Behind the Scenes

 

The Olds College program is 5 days of in person instruction and then the students have a year to complete their homework and submit it for marking.

I thoroughly love teaching the level one class because it hits so many of my personal ideas of what is necessary - a deep dive into density (using wool) and then wet finishing for just two.

I add a certain amount of 'extra' material because I consider it essential - position and posture at the loom, working ergonomically, thinking analytically.

In order to give myself 'extra' time to include the 'extra' class material, I do a lot of prep work for the students so that it doesn't have to be done during class.

In addition to winding the value gamp warp ahead of time, arriving a day 'early' to dress the loom so that it is ready to go day 1, I also wind all the skeins of yarn onto cones.  And then I wind the first warp for the class so that they don't have to do that before they can begin dressing their looms.

Once I have all my prep work done, I'll sort through all my bins of samples and other class equipment (water colour boxes, paint brushes, colour wheel, books for reference, samples, etc.) and then I'll review the lesson plan.  Because it's been three years since I last taught this class in person, and I want to refresh my memory on how I'm going to present the material.

Because I don't teach this class in a linear fashion.  In other words, I do not simply open the class manual and teach the material in the order it is presented in there.  One of my focuses is to work efficiently and it is far more efficient to work out of order in terms of the class material.  It also allows people who are more experienced to focus on the areas they may be less experienced in and allot their time based on their energy and ability to focus while they learn new things.

I also bring a van load of equipment with me.  A warping trapeze/valet, small flat bed press, and my own warping board because there are only a few warping boards and many students who need to use one at some point in the first couple of days.

Even very experienced weavers have told me at the end of the class that they hadn't expected to learn much as they did and they wanted to express their thanks.

Because that's the thing.  Weaving isn't difficult, but it's complicated.  And there is a great deal to learn because of all the variables.  Change one thing, and everything can change.  What those changes are and how to work with them is all part of the process.  So I spend a lot of time exploring some of those things and encouraging everyone to figure out what they need to do in order to get the results they desire.

And so I do as much prep work as possible in order to give the students the time to look beyond the actual printed manual so that they know there is so much more to weaving than what is contained between the covers of any book.  Yes, even my own.

In the end?  It all depends - on the fibre/yarn, the weave structure, the density, the loom, the skills of the weaver.  It's not any one of those things, it's ALL of them.