Painful

 

Minimum input, maximum output.  

Coming to weaving with a background in movement (ballet, hap ki do, aerobics, track and field, etc.) weaving became an exercise in figuring how to do it with the least possible wear and tear on my body.

Over the years I fine tuned my movements, checked with professionals (physio, massage, dance instructors, etc.) to make sure I wasn't inadvertently causing myself an injury.  And then I began including ergonomic hints and tips during workshops when I would see people doing things that would lead to injury if continued over time.

I also listened to people talking at conferences.  Like the person who was about 20 years older than me, explaining that she had been on a tight deadline and had woven for hours and hours to get her project done in time and caused so much damage to her feet that she hadn't been able to walk properly for 6 weeks (never mind weave).  Carpal tunnel surgeries were another risk factor.  

When I hosted a well known weaver during her tour around BC I explained I had an early morning physio appointment and showed her the coffee and told her to make herself at home.  She asked if I had a bad back and I said yes.  She said every weaver has a bad back.

Given I was young (at the time) and wanted to weave for many more years, I began to really study ergonomics related to weaving in a more serious manner.

But not everyone wants my input on what they are doing.  There are times when my suggestions, such as sitting on a taller bench/stool, or encouraging people to thread/sley the way I do now (thanks to Norman Kennedy's workshop, and watching Syne Mitchell sley - which she learned from Peggy Ostercamp), or suggesting that people wear some kind of footwear, especially if they weave on a loom that requires a larger foot/pound pressure than a Scandinavian style loom, some people shrug and continue to do what they have always been doing.  "I learned to do it this way" they will sometimes say. 

Well, so did I, but I learned a way that was easier on the body and took the time to learn how to do it that way.

Not only it is friendlier to the body, but it's more efficient.  And I can do more with less effort.  Seems like a win-win to me, and well worth the awkward slippery slope at the bottom of the learning curve.

Now we have the internet and sites like Facebook and I see photos of weavers sitting at their looms.  And all too frequently I cringe.

Poor posture seems to be a continuous problem.  Backs curved, sitting on the coccyx instead of the sitz bone, shoulders hiked up around their ears, holding the shuttle overhand, thumb pointing downwards - the accepted symbol for 'bad'.  One weaver didn't seem able to throw their shuttle and it was entering the shed every which way, including upside down on one toss.

I asked if she would like to see how I threw the shuttle, explained what I was doing and why.  As I walked away I heard her grumble that she didn't know there was a 'right' way to hold the shuttle.

Eventually I stopped commenting on people's photos, or offering to demonstrate - unless I was being paid to do so.  Free advice is worth what you pay for it, right?

So I document what I do in The Intentional Weaver, which I hope will be around for a while so that newer weavers can find the information.  

The weaver who commented that 'all weavers have bad backs' is now in the weaving studio in the sky, along with many others.  Norman Kennedy is still around, but not teaching weaving much, as I understand it.  However his students continue to share the information (I count myself among them, even if it was only that one workshop I took with him).  Peggy Ostercamp has her series of books with all sorts of great hints, tips and information.

And I guess I will keep banging the drum for as long as I can.

If something you are doing hurts, stop doing it.  If you can't figure out a way to do it that doesn't hurt, then only do it *until* you hurt, don't push until that hurt turns into injury.  Much better to prevent injury than heal from it.

Just saying...