Saying Yes

 

When I became a weaver, it was because I said 'yes' to something that was so far fetched, so anachronistic, that any other person would have automatically said 'no'.

A handweaver?  In the 20th century?  Come on!  Seriously?  

But I said 'yes'.  

When I changed my life so dramatically, I had little inkling of where that simple acceptance of something the universe was nudging me towards would bring into my life.

Initially I thought I would production weave for 25 years, then teach for 25 years.  That would bring me to 75 - if I made it that far.  Family history indicated that I might not, genetics being what they are.  Plus that seemed like a long time away. 

Any yet, here I am, nearing that particular milestone.

In any event, I started teaching the same month as I began weaving class, so instead of 25/25, it has been nearly 50 years of doing both, juggling both.  They were actually complementary because one was seasonal, so the other could be as well.  I was in charge of booking teaching dates, so I booked during the weaving 'down' time.

Was I afraid?  Yes, actually I was.  Because I didn't know if I could do it.  I didn't know if I could earn enough money by doing it.  I didn't know if I had the skills.  

As I plunged in, I began to see where I was lacking in knowledge and set about filling those holes in my knowledge.

I had some background to build on.  I had determination.  I had stubbornness.  

I knew enough to be 'dangerous' as they say!  But I also was willing to admit I didn't know and ask for help.  It's quite amazing how helpful people can be when you go to them and say, can you help me understand this thing?

Sometimes I went to get professional help - ie taxes.  Teaching.  Marketing.  The local printer who did the print job on Magic.  Video production.  Yes, I could learn how to take/edit video, but I didn't want to.  I just wanted to get the information out there.  Having taken a video class, I knew enough to know that I just didn't want to spend my time learning how to do all that well, so I pitched the idea to Interweave Press and in the end they agreed to send a crew here so we could use my facilities, my tools.  Having taught a lot, developed lesson plans, knowing basically how video works I could prepare my materials, my space and a timeline for taping that was out of sequence in terms of the process but made better sense in terms of taping the processes.  More...efficient.  In the end we accomplished two DVDs in three days.  The camera person said he didn't actually think it could be done but I had done my preparation well.  I took that as a high complement.

Now here we are in a pandemic where everything has slowed and in many cases stopped altogether.  But!  We have the internet.  (I know, not all.)  We not only have the internet but a number of platforms that make doing on-line events a possibility.  While on-line can never replace in person, it is at least something.

So I said 'yes' and started exploring that aspect of continuing to teach.

As I re-do my teaching approach and materials, I find myself digging ever deeper into the craft.  I decided to not teach technique as much as the underlying principles.  Yesterday I said that a) I don't know everything and b) there are no definitive answers but that I would help understand the variables and then?   They would have to choose the appropriate way for them to go on.  

Because change one thing and everything can change.

I have also learned when to say 'no'.  I have learned where my boundaries are.  What I am willing to do, and what I am not.  I am, however, open to suggestion.  So as the Zoom meetings continue, I continue to learn how to make the on-line experience better - for myself, and hopefully for others.

Old dogs can learn new tricks.  It may just take us longer.

Options

With the pandemic continuing, especially in some parts of the world, things like classes or other gatherings are being put on hold.

It is very upsetting for a lot of people as their course of study, be it elementary/high school or college/university or other avenues of learning are so completely up in the air.  Many teachers are being forced by circumstance to convert their classes to on-line, with all the upheaval that entails.

If someone has never taught a course of study, there is little understanding of the kind of preparation that is required.  To then pivot and put that class on-line requires a further investment of time, expertise and technology that might be completely beyond an individual, never mind an institution that might have tech support but is overwhelmed with ALL the teachers needing to do the same at the same time.

Do teachers invest perhaps a hundred hours of prep time creating an on-line class that then becomes redundant in a year because the pandemic is over?  Or do they sit tight and hope that things will be able to return to some semblance of normality?

On the other hand, in the textile community a number of people had begun the shift to on-line learning, so they were already prepared with camera crews, appropriate physical space and on-line presence.

Others, like myself,  had produced DVDs and with the break up of Interweave and the creation of Long Thread Media, those DVDs were turned into on-line 'workshops'.

As for classes like the Olds master weaving/spinning classes, much of the value of those classes are the in person aspect where the instructor can view how the student is working (ergonomically) and give in person 'correction' plus answer questions in real time from which the entire class benefits.

There are other instructors who are presently working on on-line resources.  Some are beginning to roll out on-line data bases and classes.  Others are working on them and will launch as soon as they finish their production.

Some have Patreon accounts and may have on-line mini-classes for subscribers.

I can recommend the following:
Jane Stafford's on-line guild
Tien Chiu Warp and Weave classes
Janet Dawson - Craftsy class, turned into bluprint, now bought out by another company
Long Thread Media's catalogue of DVDs now on-line workshops
Daryl Lancaster

As other efforts go live I will announce/share the info as it comes available.

For myself, there are still the level two and four Olds classes scheduled for Nova Scotia in September.  Whether or not it will be advisable for people to travel to Cape Breton remains to be seen.

Covid Challenges

My You Tube Channel

Workshop via Handwoven (Long Thread Media)

With the stay at home orders and businesses being closed, many people are experiencing hardship in terms of income.  Events are being cancelled.  People are disappointed that their long awaited chance to meet with others is being thwarted or that they can't afford to purchase things.

This tightening of belts also affects the teachers, the event planners, the businesses that supply craftspeople.

I am seeing more and more comments from people involved in the business of crafts that customers are asking for things that simply cannot be provided.  Free patterns from people who make a significant portion of their income from designing and selling patterns, either one at a time or in books.  Teachers being asked to suddenly tool up and start providing on line classes.  For lower fees because of course they don't have to travel and the student doesn't have the interaction with the instructors for feed back.  Ergo, the student shouldn't have to pay as much as for a live event.

The instructors are agonizing over these requests (in some cases, demands).  They want to oblige but they, too, are suffering economically.  With society in economic lock down, they don't have an income either.

There have been several people advocating for events to go on line without having any understanding of what it would take to get there.  Most on line classes are months in the making, not days.  Every successful (and by that I mean a good experience for the student) on line class has had a team of people making what you see on the screen happen.

I have uploaded a number of video clips to You Tube.  A recent comment highlights that not all video experiences are 'good' for everyone.  Under my winding a warp video, someone commented that I worked too fast, they couldn't see what I was doing, not useful for a beginner.

All valid points.  But my video clip wasn't meant for a 'beginner' but someone who had an idea of what warp winding was all about, and showing how to wind a warp on a warping board more ergonomically.

While there may be dozens of videos on You Tube, few of them are very good. (Not even mine.) The quality of video camera available to most people is not great for clarity.  The clip is a single point of view - and it may not be the point of view someone needs/wants to see.

Editing is a skill and most people don't have that.

Most people don't have space in which to set up filming.  Space to set up cameras.  Good lighting.  Good acoustics!

When we filmed The Efficient Weaver, we did the sequences out of order and by the end of day three we thought we'd got everything and wrapped up filming.  It was only after driving the crew to the airport and dropping them off that I suddenly remembered we had not filmed the rough sleying part.

What can I say?  Three days of intensive filming from 9 am to 5 or 6 pm, setting up shots, filming, reviewing the results, re-doing, moving along to the next.

I felt a certain amount of satisfaction that the crew complimented me on how well prepared I was and that they had feared the filming schedule was too ambitious - two different topics, two different locations, all wrapped up in three days.  But the thing is, I had done some camera work for the local volunteer tv station, plus I've been involved in theatre and dance as well as teaching for about 30 years at the time the taping was done.

Generally getting good video of things that are meant to convey information, especially that of physical skills, cannot be banged out in a matter of days.  I spent months doing the preparation work that allowed the filming to be accomplished in three.

One event has cancelled this years in person event and immediately there were calls for it to go on line.  They have called for volunteers to investigate doing on line events in the future.  Two years is enough time to investigate the possibility of doing an on line event.  But it would mean completely revamping what they offer and how.

This is not a bad thing.  But it won't be the in person event people are used to and it won't necessarily be much cheaper as each presenter will have to have a crew to do the production work.

In the meantime, Rule#303.  If you have the means, you have the obligation.  Help organizations to stay alive.  Throw some cash at independent instructors - many have Patreon accounts (I have ko-fi).  Buy their books.  For those who already have on line classes, maybe now is the time to sign up.  If you have skills to put classes on line, you could maybe help with that, too.  The only way we are all going to survive this is to help each other as much as we are able.

Three already existing on line classes:  Janet Dawson's on bluprint, Jane Stafford's on-line guild and Tien Chiu's on colour. 

Fibre Events

Our conference wrapped up last year, but there are fibre events all over the continent that are having to cancel, some of them at extremely short notice.  Fibres West got the news on Thusday afternoon just as vendors were putting finishing touches on their booths that the show was not going to open Friday morning.

There are consequences to this pandemic.  Actions that will ripple down the line and affect everyone, young or old, poor or comfortable, vendor or customer.  And event organizers.

Many fibre events are run by volunteers.  Some of the bigger ones may have a core of paid staff, but by and large?  Volunteers.  Unpaid.  Some of whom actually purchase event supplies and never submit the receipts, never mind their time and energy.

Some of these events are going to be slammed financially.  One person shared the fact that they may still have to pay the venue costs in spite of the pandemic, in spite of government announcements to not gather in large groups or travel distances.  The facilities make their money by renting out their venues.  If they don't get paid, they can't pay their staff.  If volunteer boards using registration fees to pay for the event don't run the event, they have no income to pay the facility.  In some cases, if the board doesn't have board insurance?  The board members will be personally responsible to pay the bill.

Our conference had board insurance for the event, but if we hadn't, the costs of the facilities alone was enormous.  Our event was fairly small but the bottom line bare bones budget was well over $100,000.  That included teachers and their travel/accommodation/per diem for food, but honestly?  The facilities were the biggest chunk of the budget.

Some people have been understanding to the point of 'donating' their registration fee to the event.  This will allay some of the financial burden, but not everyone can afford to do that.

Some people have been gracious and supportive of event organizers.  Others?  Have not.

Honestly people, a little kindness?  A little understanding?  These events are not being cancelled by a whim or a faux pandemic.  This Covid-19 virus is growing, exponentially.  If it isn't slowed, it will overwhelm healthcare facilities and use up medical supplies at an enormous rate.

Staying away from crowds, not travelling unless absolutely necessary, being kind to front line health workers and low income cashiers as you purchase staples to wait out the self-sequestration will go a long way to making this time less painful.  It will remain uncertain until the worst is over.

In the meantime, support teachers by buying their books or on line products.  Long Thread Media acquired their inventory of DVDs from F&W Media and now offers them as on-line 'workshops'.  Yes, including mine.  But everyone else's, too.

Tap Root Video has DVDs.

Various instructors have Patreon accounts.   I have my ko-fi.

Knitting/crocheting pattern designers sell on Ravelry.  They have literally thousands of patterns.  Support them there.  The website is free to join and you needn't join any groups.  But you can shop or find vendors through their ads.

Workshops are being cancelled or postponed.  Yes, you might have waited a year to take that workshop.  It won't kill you to wait a while longer.  OTOH, if you get Covid-19?  That might.

So let's all practice a little patience and a little kindness.  And stop with the hoarding.  Leave something for others.  Some dude bought thousands of hand sanitizers intending to make a killing by gouging for them on Amazon.   Apparently Amazon did the right thing and shut his 'store' down.  Now he's whining about not being able to sell them at his intended highly inflated price.  Don't be like him.

Let's all do something to help someone else.  Go to the event website.  Find out who the vendors are who intended to attend.  Purchase from them remotely.

Go to the event website.  Find out who the instructors were.  Go buy something of theirs - books, kits, DVDs.  Make a donation to their tip jar or become a monthly supporter.

If you can't do any of that (believe me I do understand about tight budgets) you can share their links.

Mine is for my books.

Or use the ko-fi link in the subject listing

If you are a vendor or teacher affected by the pandemic (and aren't you all?) feel free to post a link to your website, etc. in the comments.

Shoulders of Giants

Wall of Troy (or extended point progression)

Had another weaver phone this morning with a question.  She wanted to pick my brain, and it was a lovely conversation as we examined a technical question about a weave structure.  Or rather, an approach to creating designs based on a weave structure.

It is the kind of conversation I just love to have as two weavers explore possibilities, what has been done before by our forebears, how it might be used, applied to create 'new' designs.  We agreed that there probably is nothing much that hasn't been done before, but that we are simply re-discovering something that had been 'lost' - for a while.

There is very little under the sun that is truly new.  There is a group of folk who adamantly insist that ancient humans couldn't possibly have done amazing things - we must have been visited by aliens in order to have the Mayan Temples, Stonehenge. the Pyramids and so on.

I very much doubt our ancient ancestors were stupid in the way that these people seem to think.  They may not have had the same kind of technology as we do, but they used what they had and made amazing things.

Cave paintings using perspective - something people assumed really wasn't understood until much later.  Rendering sculpture in three D - ancient 3D sculptures of bison have just recently been discovered, dated to 14,000 years ago.  The various 'Venus' sculptures are certainly 3D.

Agriculture, both plants and animals.  Sericulture.  The harvesting and processing of bast fibres - linen and hemp, rami and nettle.  Thousands of years old.

Navigation by the stars allowed Phoenicians, Vikings and Asians et al to travel by sea.  The sea was not a barrier, but a highway, for those who could read the stars. 

Just saw a post where archaeologists were trying to figure out the purpose of a bone - obviously a tool, but they didn't know for what purpose.  A modern day leather worker explained what it was and that to this day they still use bone tools to burnish their leather because it is simply the best tool available, superior to wood, metal or plastic.

Just because we don't know what something is, doesn't mean that our ancestors weren't clever and could work out higher mathematics, medical care, writing, astronomy, architecture.  The Dark Ages may have been dark in Europe, but they weren't dark in other places on the globe.  Asia, the Middle East, Africa continued to thrive.

Thinking that our ancestors were 'primitive' and 'ignorant' says more about us than it does about them.

This is one reason I continue to commit to the Olds College program.  Modern day weavers need good information, not speculation or misinformation built on misunderstanding the principles of the craft.  For anyone who wants to learn, I frequently recommend books and teachers.  For those who learn on line - Jane Stafford's on line guild - exciting things are being prepared for 2020.  Janet Dawson now on bluprint, for a good introduction to learning how to weave.  I have You Tube videos for anyone interested in my processes.

There are books that were published in the early part of the 20th century that remain classics to this day - Mary Meigs Atwater, S. A. Zielinski, Elmer Hickman, Clothilde Barrett, and so on.  Some authors have chosen a niche of the craft and dug deeply into the topic.  Others have done more of an overview.

Request the books from the public library, find out if it is something you want to own.  Or if you are fortunate to have a guild library, they tend to be repositories of older books that are not commonly available now.

Long Thread Media has acquired the video catalogue that F&W Media had, and now offer those as on-line workshops.  (including my two)

There is information out there, but as someone has famously said, if you don't know what you don't know, you don't know that you don't know it.

Or this quote from The Reality Bubble by Ziya Tong:  When one does not see what one does not see, one does not even see that one is blind.  Paul Veyne.  I will do a proper review of this book because it is, in a word, amazing. 

A Little Knowledge

In English there are a couple of sayings that I think about at times:

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.  Or:  I know just enough to be dangerous.

When it comes to learning a new skill, there are levels of knowledge.  When you don't know what you don't know, you don't know that you don't know it.

The danger is that as one begins to learn a little bit, the assumption is that you know more than you actually do.  A student has a few experiences, draws conclusions based on those experiences, then extrapolates that limited experience to the entire body of knowledge - which they don't know and can't in some cases, even begin to comprehend.

Then they get set in their ways, assume they know The Answer, become reluctant to listen to anyone else about how things might not actually be the way they think it is.

The problem then becomes the repetition of the information that is incomplete at best, or just plain wrong.  When corrected, sometimes the person does not react well.  

When they go outside of their comfort zone, scale up in some way either by making longer/wider warps, use a different quality of yarn, or a different fibre, their results may be less than what they desired.  

At times I have then seen the blame being assigned to the yarn (it was 'bad'), the equipment (it was 'bad'), the advice they were given (which may have been ignored) - anything but accept that their process may have been at fault and needed to be adjusted to accommodate the changes to their regular routine.

When I advise people to apply a hard press, I've been told that it isn't necessary.  That if I'm getting iron tracks on seams, I just don't know how to press a seam open properly.  I've been told over and over again that wet finishing is just 'washing'.  I've even been told that it isn't necessary.  Which it may not be, depending...

I've been told that my advice on ergonomics or processes/efficiency is just plain wrong.  That somehow their X years of experience supersedes my 44+.  All I can say to them is, you do you.  If it's working for you, then that's what you need to do.  

One of the things I learned very early on was that becoming a weaver was going to be a life long journey.  That has turned out to be very true.  As I change my life, change my focus, change how I approach the creation of cloth, I look forward to continuing the journey of learning.  Of gaining more experiences to add to my foundation of knowledge.  I still explore, take workshops from other weavers - because their experience is different from my own - buy books, read magazine articles.  When I discover that I have been wrong about something, I add that to my growing - ever growing - pool of knowledge.  

I still make mistakes.  I still learn.  I find that exciting.

A Single Step

Progress.  It's ephemeral, at times.  When working on a 'big' project, or even just living a life, each day can seem endless.  Progress can seem incredibly slow.  At times, not noticeable.

When I was writing The Intentional Weaver, life interfered on numerous occasions.  It seemed like I would never get it done.  And every time I was poised on the brink of giving up, tossing the manuscript and declaring that Big Project a 'failure', something would happen and I would open the file again, and try to slog through it.  Again.

Frankly I had no intention whatsoever of writing (and self-publishing) a second book.  I had poured everything I had into Magic in the Water, I'd said all I needed to say.

But the more I taught, the more I saw that there was something I did need to say.  I was saying it over and over again in my classes.  Ergonomics.  Efficiency.  Peeling back the layers to better understand the basics. 

One of my Olds students was the impetus to begin but other students kept me going, asking the same kinds of questions.  Questions which I had thought about, researched, implemented in my own practice.

Most people really have no idea of just how efficient I became over the years.  I remember the first time I posted a video to the internet showing me weaving.  The very first response was something along the lines of  'that's interesting, but why did you speed the video up?'

I found it amusing that the person thought I was speeding the video up when the fact was that I'd actually slowed down in order that people could see what I was doing more easily.

People, including weavers, have constantly commented that I must never sleep I was producing so much.  I am, was, just that efficient that I can do a lot more in the same amount of time others have.

Plus weaving was my job.  I worked at it.  I became good at it.  Some even call me a 'master'.

But here's the thing.  What I do isn't anything special.  If someone really wants to, they can learn how to be more ergonomic, more efficient.  Learn how to work ergonomically, learn how to reduce extraneous movements, stay focused and in the zone, and efficiency will increase. 

It doesn't come overnight.  It takes work.  It takes mindful practice.  It takes those 10000 hours - but those hours have to be mindful.  Because repetition without analysis just makes permanent, not perfect. 

Now that I am 'retiring', shutting down my business, learning how to weave 'better' on a brand new loom which is very different from any other loom I have woven on, my progress has been slow.  Much slower than I expected, given my level of expertise.  But a return to beginner mind is good.  It reminds me that people learning new things need time to learn the new thing.  My impatience at how long it is taking needs to be tempered with constant reminders that progress is progress.  A single step in the right direction...is progress.

Constant reminders that I am no longer doing craft fairs, so I no longer  need to be producing lots of inventory, means that the rate of my progress is just fine, even if it is just a single step. 

I remind myself daily that I am still alive to take that single step, two or three on a really good day.  So many others I love/respected are gone.  I am still here.  Still able to teach (I hope).  Still able to weave, as slowly as that may be.  Still around to encourage and support others.  Mentor when I can, amplify when appropriate.

During Art Market, a woman came by and asked to talk to me.  It was Sunday morning and it wasn't very busy so when I finished with the customer I was dealing with, we talked for a few minutes.

She wanted to thank me for my DVD.  She had somehow injured her neck and for two years she went from doctor to specialist and finally saw one who commented that he had only seen such an injury in people who did a lot of (demonstrating the motion of taking shuttle out of the shed at too high an angle).  She asked him "Do you mean weavers?"  "YES!  Is that what you do?"

Turns out she had her bench in a 'bad' position and her posture wasn't great either.  She and her daughter went through The Efficient Weaver DVD and they re-arranged her loom bench and she is working on her position and posture, learning how - after 30 years of doing it in a poor ergonomic fashion - to throw and catch the shuttle in a way that will be friendlier to her body.  She is now weaving again, although she will always have soft tissue injury to deal with.  But she wanted to thank me for the advice and the techniques shown in the DVD.

This is why I keep leaping up on my soapbox.  This is why I will keep teaching.  Blogging.  And count my progress in inches if not in feet.  Because at the end of the day, the end of my production career, I am still learning.  And I have always loved to learn.

Ways We Learn

With the rise of the internet, more and more people are turning to on line venues to learn things.  All sorts of things.

I was an early adopter of the internet (dial up hand shakes - yikes) and posted video clips to You Tube.  Now I'm not a professional and my video camera was as good as I could afford at the time, but when you are trying to be both in front and behind the camera, it isn't always great.

So in 2014 I had the opportunity to work with the crew from Interweave Press to make not one but two DVDs.  The Efficient Weaver and Wet Finishing.

Since then many people have contacted me to say that they have found them useful, so when parent company F&W Media filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this year, I had no idea if the content would continue to be available.

Over the summer Long Thread Media was formed and that company purchased Handwoven, Spin Off and Piecework Magazines, PLUS the DVD content.

I have been in touch with Anne Merrow and this morning formal notification of how things will proceed was provided.

It is a relief to know that this content will continue to be available, this time as on-line 'workshops'. 

Since I am currently in the process of 'retiring' - ie no longer traveling to teach for guilds or at conferences, it is heartening to know that the content of these (and the rest of their catalogue) will continue to be available for people wanting to learn.

As always, feel free to contact me with questions.  Read the archived posts on select topics on this blog. 

My social media is Facebook (I know, I know), Ravelry, Twitter and Instagram - in addition to this blog.  While I withdraw from physically getting myself from place to place, I enjoy hearing from folk and anyone passing through my town is welcome to come visit the studio.  So long as you don't mind, erm, creative chaos!

Wet Finishing

On page 1, paragraph one, in J. T. Marsh's book An Introduction to Textile Finishing, Marsh states "The term 'finishing' in its widest sense has been held to cover all the processes which fabrics undergo after leaving the loom or knitting machine; from this standpoint, finishing would include bleaching and dyeing, which, indeed, are sometimes regarded as wet-finishing processes."  This book was first published in 1947.

In the book Cloth Finishing:  Woollen and Worsted by J and J. C. Schofield they state in their preface "The present work has been developed from the author's "Scouring and Milling (1921) which was itself extended into "The Wet Processes of the Wool Industries (1925).  This book, published sometime after 1925, runs to nearly 700 pages of detailed information on the wet finishing processes involved in bringing wool, both woollen and worsted, to its finished state.

While the effects of wet finishing can seem magical the processes are well documented and there is nothing mystical about them.

The point is that during wet finishing, processes may be applied that will never be applied again, unlike simple 'washing'.  This is why I use the term wet finishing to describe the process of transforming the web cut from the loom into 'real' cloth.

So what do I mean "processes may be applied that will never be applied again."?  I am specifically referring to milling or fulling of woollen fabrics.  I am referring to brushing to raise a nap.  I am referring to a hard press (instead of ironing).  Industry may apply other finishes as part of the wet finishing including carbonizing, mercerization, calendering.

These steps, which may be necessary once, are not part of the routine 'washing' of finished cloth.

Another case of choose your expert?

before wet finishing

after wet finishing, including brushing

For more information on wet finishing, Magic in the Water; wet finishing handwovens or the dvd/download from Interweave Press

Be Consistent

I've said it before and will say it again - more than once, guaranteed.  If you can't be perfect, be consistent.

One of the reasons attempting for 'perfect' is counter productive is that our materials are rarely perfect.  Yarns spun from fibres are reasonably smooth - or as smooth as someone can make them considering that spinning short staple fibres into a perfectly smooth yarn is pretty much impossible.  Which is why yards per pound are generally known to be approximations.

The extreme close up of this twill (with points) shows just how 'not perfect' a cloth can be.  Looking at the twill line this closely it is very easy to see the slight undulations of the twill diagonal.  (Biggify the photo to see the entire photo.)

Am I worried?  Not really.  This slight amount of deviation from a 'perfect' angle will pretty much even out during wet finishing.

Silk is a slippery fibre, especially a cultivated silk such as this is.  Those tiny little variations in angle will slip and slide during wet finishing and by the time it receives the final hard press, it will be extremely difficult to see that there was any imperfection at all.

My job as a weaver is to be as consistent as possible.  And trust to the process to do what needs to happen in the wet finishing.

Just another reason I say that 'it isn't finished until it's wet finished'.  If 'hiding' or reducing those tiny imperfections isn't reason enough to wet finish, add in developing the hand or drape of the cloth and making it shine would surely be the convincing argument!  IMHO, of course!

You Only Get One

Body, that is.

The photo is from the photo shoot Interweave did for The Efficient Weaver.

One of the reasons I particularly wanted to do this DVD (now downloadable course) was to show proper position and posture at the loom.

I so often see photos on the internet of people sitting at the loom in a chair or on a bench that is too low for proper ergonomics.  I wince.  Because while it may not hurt today or even next week, over time sitting 'poorly' will hurt.

Generally speaking it is a bad idea to sit in an ordinary chair at the loom.  (I don't care what people say, that you don't need a bench, I'm here to say that it's generally a bad idea.)

Most looms are tall enough that an ordinary chair is simply too low.  Ordinary chairs are also generally raked to the back, putting your hips and knees into a 'bad' position relative to each other.

If you only have an ordinary chair, build it up with cushions.  What to look for?

Elbows should be higher than the breast beam.  Hips higher than knees.  Sit forward so that you are perched on the edge of the bench, on your sitz bones.  Sit up straight.  Pivot from your hips.  Engage your core muscles.  Shoulders in neutral.  Throw the shuttle with thumb up, not down.

Recently Beth Smith did a blog post where she talks about changing her shuttle handling. 

Be kind to your body.  Work ergonomically.

Learning Ways

You Tube Channel

There are many video clips on You Tube, some of them better than others.

I don't claim mine are the best, but I have added my voice to the internet.  Everyone learns differently and the recent influx of new weavers, either via rigid heddle looms or baby wraps means that the population of weavers has dramatically increased and the average age has dropped.  Which, don't get me wrong, is A Good Thing!  If we don't recruit new younger weavers, the craft really might begin to die out - and that would be a great pity imho.

But rather than paint *all* video clips on You Tube and *all* dvd's as being bad, people should view them, take them with a grain of salt, but most of all, learn as much as they can from them.

In my opinion there is nothing better than learning from a live human being, but if you don't have the budget, or are too geographically removed or tied down with family committments to be able to take a class, then books, video clips and dvds are a valid way to learn.

We all do things differently because we all have different strengths and weaknesses.  We all have different abilities.  We learn in different ways.  Some can learn by reading, some by watching, some by doing, some by all three.

All I hope is that, at the end of the day, what I have done helps someone somewhere.  From the messages I get from people, I think I have helped some people make progress along the road of learning.

Toot, Toot!

Imagine my surprise when I opened the last issue of Handwoven and spotted this full page ad!  The ad doesn't say it's a dvd, and I had been wondering about the recent inquiries about my 'book'...now I know!

My heart has been warmed by the positive reviews I've seen on line.  My hope when I did this dvd was to try to help people with the weaving process.  Over the years I've heard so many people lament that dressing the loom is a struggle, or that they have suffered repetitive stress injuries that prevented them from weaving.

I knew that a lot of this was simply due to using techniques or processes that could be made more efficient, more ergonomic.

So, dear readers, thank you for your encouragement and support.  Staff at Interweave have told me that they consider The Efficient Weaver a 'best seller'.  That's all down to you.  :)

Feedback

Dear Laura,

 
I have just spent THE most enjoyable afternoon with you (via your DVD The  
Efficient Weaver).

 
You have brought enlightenment, many "ah ha" moments, along with several "duh -  
why did I ever do it any other way" comments. 

Living in Australia, there are very few weaving classes available, so most of my  
learning has been done via books, DVD's and the internet.  

Your DVD now has pride of place on my shelving units, never to see the inside of  
the filing cabinet where many other DVD's have been placed. 

Your clear and insightful instructions are the best that I have had the pleasure of  
viewing, and I just wish that I could pluck you from the screen and sit you down  
beside me just to chat and enjoy a nice drink and some lovely food. 

Thank you SO much for your generosity of spirit, and for making my weaving world  
a much less stressful place to be. 

So many thanks 

Happy Weaving 
Belinda

Several people have sent emails with lovely comments.  Belinda's arrived while we were on our trip round the craft fairs and I was beginning to feel very exhausted.  What a lovely lift to read her words - and those of the people who have written reviews on Weaving Today, Craft Daily and Ravelry as well as the personal emails that have arrived over the summer and into the winter.

No matter how much I love weaving, there are times - especially right now - when doing what needs to be done takes more energy than I really have.  I told Doug last night that with all my health issues, I really can't do shows by myself any more and I am grateful beyond words that he is willing to do the (literal) heavy lifting.

The good news is that I have a tentative surgical date.  Hopefully sometime in January I will have the by-pass surgery and be back in fine form (other than all the other chronic issues I still have to deal with) by spring.  Also while we were away I received another request to vend at the Alberta conference in May - this time I said yes, because I ought to be fully recovered by then.  I should also be at Olds in June although I won't know for sure until spring.  But it looks like those can go ahead without any problems.  If, that is, my body decides to co-operate.

After a truly horrible summer, I am once again (cautiously) optimistic about being able to have my brain and body back and functioning.  But I doubt I will do much traveling to teach unless it is within driving distance.  Even then I'm not sure I can any more manage 12 hour drives on my own.  So I will probably attempt a trip to Seattle next summer to visit friends and see if I can manage on my own or not.

Getting old is not for sissies!

Messing About

Messed about a bit more with the camera today.  I think the top picture, which shows a bit more of the cloth in the background, is better than the bottom one, which is too out of focus.  Neither one really captures the cloth as cloth, though.  Going to have to play around with this more.

I think one of the best books I've seen which really seems to capture the nature of the fabric in it's photos is Jack Lenor Larson's Material Wealth.

Friends gave me the book when I got the master level of the Guild of Canadian Weavers certificate and while that is a very long time ago I still have yet to actually read the book.  I open it and start turning the pages, sucked in by the exquisite photos.

I think I need to pull that off the shelves again and take another look.

-------
For those of you who have purchased the dvd's I did with Interweave Press, and you think they are worthwhile, I would really appreciate your passing along the word to your guild mates, on the internet (including posting a review to the Interweave site), etc.

I realize that the dvd's are not comprehensive - how can they be in a 70 or 90 minute time frame?  But hopefully they will be useful.

Please and thank you.