Weaving For Purpose

 

After I published Magic in the Water I added a few more publications to my repertoire, also with actual handwoven samples.  The above example was from A Vadmal Adventure, where my aim was mostly to experience a hammer mill and fulling wool using that tool.

Someone asked on a group today if people weave with a purpose in mind, or just weave.

Well, it depends on how you define 'purpose' because sometimes?  My only purpose is to weave samples to find out what I can learn by doing so.  And sometimes I weave 'samples' so that others can learn.  

Sometimes I weave samples to experiment with a new-to-me yarn.  I want to find out the characteristics of the yarn so I know what to expect when I wind a warp, then weave it.  And wet finish it.  Only once I've done that can I begin to effectively design with the yarn.

Sometimes I weave samples to experiment with different yarn combinations, or colour interactions.  And sometimes I take something 'known' and try to bend it in different directions, just to see what happens when something changes.

Ultimately I wove a *lot* of cloth based on my experiments and the knowledge I gained from doing that 'sampling'.  In many ways I was fine-tuning my cloth, trying to get closer to the kind of cloth I wanted to make.  I would change things and try again.  Sometimes I made a lot of stuff that could have been improved because it still wasn't 'perfect'.  But it was 'good', and that was good enough.  And I had bills to pay and a roof to keep over myself and my studio.

I think some people see something interesting about the craft, then get confused because they don't realize how much information is contained in a cloth.  And how much it can change in the wet finishing.  Mostly it gets 'better', but there can be unpleasant surprises, too - like fugitive dye in one or other of the yarns.  And, if you don't wet finish it, you won't know about that until it's late.  Sometimes you can 'save' the cloth, but not always.

So, do I weave to 'purpose'?  Well, yes, but it isn't always the purpose that someone else can see.  Usually those are the samples that are simply not seen by anyone else, but are reflections on a personal journey - of learning.  

And because I just *like* to weave, those kinds of warps are just as satisfying as other kinds.  Until I've learned as much as I need to know about that particular yarn and cloth.  And then sometimes the rest of the warp gets tossed into the recycle bin.  Because it has done its job and I've learned what I needed to know so it is time to move on.

And sometimes I will think about an experiment and wish I'd taken it further.  Sometimes I do!  Even though it may take a while before I get there.  

Remember that quote, attributed most frequently to Chaucer, but is actually much older than that:

The life so short, the craft so long to learn.

That's weaving, in a nutshell...