Heads Up

 

Book Savings!

From time to time the online publisher I use offers a sale on books where they 'eat' the savings and the author still gets the full amount of the sale.

So, from Feb. 8-10, all books are on sale with a 15% discount if you use the code BOOKLOVE15

If you are in the US, the books are printed in the US and there is no tariff.  To people outside of the US, you can order the print version, or perhaps the PDF download would be 'better'.  Certainly that is cheaper and you get it immediately.  Use the link above and enter the coupon code.  If you have problems with the Blurb website, contact them, not me.  

New Book

 

Stacey Harvey-Brown's new book Creative Dimensions in Weaving is now available.

If you are curious about creating 3D effects in textiles, Stacey has been doing lots of digging into how to make that happen.  The book can be purchased immediately as a pdf download.  I haven't invested yet as I really prefer print, but getting books from overseas is getting expensive, and a pdf download is (ahem) immediate.  

And let's support actual human knowledge, not LLM/AI.  

And check out her web site for some other books she has written.

Essential Information

 

A User's Guide to Yarn - pre-order now

Just in the past few days I have seen multiple 'new' weavers asking very specific questions about yarn - what to use, how to use it, etc.

I'm glad that they are asking, but answers are difficult within the context of a chat group.  The pool of knowledge is huge - an ocean, not a pond.  

There are various approaches available - sett charts, fibre characteristics listed in textile science books, reams and reams of actual projects with specific information.  It is quite literally endless.

Which is daunting!

Where to start?  

The answer is to weave samples.  Examine samples, if you can, samples that document the process, the details.

As one person pointed out, yarn charts can get 'stale' very quickly as manufacturers change things frequently.  

Weaving yarns are more 'stable' than knitting yarns.  But even weaving yarns come and go and tastes change, advice changes, because *change one thing and everything can change*.

I work a lot with 2/8 and 2/16 cotton.  And even within just those two counts, I don't always use the same epi/ppi.  Sometimes I mix and match - 2/16 cotton warp with fine linen weft was a recent one.  Right now it's 2/20 merc cotton warp with singles 6 highly twisted/energized unmerc cotton.

I've used 2/16 at 30, 32, 36 epi - all because the quality of the cloth differs, the weave structure differs, and so on.

So I'm going to remind people of the new book coming in June by Michelle Boyd, who has attempted to qualify how we use yarn and why there may be changes to things like gauge in knitting, or density in weaving, and why sampling matters.

Each of us works with our own preferences, the loom that we have, the goals that we aim to meet.  What *I* do may be different from what some other weaver does.  And we are both 'right' within our stated goals.

I can tell you what *I* would do - but then it is up to the other weaver to decide if that is appropriate for *them*.  And they do that by weaving a sample.  Or three.

No, you don't actually have to, but if you want specific information for your purposes, you need to do the investigation - by weaving the sample and wet finishing it.

There is no short cut.

However, there are resources, and Michelle Boyd has done the community (knitters, crocheters and weavers) the service of trying to explore the possibilities and potentials that they each can use to create their own textiles.  Hopefully by explaining the dynamics baked into the yarn, future textile workers can apply the principles as yarns come and go.  

The information is available.  Sometimes you have to dig for it.  And don't rely on AI for meaningful answers.

Books - Unexpected Gifts

 

I have read multitudes of books.  I love reading.  I love learning stories, fiction and fact, examining new places, people, how humans deal with stress and happiness and everything in between.

Sometimes I stumble across books, sometimes a friend will recommend one, sometimes I will see an ad online and something catches my attention.

So it was with this one.  I don't remember where I learned about it, but if the author was going to talk about 'thrums', I was intrigued.  There was mention of grandparents being croft weavers, and I assumed there were going to be lots of stories about weaving.

Well, there are some stories about grandfathers weaving and sharing some of their knowledge, but Alan Garner is a weaver of words, not threads.  I'm not all that different when you come right down to it, honestly.  (As a weaver of threads AND words, I can see the similarities...)

Anyway, the public library didn't have it in their collection but it wasn't all that expensive, and that little inner voice that I've learned to listen to urged me to buy it, so I did.

It was only a little bit of a disappointment when it arrived and I realized that there wasn't that much about the weaver grandparents, but there were stories.  And essays.  Poems.  

Today I was reading it again (I can only read in little bits these days) and on page 162 read a passage and went a-HA!  This was the passage that I needed to read!

Given the way of the world right now, I've been struggling to justify weaving.  I'm 'retired' (for certain values) and I no longer have any 'need' to weave because I'm trying to weave down my stash and get rid of my inventory of woven goods.  But weaving is *also* part of my therapy right now, so I feel compelled to keep getting to the loom.

He was telling a story about meeting a astronomer/cosmologist and discussing a lot of things.  At one point the cosmologist considered leaving his profession when he felt it was being used to advance 'war', and briefly considered entering the priesthood.  But then "a bishop said he would do more good by staying where he was, since creativity is a form of prayer."

Garner then followed that conversation between the bishop and cosmologist by observing that Dylan Thomas was saying 'Creativity is prayer.'

I literally sat back and closed the book to think about that and let it sit for a while.

When the student is ready, the teacher will appear, it's been said.  I have no idea why I felt compelled to buy this smallish book.  But this morning, when things were looking rather bleak in the world, when there is so much uncertainty, and danger feels far too present...somehow I felt how much that statement rang true in my ears, my brain, and in my heart.

Another book that Doug found mentioned on FB yesterday that I requested.  I feel it is the type of book that the public library *needs* in it's collection right now:  Humans; the 300,000 year struggle for equality written by Alvin Finkel.  I don't know if the library will bring it in.  Again, it's not a terribly expensive book, so I will buy it to read myself, if they don't add it to the collection.

OK, found a photo of the cover:

I have read other texts about very deep/ancient history.  I find it fascinating to think about my distant ancestors, how they lived.  What they made.  What they might have thought.  The gods they worshipped, the government they may have had.

And how, in truth, we are more like them than most of us would be willing to admit.

Complexity. Subtlety.

 

As a new weaver, it gets confusing to try and figure out things like weaving drafts.  What do those little black boxes mean?  How do you get plain weave on this weave structure?  Where are the odds vs even treadles that weave 'tabby'?

It can be frustrating to make sense out of what you *know* to be true - tabby or plain weave is always, always odd shafts vs even shafts.  Confusion reigns.

It can be really hard to break through that wall of absolute certainty - because 'My teacher told me tabby is *always* odds against the evens!'

Yeah, about that...

Sometimes teachers are just plain wrong, or they gave you a nugget of the information, not the whole picture.  Simplifying for immediate use, not to understand the larger complexity and/or subtlety of the craft.

Plain weave (or tabby) is when every thread alternates such that a plain weave interlacement can be achieved.

If you look at the draft above, which is an 8 shaft Bronson Lace, take a close look at the tie up.  See the two treadles at the far left?  One treadle is tied to just shaft one.  The other treadle is tied to shafts 2-8.  *Those* are the plain weave treadles.

If you want to weave plain weave across the warp, you alternate those two treadles for as many times as you want plain weave.

Other weave structures will present with different possibilities - based on the threading sequence and what you want to achieve by manipulating the threads to weave the design you want.  

Some new weavers are anxious to do the 'fun' stuff, leap into the very deep end of the pool and find they don't actually know how to swim.  Not because they can't - they simply haven't learned enough to stay afloat.

Going to bang my own drum, blow my own horn...

The Intentional Weaver, written for my Olds students (and any other newer weaver) to help put some of the subtleties of the craft under the microscope.  My other books are available as well - Stories from the Matrix is a series of essays looking at the craft in various ways, some teach actual weave structure theory, others look at various 'historical' stories, some 'attitudes' (mostly mine - sorry, not sorry), or things that intrigued me in the moment. And of course my very first book, Magic in the Water. 

A Thread Runs Through it is a 'memoir' of being a professional production weaver for the best part of 45 years.  That one is available (pdf only) at my ko-fi shop.

Online classes:  

School of Sweet Georgia - four classes - looks at some of the lessons I wrote about in The Intentional Weaver.

Long Thread Media - two classes - and lots of articles in Handwoven over the years

WEFT magazine - articles in every issue - so far - with more lined up.

I will do my best to answer questions on groups online, but for more detailed explanations, read my books, or if you can't afford books or classes, check out the labels here.  I've probably written something about most things here.  And if you have a mystery that you just can't figure out, you can email me laura at laurafry dot com.

Puzzling

 

Many of my childhood memories revolve around working on jigsaw puzzles.  In our home, there wasn't a lot of room to devote to the building of a puzzle, so we were pretty much confined to 500 or 1000 piece puzzles, which we built on the coffee table in the living room.  These days, I'm still 'confined' to that size, but it is familiar, and a comfortable challenge (usually).

I came to the world of weaving well prepared to deal with multiple issues within a challenge.  To examine the various pieces.  Learn to recognize shapes, colours and sizes.  Work out the logistics of joining them up to create the pretty picture (because I prefer to work on puzzles with pretty pictures). and by sheer stubborness, eventually get them built.  (Not always.  If they are too much of a challenge, I will give up and switch to something less challenging and more enjoyable.)

Weaving really isn't any different.  There are multiple layers to the way cloth gets built, multiple pieces to the puzzle.  The weaver can (and frequently needs to) choose different pathways to get to where they want to wind up.

New weavers assume that there are hard and fast 'rules'.  Sorry.  There are hard *facts* - but then you add this consideration, that one, tweak your processes...and you can wind up making a very specific cloth for your particular purpose.

As a new weaver, you will not have the knowledge to be aware of those variations.  You will not have the facts at your fingertips.  So you ask questions.  Good.  Questions are good.

However, it would be nice if more brand new weavers would take a little bit of time and read about the 'facts' of the craft before they start tweaking the information they are given.

And then complain because what they are doing isn't working.  The designer of the project must have made a mistake.  And they are mad that the thing they chose to do isn't good.  It's someone else's fault for giving them bad information.

Um - when you chose to sley your reed at a completely different density from what the instructions specified, why are you surprised the results are...wrong?  Oh, you didn't want to do the 'hard' thing, so you did the 'easy' thing and it's not working?

You haven't bothered to learn the language, and get mad because people are not helping you properly?  

Personally I get chastised for repeatedly (and rather boringly, I admit) tell people to *sample*.  When a new weaver complains that they don't have enough yarn to 'waste' on a sample, I wonder why they are willing to waste the entire project by having it not turn out?  First of all, stop buying expensive knitting yarn.  Buy some weaving yarn.  Weaving yarn frequently comes in half pound tubes, or 6 ounce cones, sometimes even pound cones.  You might pay $30 for that pound, but you will have plenty to weave a sample.  Maybe even 3 or 4, trying various approaches.

New weavers buy a kit, don't follow the guidelines for epi/ppi, and complain the kit designer 'shorted' them yarn to make the project.

Personally, I gave up making kits - kits designed to create *two* colour gamps, then had a couple people bitch that there wasn't enough yarn in the kit I made to make four napkins.  I was called a 'rip off' artist.  What part of a kit that specified *two* square colour gamps ever equated to four square napkins?

By that time most of the people who actually *wanted* colour gamp 'samples' had bought (if they were going to) and I just...stopped.

I wrote a book that I wished had been available when I was just starting out, with the same sorts of questions new weavers have.  When I did a demo for my class at Olds, one student asked where they could find a book with that information in it.  I had to admit that no one book contained that information.  So I set about to write one.

I won't claim it is the Compleate Book of Weaving - but hopefully I sowed enough seeds for new weavers to learn more and then follow their own trail of learning.

This new year has just begun - with a bang.  I expect plenty of 'whimpering' to follow.  One person and his coterie of enablers has just done the unthinkable - except that he has been telegraphing his intentions for years.  So, while I am not surprised, I am sickened.

Resisting such actions is necessary.  Being aware of the ramifications is imperative.  And continuing to help the craft stay alive is absolutely necessary.  Weaving was one of the pillars of human beings surviving in the beginning.  It may become necessary again.  

For as long as I am able, I will continue to explore, experiment, and - hopefully - document what I have been doing.  If what I do isn't destined for WEFT, I will continue to share here.  There are over 4000 posts - so far - with many of them labelled as to topic.  If you can't find what you need, you can contact me directly.  But first?  Get a book.  Get several books.  Not 'just' mine - there are many many very good books (none of them generated - I won't say 'written' - by LLM/AI) available.  Some are out of print.  Mine are not.  They are available as usual, here.  All three titles are in pdf download or print.  They are printed in the US, so not subject to tariffs.  

Weaving is not difficult.  It IS complex.  

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

Beatrix Potter and the Herdwick Sheep

 

Beatrix Potter and the Herdwick Sheep

Last night we watched a program about Beatrix Potter and her deep connection to the Lake District.  I had forgotten about the work she did to help the Herdwick Sheep thrive.

As a child I knew about Beatrix Potter, but she wasn't my favourite author.  And largely I didn't pay much attention to her as a person.  It was only later that I began to learn much about her.  The program was a great re-introduction to Potter as a person beyond the author and artist that she was best known for.

There are a number of spinners who have written books about the different sheep breeds, if you want to know more about them.  The one I'm most familiar with is the one by Robson and Ekarius. The Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook.

But there are others, as well, all of them an enormous labour of love given how much work and effort went into each and every one of them.

And this is why I hate the LLM plagiarism machines.  They scrape the contents of such books and grind them up, spitting them back out with half of the actual technical information mere dust by the time they are done with it.  If you decide to learn via AI, please be aware that the citations may not be real, and the actual information has been twisted into nothing resembling actual facts.

Same with textile science books.  Go to the actual source.  Last I counted I had something like 11 different textile science books.  Some are really deep dives, some more overviews, some have great comparison charts, some look at areas that I haven't found elsewhere.  And sometimes I like to check a few different resources to make sure they are on the same page.  Or maybe the knowledge has grown and there is more up-to-date information than what was available in the late 1900s (yes, some of my books original printing dates are from then - and I love them!)

But watching the program on Potter, I was reminded how lengthy and rich our history is - all of it.  And there are lessons to be learned, people to recognize for their contributions to that history.

Above all, keep learning, keep adding to your foundation of knowledge.  And remembering that we stand on the shoulders of giants, every one of us.

A Little Advice

 

This little book arrived yesterday.  Written by Jamie Hurlburt and Kim McCollum it is not your 'usual' weaving book.  While I haven't finished it yet - quite - I have read enough to know that I want to share it with others.

The authors are upfront about the fact it is not a how-to-weave book.  It is more of a how-to-learn-to-become-a-weaver book.

One of the things I ran into as a new weaver was the attitude that there was only one-right-way to do weaving.  Not everyone, not by a long shot - but in certain circles it was definitely A Thing.

As I have continued to pursue and learn about the craft of weaving, I have come across some very strongly stated 'principles' and firm admonishments from certain people, certain in their knowledge and willing to share their certainties with the rest of the weaving communities.

But one of the biggest lessons I have learned over the years, is that there is no general certainty about anything regarding weaving.  There are only broad generalities, and then very specific and targeted information.

Because it all depends!

The authors introduce some of those general comments that are applied to the entirety of the craft and encourage people to examine them to see if they apply to anything that you, personally, are doing.

Because what one weaver does will not necessarily apply to what another weaver does.

This approach aligns with mine in every way, even if I might phrase it differently.  Because we are different people, and we are allowed to personalize our comments to suit our own personalities.

So while the authors may say something in a way that I wouldn't, I agree with the fact they are saying it.

When they say 'weaving it not hard' and then qualify that by saying '(not that hard)'. I might say 'weaving is complex, not difficult'.

When they say 'don't rely on processes or hacks', I say 'fill your weaving toolbox with as many tools as you can and then use them when necessary'.

Because everyone is different, information is most useful when a receptive (open) mind receives them.  But it also helps to have different voices say the same principles, but use different metaphors!

In the 21st century, weaving is primarily a hobby for most.  As people living in the 21st century, we assume that - as adults - anything we choose to do will come easily to us.  We are mature, our physical skills are refined, we know things.

But the thing is, we don't know weaving.  And as mentioned many times, weaving is complex.  It has developed over millennia, in different environments, with different materials, different cultures.  As such it has a complexity that we can only scrape at the surface of.

This year marks the 50th year that I have been weaving.  For most of that 50 years I was a professional production weaver.  I had certain goals and objectives in mind and I honed my skills, and filled my toolbox.  The reason I use certain tools is because the tools I selected were giving me consistent good results (until they didn't, and then I had to change to meet the changed circumstances).

If someone doesn't want to use a warping valet, for instance, there is no need for them to do so - IF they are happy with their results.

But keeping an open, thoughtful mind will go a long way towards a weaver continuing to learn.  The more they learn, the better able they are to fix something when it is going pear-shaped.  To adapt when something isn't working properly.  To know when a mistake is terminal, or how to fix it without fuss.  To accept that nothing is always 'perfect' and that 'good' can be 'good enough'.

Above all, we can accept that we are constant students, that there is something else to learn, and open ourselves to the possibilities.

Perhaps this little book will break down some barriers.  I may not agree with everything the authors say - as in I won't do that, personally - but I endorse the message - learn.  Explore.  Let your imagination and creativity have free rein.

And it's perfectly ok to make general statements if you allow for specific circumstances to be handled in a different way.

Because that is what lifelong learning looks like.  Above all, it depends.

Bravo for writing this book challenging weavers to question the 'wisdom' of the craft if it is not meeting the requirements of the desired results.  Sometimes people need permission to question 'authority' in order to meet their specific needs.  

All that said, if you are happy, no need to change a thing.  But if you run into a problem?  Maybe it is time to look beyond what you know and look for new answers?  

Dynamic

 

In my desire to use up as much of my stash as possible, I uncovered the singles 6 cotton cones.  I'd worked with it years ago and had fun playing with 'energized' yarn and all the possibilities that could be played with in terms of developing texture.  

Over the summer I started reading Michelle Boyd's book Twist, but had to set it aside as I dealt with some other writing tasks, but when I wet finished the next set of towels with the energized singles 6, I was reminded that I needed to get back to Michelle's book.

Why are the corners of the cloth curled, you might ask.  Well, those corners are curled because of the energetic nature of the yarn itself.  Since just the weft is the singles 6, the corners all curl in the same 'direction', following the push/shove of the energy still in the yarn.

Michelle talks a lot about the physical dynamics of the forces that we build into our cloth - sometimes all unknowing, sometimes on purpose.  Her book is a deep dive into trying to bring knowledge and understanding of the forces that we deal with, mostly unknowingly, and which tend to end in surprises - sometimes nice ones, some, not so much.

And this is part of why experienced weavers will urge newer weavers to sample, sample, sample.

The cloth in the tea towels is woven in twill - a 1:2 twill, to be exact.  I knew that the energy in the yarn would create texture (tracking) and wanted to control that effect.  The goal was a tea towel, hopefully with good drape and absorbency.  So far I'm pleased with them.  They have a nice hand, feel good to touch, and visually have an 'interesting' amount of texture.  Yes, tracking in a twill!  Who'd a thunkit!

Using the singles 6 as weft on a 2/16 cotton warp has resulted in the qualities I was hoping to see.  And yes, I did sample before I set up this warp.  I am just setting up another in the same design (different colour) because I'm pleased with them.  And I'm happy to weave the singles 6 into a cloth that I feel  should provide good service for anyone who is using it.

And yes, those curls resolve once the hems are sewn.  As usual I will hand hem (it's my 'watching tv at night' task) and then give the towels a final finishing press.  

On the topic of books, the new book I ordered arrived this morning.  I'm looking forward to taking a look at it.  

Stay tuned...

Marketing

 

A few days ago I saw an ISO post looking for The Intentional Weaver.  I hesitated to say anything because not all such queries are looking for a 'new' purchase.  Maybe they specifically wanted a used one.  So, if you see someone looking for one of my books, they are still available on blurb

November continues to be...challenging.  I did manage to weave yesterday and felt 'ok' - I suppose.  The weather is far too warm - for here, this time of year.  While I'm relieved for no snow on the ground, due to my difficulty in walking, I would much prefer that the temp was -10 C and the sky clear.  Our days are short, but not too bad if the sun is shining.  Which it is not, right now.

And I think about people under 20 - they think this is...normal.  They believe there is no climate change because the weather has been doing...whatever *this* is...for their entire lives.  People my age remember - some of us.  But we are given an eye roll and ignored.

Turmoil continues.  Trying to deal with the alt right is like whack-a-mole.  You get rid of one and a dozen more pop up.  

We (or at least *I*) are on tenterhooks waiting to see if the budget will be passed.  The opposition party is behaving more and more like fascists.  The government needs two more votes to get the budget passed, or we wind up with a winter election - and millions more spent to very little benefit to the average Canadian.  But I fail to see any (as in *any*) solutions being advanced by the Cons and the Leader of the Official Opposition sounds more and more like the loose cannon down south with each report that becomes public.

In the meantime, I continue to try and help others.  I don't see any other way to get through this time than by lifting others up, not smacking them down.  The new book I ordered should arrive next week.  I'm hoping to feel up to reading the thesis on hemp (sat for too long, an open tab on the desktop) and then the new book.  The new cream seems to be helping - some.  I'd sure like some more energy though.  

Anyway, if you see someone in search of my books, maybe all y'all could share the link above?

Teaching

 

wet finished

loom state

Since it appears to be the season in my life where I reflect on my life, I have been thinking a lot about teaching.

I started teaching almost as soon as I started weaving.  Teaching spinning, which might surprise, but I knew two cents worth of spinning and was willing to share what I knew.  And I wasn't alone - I had a co-teacher, who knew maybe 5 cents worth about spinning and together we tried to help people get their wheels turning in the 'correct' direction and how to draft and twist their fibres.

It seems I was a fairly 'natural' teacher - I have no credentials saying that I know a thing or two about teaching.  But I loved learning, had some really excellent (and some not so) teachers and had taken 'note' of those I felt were good and why, and those who were not, and why.  I learned about how to teach as well as the subject being taught.

It was not a dream or desire of mine to teach.  I really wasn't interested in teaching people who didn't want to learn, so teaching as a paid instructor in a school was of little interest to me.  But if you were interested in what I wanted to teach?  I would pull out all the stops.  

As per usual, when I wanted to learn more about something, I read about that something, and so I read books on how to teach.

It was only a few years ago I saw the quote:  A good teacher shows you where to look, not what to see.

So it is with a great deal of satisfaction I now see some of my Olds students beginning to teach - writing, speaking.  

And I think about the really hard task they will have going forward, when so many people are putting their trust/confidence in...LLM/AI. 

The thing that irritates me (one of them) is that the LLM/AI has been 'trained' by having the companies literally steal the written materials from the legal copyright holders.  And then instead of quoting them honestly, they 're-write' the stolen materials, even to the point of inventing citations for books that were never written by the authors that are listed.  (The negative environmental impacts are another thing, which I won't go into here.)

The information is a word salad of 'plausible' information that only needs to 'appear' accurate, not to *be* accurate.

So when I set out to create Magic in the Water, I did not have to 'fight' for space in the market going up against a plagiarism machine.  I had an 'honest' relationship with the people who bought my book.  I shared what I *knew* after extensive experimentation and documentation.  I continued that approach with The Intentional Weaver, and have always followed in any magazine articles I have submitted.

I'm very nervous about the next issue of WEFT.  Given I wrote most of it in the aftermath of the brain bleed, I struggled to get my words lined up in a way that made sense.  I had enormous assistance from Sheila, and I know that Jacey and Lisa worked - *hard* - to go through my text and try to present the documentation and words in a way that explains what I did.  The topic turned out to be complex enough that I over ran my assigned word count - by a lot.   And still did not cover the topic in as great a detail that I would have liked.  Subtlety is like that.  

The topic is only one of the more subtle aspects of building a textile and most people make certain assumptions - which do not hold in practice.

There are weavers currently studying varying aspects of weaving, one topic at a time.  If you are interested in such a thing, Complex Weavers has a number of study groups.  Being part of a collective search of the topic of textiles means that each person takes one aspect, researches it, then shares with the rest of the group.  And everyone learns more than they knew before and exchanges that information.

While the fallout of LLM/AI continues, this is one way for us, as practitioners who want to keep learning, can do that - with integrity.

And that is why Magic has an extensive range of samples (samples above created just for Magic). Because everything depends.  Change one thing and everything can change.

If you, like me, don't trust LLM/AI to provide accurate information, buy a book.  Or several.  Hell, acquire your own personal library!  

I am old enough now that I tend to hear about projects that are being considered.  Now, creating a book can take years.  Quite literally years.  Some of them may only ever have limited numbers published as the book industry takes hit after hit by AI produced word salad.  But I do know, for a fact, that several people are working on books and may have something ready to present in 2026.  Or it might take longer!  I spent years of my life creating Magic in the Water, using a local printer (are there any of those anymore????) and self-publishing, then marketing it.  The official publication date was July of 2002.  In 2008, when my brother died, we were *still* assembling books and it took years after that before I sold the last 'major' book, in 2011, and created the pdf version.  The Intentional Weaver took 4+ years.

It is not my place to announce things that others are doing.  But when they let me know I can do that, I will share the news.

In the meantime, I'm anxiously awaiting the appearance of the last issue of WEFT, which due to the Canada Post rotating work stoppages still hasn't appeared, and more especially the next issue. 

As usual, three of my books are available here in either pdf or print versions, and in my ko-fi shop in pdf download.

I know budgets are incredibly tight right now, but now is exactly the time society needs to recognize expertise and support it happening.  If you want to do your own research, please ignore LLM/AI and research actual knowledge, be that in books, or blogs like this where I try to explain the craft, honestly, magazines written by people who actually know stuff, don't just repeat myths that don't actually contain the 'whole' truth.

Because change one thing, everything can change...

Check Your Sources

 

Let me be clear - I loath LLM/AI.  Like, with a passion.  There are a number of reasons for that, but mostly?  I hate how LLM/AI is designed to be a 'lying machine'.  A person asks a question - in good faith - and expects a semblance of the truth to be delivered.  Instead they get a mish-mash of word salad. 

I try very hard to get facts.  Sometimes I don't have the complete picture, in which case I will go digging.  Unfortunately I can no longer rely on a search engine on the internet to provide me with facts.  I do everything I can to avoid clicking on any AI generated nonsense, but more and more?  I go back to my trusted *printed* resources.

My own books are a distillation of what I have found in my 50 years of weaving.  Some of my weaving library books are quite old, and some are out of date.  Over the years I've accumulated quite a few 'technical' books on weaving (and spinning, and wet finishing).  Sometimes having more than one source is good, because not all books can contain All The Information and I might need to consult some - or all - of my weaving library before I can come to a conclusion.  Sometimes, once I've collected as much information as I can, I need to 'prove' the concept by weaving the samples and, yes, wet finishing them.

So my promise to you is this:  I will never knowingly use LLM/AI.  If I share information with you, it will either come from my own personal experience (weaving, changing parameters, weaving some more, wet finishing the sample to confirm the results) or from trusted published resources.

I have, at this moment, 11+ technical textile science books.  They range from the early 1900s to more current.  I am, at this moment, waiting for another one to be published.  To be fair, I was asked if I would 'review' read the ms and give my opinion.  Which I completed mid October.  They are taking pre-publication orders now.  Michelle Boyd also has a book that I feel weavers should be aware of.  It's called Twist.  I got about halfway through this book and hit a personal brick wall with my brain not wanting to process detailed, subtle, information.  But I will get back to it soon.  The next 3 weeks are fraught with appointments and I am, quite frankly, struggling.  

But this is something I have known for years - there is nothing quite like a curated library when you are involved in a specific craft - develop your own personalized library so you have the information at your fingertips.  Quite literally.

For 50 years I have been asking questions, then answering them (to the best of my ability).  Now that job is even harder as people go to the internet to try and answer their own questions and getting fed lies and/or word salad.  It infuriates me that the last upgrade to my computer and ipad inserted more and more AI.  I annoyed Meta hugely by asking it one and only one question:  How do I turn you off.  If a 'computer' could sniff, it sniffed.  Now I steadily ignore every AI prompt, scroll below the AI 'summary' that it offers me on every internet search.  If I had more spoons I would try harder to switch off more of the Google and Windows AI 'insertions'.  In the meantime, I try really hard to ignore them.

It is with a degree of sadness that I see people on groups quoting AI searches/summaries.  I mean, they joined a group to learn more about A Thing - why are you quoting AI nonsense?  And I get that people are hungry for definitive answers, but when it comes to weaving?  That there are none.  The only correct short answer when it comes to weaving (and likely other crafts that have been around for 1000s of years), is...it depends.

So learn as much as you can.  Explore books and try to ignore AI Summaries.  If you want to ask someone who is knowledgeable?  There are still a bunch of us around.  I have this blog - started in 2008 - started for free, still remains for free.  I have my books, available in both pdf download and print.  Those are not free.  There are classes at School of Sweet Georgia - four of them by me, other shaft loom weaving by Felicia Lo.  And at Long Thread Media.  And I am now writing for WEFT - just agreed to do an article on Bronson Lace.  

So if you have a question?  Ask it.  Include photos if you can.  Explain what you have done to try to find the answer.  No point in spending the coin of my time giving advice only to have the answer be "I did that - it didn't work".  The more information you can provide, the more *others* will learn, along with you.  Weaving isn't always straight forward.  The problem you are having might have stemmed from something you did - or did not - do in a different part of the process than when it showed up.

Weaving is not always straightforward.  It can be sneaky, or hide until it comes forward in terms of poor results.  And not all 'rules' need to be followed - if you understand what happens when you do - or do not - follow them.  And then, if you change your yarn - or the weave structure, or loom.  The possibilities for doing things 'wrong' are almost limitless.  And please - try to be methodical.  Yes, yes, I *know* you want to jump straight into that double wide warp the full width of your loom, but maybe take a couple baby steps first.  

My father always cautioned my brother and me to be wary of anyone who makes doing something look  simple.  There is a good chance there is a great deal of skill involved so don't assume you can jump into the deep end and not stumble over some of those subtleties involved in weaving.

Weaving is a physical skill.  A golfer doesn't assume they can win the Grand Prize on their first attempt.  A race car driver doesn't assume they will drive to the finish line before others who are more experienced.  Etc.  And don't let 'perfect' kill 'good'.  Let the learning journey be just that - a journey.  

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

Time Passes

 

I am taking a bit of a break from writing for WEFT.  Not that I'm not interested, but right now?  Most of my ideas are consuming a whole lot more time and energy than I have available.  I did suggest a couple of ideas, but have not heard back - yet - and frankly it's a bit of a relief to not need to sort out what it would take to do what I offered to do.  I may yet find the energy if they do get back to me, but I'm sure readers will appreciate having other ideas.  And frankly, there enough articles already in the pipeline, I won't be far.

Honestly, I'm old enough now I've been asking myself if I need to step aside and make room for other, younger, authors.  Instead I have been at the desktop, but reviewing the work of others.  And I find that is a task that is more in keeping with my current energy levels.

I have been continuing to try and find ways to keep my life meaningful while not using up every ounce (gram?) of energy.  This week the lab work came back, and surprise!  I'm 'normal'.  On the one hand, the relief at finding out that nothing nasty was inhabiting this body was huge.  But that meant that there was nothing to 'fix' to help me feel better.

Oh well...

Today I have a visit with a weaver and we will go through the latest box of returned samples from WEFT, and I can't remember if she saw the last box.  So we can look through that one as well.  I will bring both boxes on Nov. 16 to the guild for the Weaver's Show and Share.  I am very 'proud' of the work that I did for the Tables issue (current issue just out).  They aren't 'perfect' but pretty darned close.  Especially since I combined two weave structures in one, and used one weft that wasn't the same grist as the warp for the other.  So already I was pushing the envelope.  For the current issue and the next (samples just returned this week) I did the majority of the weaving and a significant part of the writing prior to the brain bleed.  The rest of the articles took a lot more 'braining' that I possessed to do it, and only with the help/support of my friend Sheila was I able to do it at all.  As it happens, writing and puzzling out weaving issues became a huge part of my 'recovery'.  But when I sent off the last article for Winter 2026 I think, I needed a break.  Maybe when I finish reading the two Olds thesis(es?) I will want to generate new content.  And who knows, maybe the new drug will be providing the relief I need to keep going.

That said, if any of the Olds students are interested in my reviewing their ms?  Let me know.  I have finished one and have a second in hand, and as soon as I finish the reviewing I'm doing for Michelle Boyd's (and you *will* want her book - trust me) I will get to the 2nd thesis.

If anyone wants to know more about how I self-publish my books?  I'm happy to share what I know.

Things are changing faster than we can imagine right now.  Tariffs, AI/LLM bots 'stealing' content, then even worse using someone's name and reputation and *changing what they say, even to the point of creating false citations*?  

(shudder)

At any rate, I promise I will NOT be using AI/LLM bots.  First I object to them stealing the work of creatives, then whining about how they can't make a profit without stealing copywrite materials, then using up gobs of energy and water, further polluting the world?  Nope.  Never.  I will never knowingly use AI.  Now if the industry would stop trying to shove that down our throats...

Anyway, Canada Post is currently on rotating strikes, and I'm sorely tempted to order more yarn while I can get it.  But I can't decide on colours, so I went ahead and beamed a dyed 2/16 warp.  I've got the warp threaded and hope to sley and tie on today.  But I get the Covid and flu vax today, so I'm going to take it 'easy' over the weekend.  We'll see how I feel next week when I talk to the pain doc.  But I'm trying to use up yet more of my 'stash' and I'm intrigued how this warp will weave up.  Because once again I'm pushing boundaries.  I mean, why not?

Weaving With Intention

 

"Why did you call your book The Intentional Weaver; how to weave better?"

Well, that's a bit of a story.

I had transitioned from teaching beginning classes to workshops for beyond beginners.  And it became clear as I taught various groups that there were some...holes...in the foundations of some weavers.  Not just wet finishing, but other 'basic' holes in their knowledge.

I began offering to show people how I weave - and of course discussed posture and position at the loom, how to hold and manipulate the shuttle.  Frequently there were common 'myths' I hoped to examine.  As I began teaching the Olds classes (eventually being asked to specifically teach level 1) I took that as an opportunity to start to fill in those holes.  I thought, when better than in level one of a master weaver course?

Fairly soon, a student requested the title of the book where he could get the information from the first demonstration I presented.  And I realized that, while there were a lot of 'beginning' books on weaving, the demonstration I had just presented - filling nearly 2 hours - there were none that contained all of the information, all in one book.

I realized with horror that...I was going to need to write another book.

It took the best part of 4 years from the thought that I should do that book myself, to the time I was able to announce it was ready.  During that time I continued to weave and do the craft fair circuit, had another health issue to contend with, begin planning the renovations to the house we had been wanting to do, write articles for Handwoven, travel all over the place to teach workshops and the once a year class at Olds.  Etcetera.

And deal with my mother who was having a string of health issues, and then died on Dec. 31, 2016.  I was under pressure to wrap up her estate and disperse her belongings, moving out of her apartment - and then take up the pressures of the workshops I was booked to do.  Oh yeah - and co-chair a conference.

I was no stranger to working 80 hours a week.  I actually enjoyed getting away from here because I only 'worked' a 'usual' amount of time.  I actually had time to *not* work - in exchange for tight travel schedules, never sure if the hostess could adequately feed me with my allergy free 'diet', not be subjected to allergens - like a classroom filled with perfumes, pollen, pets.  And since I usually brought my laptop when I travelled, I could pull it out on the plane or a lengthy travel delay and add more to the ms.  Then I would get home and jump into my weaving schedule and back to the 60+ hour weeks as I scrambled to prep the next teaching dates, making sure I had yarns for the topics, wind the warps or prep the yarn, generate the handouts, mail everything to arrive in time for the participants to have their looms set up before we all arrived in the class.

This is a long way to say...writing tends to get squeezed into the spaces 'between' the rest of life.  No surprise that there were times when the ms sat while I dealt with critical deadlines, and why it took so long to complete.

In the end I found myself dealing with health issues *again* and driving to the cancer clinic, I started to cry.  I had reached the end of my limit.  

I contacted someone I knew who was a professional editor and asked if she had time in her schedule and could she give me an estimate?  I gave her the word count so she would know the scope of the job.

While I sat in the cancer clinic, I received an answer.  Yes.  She would fit me in.

I had already settled on the title - The Intentional Weaver.  It was while we worked on the ms, correcting the grammar, polishing it, getting the information into a good sequence, etc., that the sub-title came to me.   Because people needed to know what I was trying to do.  The focus I was holding for what I was trying to accomplish.

As we were doing the editing, a publisher found out I was writing a book and asked if they could have more information.  I provided it, breath bated - did I *want* to have a publisher sit in judgement of what I wanted - felt I *needed* to do?  Or not?  When they said the ms wasn't really what they were looking for...I breathed a sigh of relief.  

Now it was just me - and my editor - to satisfy.  I knew that marketing it would also be on my shoulders, but I'd done that job for Magic.  I knew how to do that.

I knew that I would not sell very many copies.  But I also knew that the micro niche of a very niche subject would have fewer people interested in my book.

Now here we are in 2025.  The US is..doing weird stuff and what with the tariffs and all, the benefit of having a printer in the US means that the US market (10 times bigger than Canada) means that US buyers will not be facing a tariff on my book.  For others, the digital version is also available.  And, given that Canada Post is in shut down due to labour 'negotiations', you can get 3 of my books at the Blurb site

My memoir A  Thread Runs Through It is available in my ko-fi shop, digital only.  And no tariffs on digital downloads.  Yet.

I read a post by another teacher this morning.  She is mainly doing online classes, and now she has to collect and submit state taxes from anyone in her online classes from a particular state.  It is adding huge 'extra' work to collect, document, submit those taxes, for no benefit to her.  So a person can't even present things the way it was possible just a few months ago entailing extra time and energy.  

I am so grateful I am 'retired'.  My needs are modest.  Why would they be anything else?  I was a 'starving artist' pretty much all of my adult life.  I got used to doing without.  Giving up wants to make sure the needs could be met.  I am grateful I am Canadian because all of my health issues have been dealt with.  And I continue to get health care.  And none of my rather specific and expensive requirements in terms of my health have been denied.  To the contrary, I have received cutting edge treatments.  And I am not bankrupt...

So while I'm not particularly happy with my aging, breaking down body, I can manage.  For a while longer, at least.

I have also not entirely given up hope that things might improve.  I talk to the pain doctor next week.  And I hope he will have a plan about how we move forward.

In the meantime, I hope to finish the current warp next week, and then decide what to do 'next'.  I'm running low on yarn that I had been trying to use up so I've been looking in my stash thinking, thinking, thinking.  And I have a plan, if I can figure out if my silk stash has enough to make a warp or two.

And I have been staring at my library, picking up a book here and there, deciding if I want that one to go to a particular person.  If I do, I stick a note in the book with the name and contact info for the person I would like to have it.

This is my life.  And I choose to live it with intention.  For as long as I can.  

Try, Try, Try Again

 

samples prepped to be cut apart

One of the best ways to learn is to weave samples.  

I know, I know.  Folk want to cut to the good part - making perfect textiles.

Heh.

At times people will express frustration.  Things go wrong.  Things don't turn out.  Their best laid plans don't end up 'perfect'.

I love new weavers that exclaim that they can hardly wait until they don't mistakes.

I bite my lip and try not to say anything, but the truth is - if you keep pushing the boundaries of what you know?  You'll make 'mistakes'.

Or you feel unwell, your concentration is shot and oops.  You make threading and/or sleying errors.

Or don't look closely enough at your stash and you mix some 2/8 yarn into your 2/16 warp.

(looking at you, loom, right now)

So, yes, I *still* make mistakes.  Even more since I haven't been feeling well.  But I'm also experienced enough to figure out a work around.  So that warp that was supposed to be all 2/16 cotton and is half 2/8?  It's not 'perfect' but it's close enough and they will still dry dishes.

Still reading that ms and still learning lots.   Some things are confirmation of my own observations and it is affirming to see that my ah-ha moments seem to be a universal effect.  Sometimes that confirmation is just a lovely gift.  

I'm reading the ms, in part because the author has reached the stage when they have lost all perspective on what they have written.  I learned early to find that perspective from another set of (experienced) eyes.  In my case, it was asking Tom Beaudet to look at my thesis.  And he was kind enough to agree, and then give me his perspective.  And even to comment, positively, on one of the examples/metaphors I used to illustrate the phenomenon.

So when this student asked me for my opinion, I was happy to agree.  

I'm still struggling with a body that isn't very happy with me.  I have one more week until I talk to the pain doc and find out what is next.  Reading the ms in between weaving (as much as I can) has been just the tonic I needed.

Thank you to the person (I can't call them a 'student' anymore, colleague seems more appropriate!) for giving me this opportunity.  

As usual, my books are available at blurb and one on my ko-fi shop.

Making Plans

 

If there is one thing that has finally lodged in my brain, it is that...I need to be aware of my 'stuff' and deal with it.

I have helped distribute the weaving studios (and more) of 3 or 4 other weavers, over the years.  And it is difficult to think about, but I need to make plans for when my weaving days are finally over.

As far as yarn goes, I can say that I have made serious inroads on my yarn accumulation.  Yes, there is more that needs to go away, somehow or another.  But by and large, I have woven up a good part of my yarn.  I'm actually quite proud of that, given how much yarn I had when I officially 'retired' Dec. 31, 2019.

That's not to say I don't have any yarn - far from it.  But most of it is very fine and I'm not really feeling like weaving at 60 epi anymore.  So, I have given some of my yarn to others, but mostly, I have woven every day that I can since January 1, 2020.  Since the brain injury 13 months ago, which just added to my other health issues, there have been way too many days when I just could not.  But neither was I feeling well enough to even *think* about dealing with my stuff.

Since the infusion a few weeks ago, I have been having some good enough days that I have felt as though I really, truly, needed to deal with my stuff.

And, since I am focusing on the review reading I am doing for a couple other weavers, books have been on my mind.

I gave a box of samples to one person, and now I'm looking at my books, in part to explore some of the issues being raised in the current ms, and the realization dawned that that textile science book I was looking at?  Probably needed to go to the author of the ms.  Then I started thinking of other things in my studio - books mostly - but also maybe some samples? - and it occurred to me that there might be a few people who would appreciate some of my collection of books.  And I might ask the new local weaving teacher if she might be interested in some of my samples to use in her teaching...

Discussed that with Doug this morning, and told him what I was thinking of doing.  Mentioned that some of my books I'm not willing to give away just yet, so I was going to add a note to the ones I'm offering to others with the recipients name and contact info.  Then if I have another health issue that I don't survive, he and the friend who has assured me they will help Doug, will know who the books are intended for.  And because I'm not getting rid of them - yet - I won't feel like I'm giving up yet more of my life, just providing a welcome home when it comes time.

There are only just so many things I can cut out of my life before I just...can't.

It's how I've lived my life.  Make plans.  Then try to get to the goal.  In the meantime, I have a warp in the loom that wants weaving.  Time to go do that.

It Depends (honestly!)

 

Me, here, again reminding people that the only correct 'short' answer when it comes to weaving is...it depends.

If you are a long time reader of this blog, I'm quite sure I've posted this before (and will, no doubt, post it again). * 

So, here we have two yarns, both rated to 3360 yards per pound.  Both cotton.

Are they same?  Do they *look* the same?  Yes, they are both the same number of yards per pound, both two ply, but just *look* at them.  Are they the same quality?  (Not that one is better than the other, they exist for reasons, all of them 'sound'.)

It's true that they sort of look the same.  I had to change the colour photo to black and white to really expose the yarns for the ways they are 'different'.  Not only do they look different, they behave differently.  But some weavers will swear on Bibles that they are the same.   Then they say don't use them for warp because it's weak.  And they turn their noses up and say it's 'bad' yarn.  (The yarn in the photo on the top is Brassard's 2/8 cotton - and it's just fine used as warp as well as weft.  They they are not the same!)

As I've mentioned previously, I have been asked to 'review' a thesis.  Since it is not really even a book, just a manuscript that may - or may not - turn into...something...I am not going to reveal anything other than share this quote that I read this morning:

"Understanding these inherent color and luster variations across different qiviut suppliers holds significant practical implications for weavers and other textile artisans. The non-interchangeability of qiviut from disparate sources means that a specific supplier's product cannot be readily substituted mid-project without introducing noticeable discontinuities in the finished textile. This underscores the necessity of precise material selection and adequate procurement for projects requiring consistent coloration."

 

Yes, yes, yes!  Different processes, regarding fibre prep and spinning, will result in different qualities of yarn, which will result in different qualities of cloth.  

I had to contact the author immediately and ask permission to share this, which she gave.  If she decides to publish her thesis (in some form), I have offered to let people know when it is ready. 

Weavers need to understand the qualities of yarn, how they are achieved, what they are appropriate for, and weave some samples so they know what to expect when they go to weave with them.  With a fibre as expensive as qiviut, this is especially true.

Watch for more information upcoming in WEFT as I examine and compare different qualities of cotton yarn.  I don't remember which issues the information will be coming in, but soon(ish).

In the meantime I would like to encourage people who are doing deep dives into the craft to think about publishing - either articles or books.  With AI pumping out word salad/garbage, we need to take care to conserve the solid information for future/new weavers.

*As usual my books are at blurb

Elder

 

The photo is of a page from The National Geographic from an issue around the theme of wool.  It is a great comparison of the different fibres - and gives a really excellent look at what a single fibre of the main different types of natural fibres look like.

Why is this important?  Well, the more you know about the individual fibres, and their natural characteristics, the better choices you can make when you start designing your own textiles.

Getting a designed project and working from someone else's notes (including my own) means that you get the knowledge of the project designer.  Sometimes this will include the design process - but rarely.  The 'successful' results are what people who work from someone else's project notes are after.  

But here's the thing.  You may not have the same loom.  You may not have the same skills in terms of beating consistently.  You may not get the same brand of yarn, which may behave differently from what the project designer used.

And so on.

So how do you know what to do?

You sample.  You examine your results.  You record your results.  You keep records of your results so that you can look back when you want to do something similar.

And you keep learning.  Reading books.  Articles.  Pick the brains of 'elders' of the weaving community.  Ask them to tell you the story behind the completion of a project.  What went wrong?  How did they adapt?  

It has been a long hard 13 months since my brain bleed, and along with everything else I'm dealing with, trying to decide how much longer I *can* weave (I will not stop *wanting* to) I have had to adjust, re-arrange my expectations, and generally examine my life.  Again.

Wayne Dyer used to talk about the 'stages' of life and the final one was to mentor others.

I honestly didn't know what I could do, given I cannot teach in person anymore.  But I found myself shaking the pom-poms of encouragement whenever I could.  And late this summer I wound up being asked to 'review' read two manuscripts by two different people.  

Since I was going through a rather trying spell, physically, I said yes.  If I couldn't weave, maybe I could use my brain.  And nearing the 12 month post injury anniversary, I felt that I could manage to do that.  Slowly, perhaps, but I could do it.

I am halfway through the first ms and...I am feeling honoured and privileged to be part of the process.  When I can I will share when the books are ready.  

In a time of masses of mis- and dis-information, I am firmly of the opinion that weavers, more than ever, need good information, solid information, subtle information, to base their decisions as they work through the design process.

I have had to acknowledge that I am not immortal (kinda relieved, really) and I won't always be here.  But in the meantime, I can share good information with the weaving community.  I can hold the stories in my memory banks.  I can share them with newer/younger weavers.  And I can continue to shake the pom-poms of encouragement to explore.  Learn.  Grow the craft by sharing knowledge.

Decisions

 

I am getting more and more vexed at the way Google et al are trying to make me do things 'their' way.  I downloaded DuckDuckGo and have been using it as much as possible to access the internet.  But Google is now wanting me to *only* use their internet browser in order to do the things I want to do.  This morning I was once again being told that in order to create this post for my own blog, and use one of my own photos, Google insisted that before I could access *my own photos on my own desktop* I had to sign in to Google.

No.  

So far I have managed a work around but that may eventually be squashed and I won't be able to do that simple thing.  

I have tried to turn AI off from snooping around on my computers and cannot in most cases, without going through contortions I don't feel capable of negotiating.  So I try to ignore AI prompts, overviews, summaries.  What irritates me the most is Google AI offering to summarize a 3 line email.  Or offer to write my response to someone.

My irritation levels go up and the Anglo-Saxon words come forth.

With the continuing uncertainty and threats that continue to come out of the White House, I am even more determined to cut the US out of my life as much as possible.  To that end I started thinking about my books on blurb.  Now, in one regard, my books being printed in the US means that no US customer needs to worry about tariffs.  OTOH, if *I* want to purchase my own books - I will potentially be facing tariffs as my country tries to entice the US to drop some of their tariffs by enacting tariffs on stuff bought in the US.  Sigh.  It's really hard for businesses to know what to do when the 'executive orders' or even just the 'tweets' on social media change day to day, hour by hour.

As always, the 'little' business gets hurt far more than big ones.  For example, my ko-fi shop has had very few orders since the shenanigans began, in part because I have removed US customers from ordering anything (other than the pdf of my book/memoir there).  Because I am a fair minded person, I cannot in all consciousness try to get US customers to buy from me when I am making a very clear - and firm - decision to NOT purchase from US makers.  We have not even bought from Amazon - unless there is literally no other way to get what we need.  And then only after we have exhausted local businesses options.

There are a few small businesses that I make an exception for - ie magazines that cannot be purchased anywhere else.   I talked to another small business owner and they felt the same - they are making a concentrated effort to buy product from other than the US.  So this alt right bleating about the boycott waning?  I see little evidence of that.  Not that my purchases amount to more than a grain of sand - but if every citizen of Canada continues to do the same...get enough sand into the gears and the gears break down?

Now, every person has to make the decisions that make sense to them, given their life, budget, needs, etc.  

But I am here to say, my determination holds.  I will not knowingly use AI, even to mock it.  I will not buy one thing out of the US unless we have exhausted all other options.  The option to do without is also a possibility.

I was a 'starving' artist for all my life, in one way or another.  I'm used to doing without.  Making do.  My wants are few and my needs are being met.  I can stand on my principles.

In the meantime, if you want The Intentional Weaver, I think Sweet Georgia Yarns still has copies.  No tariff on them as they were purchased before all of this (waves hands) kicked off.  I sent book plates so they are signed.  The only way you can get a signed copy now, unless you are coming through and make a stop to visit.  :)

Hand Baskets

 

Scrolling through some of my old photos, I came across this one that was taken by a professional photographer as part of an effort to produce marketing tools when we were primarily weaving place mats, table runners, etc., and selling them to craft/gift shops.

We would attend the Southex Gift Show, held twice a year in Edmonton, stand on the concrete floor for about 8 hours a day for days, looking pleasant and approachable, while the shop buyers for the stores across western Canada would try to cram every moment of their day into finding great new products for their shops.

There were no sales to be made, only orders written.  This was very much a *professional* presentation, in our case. maker to shop, no retail sales.   So we didn't have any actual money when we went home - just the promise of money, if we managed to meet our delivery estimate.

We worked hard during those days.  Like *really* hard.  We had to look professional, act professional.  We had to know our product and our production schedule.  And we had to trust that the shop(s) would pay for the order.  

Mostly they did, but there were a few that...did not.  We were not shy about reminding the shops that they had agreed to a payment schedule.  One shop insisted their company policy was to pay 90 days after they had received the goods.  They were reminded that the contract they signed specified 30 days after receipt, and that *that* condition had been verbally explained at the time they signed the contract.

The owner sputtered and protested, but they were reminded we held a signed contract that agreed to payment in 30 days of delivery, and that interest *would* be charged.  The owner threatened to never buy from us again.  We told them we expected payment immediately or interest would be added to their amount owning.

There are all kinds of people out there in the world.  Mostly we found people were 'honest', but we did not hesitate to use our legal rights to collect overdue amounts we were owed.  We were too tiny to be able to 'finance' our buyers.  There were times when we had to be clear about their legal responsibilities and that we knew how to go to Small Claims Court.  

We had to learn how to be 'professional' within industry standards - and recognize when we were being 'played'.  And to point out that we saw what was happening and we expected to be treated fairly, within our rights.

It's called creating boundaries.  It's called being decent human beings - neither cheating our customers, nor being 'used' by them.

The Paradox of Intolerance is that the more you tolerate intolerance, the more others will try to take advantage of you.  You are allowed to declare that a boundary exists and that you will not allow someone else to try to take advantage of you.  We were always polite - but insistent.

The world appears to be on the road to hell with too many people wishing actual harm on others.  I do not know how to get the world off of this rather rocky, bumpy road.  But I will do everything in my power to not give people who wish others harm to collect more power to do harm.

I will continue to speak out against the alt right and their plans to shove the majority down while raising the few up.  

And I am ever so grateful that I no longer try to work every hour of the day - and sometimes night - but can take it 'easy'.  I wound up needing to take some time 'off' this week after a procedure that will - I hope - bring me more 'comfort'.  I had hoped to have the current warp off the loom by today, but instead I have not touched the loom since Monday.  And massage therapist strictly instructed me to take several more days 'off'.

So, I'm working on tagging/pricing the new inventory which I hope to deliver to the guild at the end of October for the fall sales.  I will try to do a final read through of the next WEFT article and email that.  And then next month I should get the book manuscript to 'review'.

It seems I'm not 'done' trying to teach - yet.

Books available in pdf or print formats at the Blurb website

Or if you are interested in what life was like as a production weaver, book in pdf format available here