Repetitive

 

And here I go again...

I started threading yesterday and got about halfway before stopping for the day.  Pushing my back into fits doesn't help anything so despite my wanting very much to get this warp up and weaving, I have to pay attention to my body.  I'm still trying to figure out what causes a pain flare, and where my limit actually is.

Softly, softly, as they say.

Weaving is filled with numerous stages, all of them with (sometimes) hundreds of repetitions.  For example the current warp has 760 heddles that need to be filled, in order.  The posture for threading isn't great and since my hips seized up on me just over a year ago, threading has been particularly uncomfortable.  Instead of threading all day and getting that task over and done with, I have had to exercise great 'patience' and spread the job out over at least two days.  Since I'm meeting with someone about the fate of my large wall piece Water Sparkling Falls, today, the threading will spill over into a third day.  Not a bad thing, tbh, given the pain flare I had after beaming this warp.  :(

Many people have no idea of what they are getting into when they take up weaving.  The creation of textiles is so far removed from daily life in the 21st century that the process is a complete mystery to most people.  So when they find out about all the things that need to happen before they ever lay in a single weft, many despair of ever getting anything made.

I routinely told my students that weaving isn't difficult, but it IS complicated.  All those steps required, preferably in order before the 'fun' can begin.

Some people start weaving on a rigid heddle loom where the process is less onerous.  Rigid heddle looms have less mechanical assistance (shafts, treadles) and when a weaver wants to start weaving on a floor loom, they get surprised by how much the process changes.  It's a lot more complicated in comparison.

When I began weaving, I had an idea of the process after receiving a weekly weaving tutorial for months.  What I saw did not deter me.  Instead I became intrigued with the potential.  The vastness of the craft was a bit daunting, but the physicality, the mental processes involved in designing, and the creativity once I understood the processes of interweaving warp and weft appealed to me.

I accepted that the process was involved and at times complex and took that as a challenge to learn how to do it as efficiently as possible.

No warp, no weaving.  I was willing - and able - and enjoyed the learning.  Once I refined my techniques, weaving became a working meditation.

The fact that I am now being forced to cut back, reduce my time in the studio, is disappointing.  But the fact remains - I still enjoy it, even when I know I'm going to 'pay' for it later.  The challenge now is to find out where my boundaries are.  How much I can safely do before setting off the pain payback.

I hosted a well known weaver when they came through on a teaching tour.  At the time I was dealing with the results of an untreated whiplash injury I sustained when I was 18 and I told her that I had an 8 am physio appointment, showed her where the coffee and breakfast makings were and invited her to make herself at 'home' while I was out.

She asked if I had a back problem and I said yes.  She snorted and said "All weavers have bad backs."

It was not what I wanted to hear, frankly.  Especially since I had entered weaving with an historic injury that was causing problems for my weaving.

A few years later I was talking to another well known weaver who had physical issues (wore a leg brace) and I commented that it was really hard to get to the loom when I was in so much pain.  They essentially said that everyone had pain and I needed do what was necessary in spite of it.

And so I did.  

Most of my physical issues were not caused by weaving, but were not helped by weaving.  My aim now is to work out how much I can do, and keep doing.

Because I still love to take threads and make cloth.  I still have ideas for new designs and the only way to know if they will work is to weave them and then wet finish them.

I just have to find a new 'balance' of weaving and not hurting myself even more in the process.

I am fortunate in having a health care team who understand that weaving is not 'just' a physical activity that is causing me physical issues, but so much more than that.  

So while I would rather be at the loom threading this warp, I will take care of 'business' and see if I can find a home for a large art piece that I would love to be on display somewhere.  And give my body a 'break' from threading and finish that tomorrow.

Because those yarns aren't going to weave themselves.  And they certainly are not going to thread themselves!

(current design has 1300+ picks in each towel - my towels range from 1100 to 1400 hundred picks, depending on the motif/design and thread size.)