Debut

 

Yesterday I got a peep at the new WEFT magazine.  

I have enjoyed writing several articles for WEFT, and am working on the next.  (Just finished roughing out the draft for one of the examples.)

One of the things I am struggling with right now is a distinct lack of energy.  I'm not sleeping much, which I'm thinking is an adverse reaction to the current pain meds, and I am really having a hard time getting my engine started - and keeping it going.  After a lifetime of being 'on' almost every day, it's disorienting and disturbing to find myself more limp than anything else.

I have one more drug to try, and I'm hoping to get permission to start that next week.  But it looks like I've nearly run through my options for pain control.

Someone recently suggested to me that ultimately I am going to have to 'choose my pain'.  Not a message I wanted to hear, but the comment has stuck with me and I'm trying to make my peace with what is happening to my body - and my ability to do much.  

As we get older, our bodies begin to wear out and down.  My expectations of being able to weave like I used to do in my 30s etc., are having to be adjusted.

Part of me struggles with acceptance, but it looks like this year is going to be a time of changing circumstances and adaptation to the lack of drive and determination that carried me for nearly 50 years.  And still does, to a certain extent.  The only way forward is to find out what I can *actually* do, and then find enjoyment in being able to do 'that'.

I'm trying to taper off 'producing' so much - which I then have little ability to sell.  But that doesn't mean I can't weave 'samples'.  

With the whole world walking on tip-toe, wondering when saner heads will prevail, trying to weave to sell seems an exercise in frustration.  Since I've done a pretty decent job of weaving down my stash (to certain levels of 'decent') my energy and thoughts are tending to focus on the topics for WEFT and what I feel capable of doing.  And then, of course, they need to be interested.

So what *will* I be doing?  Frankly, I have no idea.  I'm hoping to feel 'better' with my 'hail Mary' pain medication, but I have to also prepare myself for it to not work very well.  

I have enrolled in the pain management classes sponsored by the pain clinic, so I'm hoping to learn some things from those.  

The next month is going to be...fraught...with our federal election on April 28, trying one more pain medication, start attending the pain management classes.  And keep weaving.  

Right now I can still weave and I mostly manage two 45 minute sessions a day.  For 90 minutes a day I can shut my brain off and just 'be' at the loom.  

Hopefully after the next few weeks things will begin looking 'better'.  And if not, time to get into the trenches and work on making the most of what *is*, not what I *wish*.

In the meantime, I have one article just in the 'polishing' and organizing state, and the next article is taking shape.  I'm nearly finished the current warp and the next should be good to toss onto the loom late next week.  And then see what comes down the pipeline - and if I can scrape up the energy to work on something that people might be interested in reading...  

Anyway, if you are interested in this new magazine, I do encourage you to take a look.  It is available in print or digitally.

New Weavers

 

after wet finishing

loom state

One of the nice things I see is the appearance of new weavers in groups online.  It makes me feel good to think that interest in the craft of weaving is continuing to attract new 'younger' weavers.

I'm also very happy to see some of these new weavers asking about wet finishing.  But most of the groups I belong to say 'NO sales' - so I can't post links to my books.  Sometimes I will share this blog - because it is free.  

In spite of all the economic upheaval right now, my books are still available - and since they are printed in the US, there should not be any tariffs for US customers.  As for magazines, the only one I am currently writing for is WEFT - and again, I don't feel able to let groups know because I'm not allowed to 'sell' things.

So, if you are a fan of this blog - you can share the link.  If you are a fan of my books or classes, it would be nice if others would share them.

And if you belong to Goodreads, you could leave a review on The Intentional Weaver.  Last I looked, only one person had published a 'review' and they pretty much trashed the book because it had so many 'typos'.  I wonder if they were objecting to the British spellings...because we worked damn hard to remove as many typos as we could.  

So, a reminder:

Books are available here

In addition to some short video (amateur) clips on You Tube, classes are available at Sweet Georgia and Long Thread Media

Community

 

When my samples were returned from WEFT after being photographed, they included a lapel button.

For a moment I had regrets that I am no longer travelling so that I could go to a conference and wear my 'contributor' button.

I've been contributing to magazines for a rather long time, so it's not like seeing my name in a list of contents is 'new'.  But it's a 'new' magazine, and it seems a bit special to be included.

What the button did for me, however, was remind me that weaving is a community.  And while too many forces in our society are, right now, trying to rip people apart from their communities, to take a stand and say 'this is my community' is much more important than to ignore it.

It is through community that we find support, encouragement, find answers to questions.  In this time, standing up for one's community is - in many ways - a political act.  An act of resistance.

I am, frankly, flattered that the editorial staff seem to like what I'm providing.  There are many times I have been chastised - for my focus on efficiency, my equipment choices, my standards.  It took me a few years to understand that we all get to choose.  And to realize that everyone needs to make the choices that are appropriate for *them*.  

Gradually I got to the point that my focus was to provide the information, document the 'spectrums' that are built into the craft, and help people decide which were appropriate for them.

Ultimately the craft of weaving has far fewer unbreakable rules than it does cases of 'it depends'.  

As I have been weaving the samples for WEFT, I have had time to explore many of those 'it depends' issues.  Over and over again I am reminded of how little I truly 'know' and how much I tend to tweak what I am doing to encourage the quality of cloth I want to be brought into reality.

Sometimes it works.  Sometimes, it doesn't.  

But every warp, every project, increases my knowledge.  And if what I know (or suspect) is helpful to someone else, then the time/yarn/money I have spent exploring that particular rabbit warren has been worth every penny.

Because knowledge is never a waste of time.  And community is necessary to help grow the foundation of knowledge of the craft.

The first issue will begin arriving soon.