Magic in the Water

 

Having been in the field of weaving (doing it, teaching it, writing about it) I've gotten to know quite a few weavers.  Some have been friends.  One of them died a few months ago, after years of health problems, and the other day her daughter began listing some of her weaving books for sale.  One of them was Magic in the Water - the original publication with all the actual samples.

I struggled with the idea of producing such an expensive 'book'.  Frankly I didn't have a whole lot of money, and I also knew that not a single book publisher would want the burden of the costs involved.  I knew the cost of the book would limit the number of copies that could be sold and I thought that it would be mostly guilds with libraries who would provide the largest 'market' for it.  (Someone who had been in the textile industry commented that such a book produced by the industry for industry of similar quality would be sold upwards of $3000, not what I was asking.  So if you see one of the originals for sale for the original selling price?  Grab it!)

 Anyway.  Turned out I was wrong.  

I was bowled over by the number of people who were willing to purchase the book.  They knew the information was needed, and the handwoven and wet finished (before and after) samples of cloth would allow weavers to experience the transformation of the cloth and give them guidelines how to achieve those results for themselves.

So when the book was listed last week for the 2002 purchase price, I was reassured, once again, that I had done good.  

When I first heard someone refer to the book as a 'classic', I was astonished.  To me a 'classic' weaving book is, oh, Mary Black or Margaret Atwater.  To see that the book is still valued 20+ years after original publication makes me look back at the struggle it was produce and feel like I made the right choice.  In spite of some weavers poo-pooing that it needed to be done at - all you needed to do is wash it, for goodness sake!  For all the nay sayers who (still?) object to my using the pretentious term 'wet finishing' instead of 'washing'.  

In 2000 there were no such things as Go Fund Mes.  I pushed ahead, determined to do The Thing.  I borrowed money.  Spent what I had.  Worked 80 hour weeks to make it happen.  Recruited family and friends to help.  And by sheer stubborn determination, I made it.

To see that people will still purchase the text and photos version?  Just confirms what I knew all along - this was important.  This was needed.  

When my brother died I gave a short statement at the reception at the railway museum.  My brother had been a huge supporter of this project, and I wanted to remind people of the kind of person he was.  And, I realized much later, I was, too.

"I can think of no greater example to follow than Don's.

Be bold enough to have a dream.

Be brave enough to try to make it come true.

Live life with joy and love.

And every day, work to be a better person."