Not All The Same

 

I've been answering questions for a long time, even when I only knew a 'little' bit, and I've seen many of the same questions - and assumptions - presented for a very long time.  The additions to the weaving community tend to come in 'waves', and every few years I find myself addressing the same issues over and over again.  In this day of the internet, where most people assume that everything they want to know can be found on the internet, it is very easy for someone to ask, and be given an answer that doesn't really address their concerns.

I begin to feel like a 'broken record' (and if you don't know what that means, you're young.)

At times I withdraw, but then I see answers that don't actually help the person, or may lead them astray.  I see answers that are definitive, when the only true short answer is 'it depends'.

So I try to find the true question the person is asking and answer that, as best I am capable of doing, in a way that (I hope) doesn't discourage the person.

Because the enormity of the body of knowledge can be extremely intimidating!  OTOH, that very vastness of things to be learned was what drew me to the craft in the first place.

I appreciate that new practitioners of the craft wants to have instant good results.  But just the other day I was reminded that learning a new skill takes time.  It's extremely difficult to be 'perfect' the first time you tackle a new skill, and we have to allow ourselves the time and repetition to lay down the new neuropathways in our brains.

Given my recent brain injury, I am re-learning how to speak and to write.  And it doesn't go smoothly because some days are 'better' than others.  My spouse is patient, but I get frustrated with myself.  Which is the time for me to take a deep breath and try again.

I'm sure that the people asking the questions get impatient with people like me who answer their question with more questions.  But to truly inform, to effectively help them, I need to know more.

Because not all yarns are the same.  They, just like children in the school room, have different 'needs' and you need to handle them appropriately.  

Like everything else in life, how you weave becomes a spectrum, not an either or situation.

Every cloth needs to be treated appropriately.  Rug weavers may have difficulty changing their beat in order to weave lace.  A weaver used to 4/8 cotton may find that what they do needs to be adjusted in order to deal with that 2/20 silk, or 2/60 silk.

What do I recommend?  Read a book.  Or more.  Watch some videos.  Filter them through the view of what you know, and what you *want* to know.  Because different teachers will have different approaches.  Above all, give yourself the time of *mindful* practice.  Pay attention to what you are doing and assess your progress.  Consider what you might want to change, and how that change might look.

No one told me to build a humidor.  I didn't even have the name for it - but I knew what it needed and how to make it happen.  It was only when I did a blog post (I think) that someone told me such a device was called a 'humidor'.  

Be open to change things when something is not working well.  Use your judgement, but don't be criticizing what you are doing.  You are on a journey of learning.  In the case of weaving, it may turn into of lifetime of learning.

I know that it has for me.