Touching the Hem of Perfection

 

three piece suit, featured in Magic in the Water - awarded a ribbon at the ANWG conference in Victoria in 1997 for 'technical excellence'

There are times that I have touched the hem of perfection.  Not many.  I might count them on one hand, if I think really hard.

The majority of things I have woven always manage to leave room for improvement!

And that's the thing with making things from 'scratch'.  There is (almost) always room for improvement.

And that is why I keep going to the loom - searching for the perfection that is nearly always 'lacking'.

Every warp teaches me something new.  I've been doing a series of tea towels using a fine linen weft, and one entire warp was...disappointing.  The floats were 'too long' for me to be pleased with them.  And yet?  They will still dry dishes - just not for as long as a different tie-up/treadling.  The entire warp of those towels was given away, rather than selling them.  They were a 'disappointment' - to me.  Not up to my usual standard.  But!  Still useful.

Someone once told me "Don't let perfection kill good" and I try not to beat myself up when something I make doesn't meet my expectations.  Every warp is another chance to try for 'perfect'.  But I remember not to let perfect kill good.

BlueSky is hosting an #artadventcalandar and the time line as of today is flooded with pieces that some of the artists now on that social media site.  I just posted something I made that I feel came close to 'perfect' but didn't use the hashtag because I don't think I'll post every day.

On the other hand it is inspiring to see so many different expressions of creativity.  I follow a few people who use embroidery as their artistic expression, and they are frequently thought provoking.  I think I'm going to find some pleasure for the next 23 days as more people post their work.  And who knows, I might feel like sharing more of mine.

***the Canada Post strike continues with the corporation doing some very sketchy stuff.  This may be a long drawn out strike.  And if the Cons get into power next spring, they may try and dismantle the post office entirely.  If you want to buy some of my towels, I will hold your order until the mail is moving again, but if you are in the US you probably want to purchase sooner rather than later when the tariffs are applied.  Link to my ko-fi shop in the comments.