Weaving isn't difficult. But it's complicated.
One of the reasons why I repeat the same things over and over again is because it takes time for people to really *hear* what I'm saying.
If I'm going to help people master the craft, they need to use their own reasoning skills, develop their analytical mind, learn how to apply judicious thinking to the process.
If I just tell them what to do, they have learned to follow instructions, not how to think the process through.
Some students catch on quicker than others. Some take a lot longer to figure out my style of teaching and realize what it is they actually need to learn, other than to just follow instructions.
There is also the fact that if you change one thing, everything can, and almost always will, change. If you have only woven with cotton and you are suddenly faced with needing or wanting to make something with wool, that isn't just one change - it will be a whole long chain of things that is going to present differently.
Wool generally tends to have more elasticity than cotton. It will potentially be more textured than cotton. It might be weaker than a cotton of the same thickness. And of course, it may need to be fulled.
The yarn once in the loom will not weave in the same way so the weaver will have to adapt/adjust their shuttle handling and their beat control.
And while I can tell them ALL OF THAT, it isn't until they experience it for themselves that they will begin to understand why they need to change what they are doing.
I spend a lot of time at the beginning of the master level one class going over things like shuttle handling, posture/position at the loom (and elsewhere), controlling tension on the warp and advancing the fell. I give them pointers on how to determine when the tension on the warp is 'enough' and what to do if it isn't.
When it comes to the fulling, I tell them what to expect, how to do the process, demonstrate fulling, and then let them experience it for themselves. If they have never worked with wool before, they MUST experience the transformation in their hands. I CANNOT TELL THEM SPECIFICALLY WHAT TO DO. Much as they might like me to do so.
When it comes to fulling, the actual yarn they are using, the density, and the type of fulling being applied needs to be taken as a whole - right up to and including 'ruined'. I tell them it is like kneading bread - do it until it is 'done'. When is that? They have to decide. They learn to decide by practicing. Experiencing it. Understanding how the cloth changes as the process continues. I cannot put that experience into their hands - they have to do it.
The five days of class is as exhausting for me as it is for them. Five days really isn't enough time for me to tell them all the things I would like to tell them. So I focus on them beginning to learn independently. Because I won't be at their shoulder when they leave the class. I can't tell them what to do for the rest of their lives. They have to learn for themselves.
As much as I will miss teaching in person, I hope that I have created enough independent weavers that the knowledge will continue to live. The craft will continue to thrive.
And if you want more structured teaching/learning from me, I'm putting pretty much all my energy into the classes via the School of Sweet Georgia.
Just saying...(next lecture there on July 6)
2 comments:
I think that's at least part of why I'm floundering, trying to get started with weaving - too much of what I read tells me the WHAT and not the WHY - and unless I'm using similar equipment, and the same yarn, for the same project - I strongly suspect I will not get the same result.
In class (I do all sorts of textile-related classes; lately, they've mostly been pattern drafting), I like to go once through being told the what, then after I've got the mechanics down, I can concentrate on the why, so I can go away and do what I want to do. I want the fishing rod, not just the fish.
Yes, exactly. And yet I still get negative feedback from students saying I don't tell them what to do. The latest complaint saying I didn't tell them what to expect during fulling. And yet three of the other students commented IN CLASS that the wool was behaving exactly as I had said it would. Oh well...
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