Remote Teaching

 

Teaser...

Yesterday I finished weaving the samples for the next article for WEFT.  No, I'm not going to explain this photo - it's a teaser.

I don't know if the photos I took are good enough, but I needed to have photos to show what I was going to attempt to explain using words.  But not everyone learns from the written word, so I knew I had to provide visuals.  WEFT staff may choose to set up their own photos if mine aren't good enough.

It's the challenge in trying to teach 'remotely' - being able to provide information in different modes so that as many people as possible can process the information and be able to figure out what is happening.

Today I will press the samples I wove, then tidy them up when they are fully dry and will be rolling the information I want to convey around in the nether regions of my brain.  

The challenge with trying to write (or even think, some days) is that the brain injury opened up sinkholes and sometimes the words I want to use disappear into one or more of those sinkholes.  So it's now imperative that I must think clearly, if I can, about what I want to say - and how I want to say it.  And in the process, try to work out which words are missing from my vocabulary at the time I'm trying to craft the explanation I want to share.

In the meantime the pain I've been trying to 'solve' continues.  Some days and nights are better than others.  And I still see tiny glimmers of 'improvement' - I think.  But it never really goes away.  Not really and truly 'away'.  However, I have accepted that it may never totally and completely resolve, so in the meantime, I try to do the best I can to keep sharing information.  I am getting older every day and that isn't going to change, just get more challenging as time passes...

The local weaver who recently purchased a drawloom continues their journey, and I am joining them as best I can since I have actually woven on a drawloom, even the specific type of drawloom they have purchased.  They found Alice Hindson's book and I'm going to get my own copy and study it when it comes to remind me of my two decades old experience of weaving at Madelyn van der Hoogt's Weaving School.  

It seems I am finally finding my 'retirement' life.  I had written weaving on a drawloom off as something I could ever do, and now, here one is, locally.  And an invitation to come play on it.  My neck won't likely tolerate my doing very much, but I'm quite excited about being able to explore more and see what happens...

We are well into February and spring is 'early' it looks like.  OTOH, we could easily get more storms, and more snow.  But the days are getting 'longer' with every day that passes, and today we have a sunny one.  

Time to get to the studio and press the samples and tidy them up.  And then decide what I can do most effectively.  Maybe trying to write an article is not a job for today - especially when I have a silk warp calling my name...