan requests at my local library.

At one point I met the librarian whose job it was to search out the titles people requested and arrange for them to arrive.  I apologized for making so much work for her.  She immediately perked up and said that she loved when I brought in my request slips because my requests were never ordinary and that she had to really use her skills.

After that I never hesitated to ask for whatever I was looking for, especially when I started researching for my master weaver monograph.  

As part of that research I was able to fine tune what I wanted to do and really focus on something I felt would be of benefit to others.  And then, out of that effort, grew Magic in the Water.

It is now my privilege to pass on what I know to others.  I have entered the 'elder' zone, by dint of my age, if nothing else.  But I also feel that I know things, things that other weavers maybe would benefit from.

Talking to a few other weaving teachers, all around my age, we are all scrambling to cope with a pandemic and yet still reach out to students.  After months of feeling really crappy, wondering if I could go on, I decided that I must continue.

The trip to Vancouver next month will allow me to meet with Felicia Lo and her team to discuss further how we can continue to spread knowledge in the face of a pandemic that just doesn't want to let go (in spite of politicians telling us covid is over, believe me, it isn't.)

Time will tell if I will be counted as a 'giant', but that was never why I have done what I have done in my career.  The messages I receive from weavers who thank me for sharing what I know is enough.  But already I hear people refer to Magic in the Water as a 'classic' in the field and I see it re-selling for the same price I charged in 2002.  Sometimes even more.

In the meantime, I have The Intentional Weaver, in which I tried to distill as much of what I knew onto the page (link at the bottom of the page), and continue to work with School of Sweet Georgia to provide on line content.

As soon as SOS is ready to start airing my lectures, I will certainly let people know.  The first will be A Good Yarn - because we need to understand the inherent characteristics of our materials so we can make good choices.  (Primarily geared towards weavers, the principles apply to other textile crafts as well.)

In two weeks I will know if I will have less pain to deal with.  I appreciate your well wishes and suggestions for treatment.  In many cases I have already tried the suggestions and they proved to be unhelpful.  But it's nice to know so many people are thinking about me.