KISS

 

warping valet - notice the lease sticks position - high up near the ceiling.  Pull the lease sticks through the warp, not the warp through the lease sticks; sticky warp can be assisted by turning the leading lease stick to create a 'shed' to open the threads up and prevent them from sticking to each other; wind 2 ends at a time and the yarn will be better behaved, etc.

Weaving is complex.  There are layers and layers of 'it depends' considerations that make the craft a constant source of puzzlement.  Complexity that asks 'what if' over and over again.  Because change one thing, and everything can change.

The process of weaving consists, in large part, the act of designing, then physically making the warp and getting it mounted into the loom.  Again, a long list of precise actions that need - for the most part - to be done in a particular order.  Not just that, but paying attention to things like centering the warp, controlling the warp (I think about controlling the warp as an entity, not individual threads), then accurately entering it into the heddles and reed with the last preparatory step tying on and then, and only then, can you 'prove' the set up (check for errors) and weave your sample (if you haven't done that already).

There being many slip betwixt cup and lip, there may be issues that need to be addressed.

I've been asked to do The Weaver's Toolbox for a guild in January.  In that presentation I talk about the different between the mechanics of the 3 'common' handlooms, and discuss other tools/processes that weavers may find useful.

There are many many 'hacks' that people have come up with, but generally I find that if I look to the 'traditional' hacks, there is useful information and methods to 'fix' what I need to get fixed.  Yes, you can do all sorts of different things, but I find some of them are labour intensive and do not help me in terms of processing the information I need to complete the task of dressing the loom.

That said - everyone processes information in their own way - everyone has to work out what works best for them.  But I hope that they try the 'traditional' way and see if they work.

I hear criticism from new weavers about using a temple.  Too slow, they say.  I scratch the breast beam, they complain.  I don't want to advance the fell that often.

But here's the thing.  Using a temple can be absolutely necessary.  If it isn't, I don't use it.  But when the time comes that I see it must be used, I drag one out (I have several, of various lengths) and set my mind to the face that working slower will bring me the results I desire more quickly that *not* using the temple.  

But!  It must be used effectively!

The length of the temple needs to bring the fell width to the same width of the warp in the reed.  The temple needs to hold the warp under tension and that means the warp width in the reed, not the warp width once draw-in has happened.  And draw-in will happen quickly, so the temple needs to be advanced every inch or 2.5 cm.  You do *not* need to stop and advance the fell.  But you do need to advance the temple.  The teeth of the temple should never ever come anywhere close to the breast beam.

Why might I use the temple?

When I'm weaving about 30" or wider using a fine yarn.  The selvedges draw in and the selvedge ends get very unco-operative.  The shed does not open cleanly and there are shuttle mishaps leading to skips and floats.

When I'm weaving a denser cloth and want the weft to pack in more tightly.

I do not use a temple to 'fix' my selvedge - it there to make the cloth to the quality I need it to be.  Selvedges - in my loom - tend to take care of themselves.

As for a warping valet, people say they don't have room.  I have had almost zero room to use one and it is *why* I use one.  I can beam a warp in under 10 minutes, all by myself, with no issues with things going badly.  Some people complain because they don't want to 'waste' time rough sleying the reed.  I wind up with better quality of cloth by taking a few minutes to do that task.

Again, going slower to get the actual results you want is not a 'waste of time'.  

I don't use floating selvedges, but I know how to use them in case I ever hit a situation or cloth where one is required.  So that knowledge is absolutely in my toolbox.

I beam with tension - hopefully the same degree of tension as what I will apply during weaving and I use firm warp packing.  Yes, it takes up more space on the beam, but I rarely beam more than 13 meters on the small floor loom and the wooden blinds will allow for that.  Honestly, how many hand weavers routinely beam more than 10 meters, anyway?

So while there are all sorts of 'hacks' being shared in weaving groups on line and elsewhere, I ask myself if using them will save me grief or take more time than doing it the way I've been doing it for decades?  If I can make the case of changing what I need to do, then I will change what I do.  Been there, done that - from how I thread, to figuring out how to use the warping valet, to changing how I sley, all have been changed when I saw the benefit to changing.

My method of dressing the small loom using a warping board to wind the warp etc., has been refined over decades.  

When a new weaver is confronted with an issue or problem, I suggest that they think the process through.  And keep in mind the time honoured acronym KISS - Keep It Simple, Silly.

Weaving should not be a headache.  Most problems can be solved.  And usually each weaver needs to find the 'best' solution for themselves.

Because it depends!  And sometimes it is faster to go slower to get the results you want.  

**check the 'warping valet' tag to get all the posts I've tagged with that label for details on the warping valet...

Oopsie!

 

This warp is fairly complex and I wasn't feeling 'well' while I set up the loom and in spite of my being so very careful, I realized that I had made a threading error.  

Sigh.

The mistake wasn't all that obvious until I changed wefts and the contrast became enough that I was able to spot the issue, so when I finished the towel I was working on, I wove a much longer 'waste' area at the end of the one towel.  I had 'marked' the threading error with a coloured thread at the beginning so that it would be easier to find the errant threads to cut them, pull them out of the web, then re-thread them properly.

The sequence was supposed to be shaft 2-7, when I had done 7-2.  It didn't look horribly wrong, but once seen cannot be unseen, so I fixed it the most 'efficient' and least irritating way I could think of.

Once the 6 ends were corrected, I sleyed the reed, then pinned them to the web, adjusted the dobby chain to begin at the beginning again, and carried on with the next towel.

Yes, I 'wasted' a bit of warp, but by doing so, I 'saved' a lot more of my time - time which is precious to me.

Once they come off the loom I will use the large green weft area as a 'cut' line (normally all I do is 2 picks), and then when I serge them, I will remove the green weft part and toss it away.

We can choose what we 'waste'.  By 'wasting' a bit of 'free' (from a friend's weaving stash) I saved myself at least 15 or 20 minutes, and did not have to cut/re-tie the entire warp.  

It doesn't always turn out this way, but today it did, and I'm grateful.

Edited to add a close up photo of the web because someone wondered where the 'missing' threads went.  

The original warp threads are still there.  I cut them out in the green weft area, then, once they there threaded *properly* and sleyed, they were pinned to the web.  The 'hole' is only in the 'waste' area of green weft.

Cutting Losses

beam with one section 'short' of yarn

through the washer/dryer, ready to be pressed, then hemmed and pressed again

I beam warps onto the Megado sectionally and sometimes, things go 'wrong'.  So it was with this warp.  One end was giving me grief and the section 4 in from the selvedge wound up needing me to stop beaming, deal with a broken end several times.  Eventually I replaced the errant tube of yarn after which things progressed perfectly well.

But apparently at some point I lost count of the turns of the beam and so it was that I discovered that it was shy several wraps of warp. 

By this point I had woven 16 towels on the 20 (approx.) yard warp. 

When I posted a photo to Facebook yesterday several friends commiserated with me about the loss of the yarn.  One suggested cutting the warp narrower to make something other than tea towels.

But the design is such that it could not easily be cut narrower and it would have taken hours to re-thread.  For two more towels? 

Nope.

There might be $2 worth of yarn left on the beam.  Certainly less than $5.  I am not going to spend hours and hours of my time trying to salvage that dollar value.  Not when I give my thrums to a friend to use in her hand spun yarns.  The yarn won't be wasted, just given over to a different use.

But each of us has to make such a decision for themselves.  If I was new to the craft, if I didn't have a gigantic yarn stash, if I hadn't already woven 16 towels?  My decision might have been different.

Over the past few days I have made other decisions about cutting things out of my life.  This stay-at-home opportunity has brought many things into sharp focus.  Things that get shoved to the side because Life is demanding our attention on this and that and the other thing and sometimes the really important questions get shoved out of sight.

Marie Kondo had a lot of grief thrown at her for her down sizing suggestions.   However, I find the basic principle sound - does it bring you joy?  Keep it.  If not, get rid of it.

I am slowly looking around and seeing things that do not bring me joy.  And without guilt, I am letting them go.

Survive y'all!  

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. 

Ergonomics

shuttle held 'overhand' sometimes referred to as The Claw

shuttle held from below or under hand

There are several 'hot' topics in the weaving world.  They come round, regular as clockwork.  People give their opinions.  No minds are changed.

So I offer this simply as information.  Do with it as you will.

When I started weaving, I recognized that some positions and postures were more ergonomic than others.  Over the years I have consulted with physiotherapists, massage therapists, people who have degrees in body mechanics.  All confirm - the thumbs down position is 'bad' for the body.

Maybe not today.  Maybe not tomorrow or next week.  Maybe not even in a year or 10.  But it puts additional stress on shoulder, neck, pectoral muscles, to repeatedly make a motion with the thumb in the downward position.

Now, it all depends on when or even IF someone might develop physical issues.  Your genetics for one.  Previous injuries for another.  A person also has to take into consideration their own physical limitations, whatever they might be.

But the principle remains.  Thumbs down is generally not recommended.  

The two photos above kind of illustrate the point.  Thumbs down, the lower arm is rotated, the elbow raised and away from the body, shoulder raised.

The thumbs or palm up position, the shoulder is in more neutral  position, the elbow closer to the body, the lower arm is not rotated.

Which way someone holds their shuttle is a matter of personal preference.  All I can do is state the principle and let people choose which method they will use.

On The Other Hand...again just a month ago I had a weaver approach me in my booth in Calgary to thank me for my videos and all the preaching I do here about using 'good' processes.  Seems she had been plagued with chronic severe neck/shoulder pain for two years, trekking from doctor to doctor, taking copious pain killers, unable to weave.  She finally got to a specialist who frowned and said the only time he had seen such injury was in people who (and made the motion of throwing a shuttle).

She told me she said, 'you mean like throwing a shuttle?'  "Yes!" 

"I'm a weaver."

After that the doctor was able to zoom in on the muscles that were injured, recommend exercises, and she bought my DVD, which she said fit right in with her treatment.  After several months she was once again able to weave.

Other people have contacted me to let me know that once they adopted the palm/thumb up way of holding the shuttle, their selvedges improved and their weaving rhythm became more efficient.  It was not what they had expected, but they felt that was a positive outcome.

So for anyone contemplating how they hold/throw the shuttle, think about the effect the thumbs down position has on your body.

We only get one.  Let's take care of it.

(And if you choose to continue with thumbs down?  Take frequent rest breaks, massage your lower arms, shoulder and neck.  Apply heat/ice as required.)

While I'm on my soapbox...sit high enough - hips higher than knees.  Sit up on your sitz bones, not rotated onto your coccyx.  Engage your abdominal muscles to protect your lower back.  Sit up straight, not hunched over.  Sit perched on the edge of your bench so that you don't cut off the circulation to your legs.  Bend from the hips.  Again, as your ability to do so allows.  Not everyone has good range of motion for whatever reason.

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.

Light and Shadow

no supplemental light at the front of the loom

supplemental light at the front of the loom

Winter is here and we have been plagued with a series of really grey dreary days with heavy overcast.

One of the things that becomes necessary during these kinds of days - or if you have to weave after dark, after work, after the children are in bed - whatever - is some supplemental light.

The big consideration in choosing light is to make sure the light is actually illuminating your work area so that you aren't working in shadow - either yours - or that of the loom.

I don't attach supplemental lights to the loom because over the years I have broken light fixtures and bulbs due to the vibration of the loom while I'm weaving.  Now, not everyone weaves as much as I do, or as quickly as I do, so attaching lights to their loom might not be a big deal.  For me, it was.  So my lights are to the side of the loom and adjustable.  As I move from threading to sleying to weaving, where I need the light changes.

When I'm threading, I need the light trained onto the heddles.  An overhead light means I would be working in the shadow of the loom castle and the tops of the shafts.

Then I'm sleying, the area needing to be lit has moved out of the heddles and now needs to be on the reed which is inside the beater.  (Some people do this job with the reed laid flat, so their light placement would be different than mine.)

When I'm weaving, the area needing to be lit changes slightly again.  My lamps can be adjusted for all of these positions, simply by swinging them where they need to be.

As I get older and grow my 'baby' cataracts, supplemental light will become increasingly important.  My lamps will serve me well so that I can see what I'm doing.  

When choosing lamp placement, keep in mind what it is you need to see and make sure the light shines on that.

Folk School

morning mist at the folk school

This was the first time I'd been at the the John C. Campbell Folk School in September and it was quite different from the previous times in Jan/Feb/March.

The mornings dawned with mist and heavy dew on the grass, but it was in the 90's(F) during the day and very humid.

The studio is air conditioned and at times, walking out of the studio into the thick air outside was a bit of a shock for this northerner, but the walk between the studio and the dining hall was a welcome break from the thick concentration in the studio.

My cough and voice improved over the week and we decided that I had not actually caught a cold but with all the 'adventure' of the stressful flight, spending hours upon hours in airplanes and airports, then the off-gassing of the new windows and caulking where I was staying, I had been having a massive allergic reaction.  I may have a touch of bronchitis, but will wait a few days and see if it all settles down.  The cough is much improved and I'm hoping that now I'm home it will go away entirely.

Speaking of which, the fire situation is also much improved here and with cooler temps and some rain, the provincial State of Emergency has been lifted.

The class The Efficient Weaver is not a particular topic as such but an opportunity for students to come and hopefully fill in the holes in their foundation of knowledge.  I have been teaching this class in one form or another for the folk school since 2011, I think.

What I present is much of what I teach in level one of the Olds Master Weaving level one.  So if people are interested in upping their game but don't want to take the Olds program, they could come to this class, which is less stressful, partly because I'm not teaching to a curriculum and there is no homework.  Now, I don't cover ALL of the Olds curriculum, partly because there is no curriculum and there is no homework!

What I hope is that students will come in at whatever level of knowledge they have and maybe learn something new to increase their knowledge.  But most of all what I hope is that they begin to think through their process.  The 'think-y' part of weaving as some say.

While it isn't necessary for people to do this, if they are interested in understanding the why of the process, figuring out what is best for *them*, I hope this class will begin to shine a little light and that they can then go home and continue the exploration,.

What I love, and why I keep tackling these long/stressful journeys, is to see the ah-ha moments and the light that shines when people 'get' what I'm trying to tell them.

One student had never studied with an actual teacher, but had only had access to books, DVDs and You Tube.  Her warp was tensioned so tightly you could bounce a quarter off it and I suggested she loosen her tension - by quite a lot.  She was doubtful and hesitated, so I told her to do it gradually, just one notch less each time she advanced the warp, until it was too loose, then start tightening it again until she found a level of tension that worked.

She was very doubtful, but by the end of the week her cloth no longer was so stuff it could stand in a corner, her selvedges had improved and her beat become even more consistent.

Sometimes you just need to have a little feedback and encouragement to try something a little bit different.

So when I left, I had left a signed contract for next year - Sept. 8-14.  Because helping people understand the process and how they can apply it to their own practice is what makes my heart sing.

And in the future I will pay less attention to buying the absolutely cheapest flight and try to find flights with longer layovers for connections.  And avoid O'Hare if I possibly can!

It's Just String

Allen Fannin used to remind people that what weavers do is make someone else's 'raw' materials.  As weavers we are just another stepping stone in the production chain of getting raw fibre into something useful.

If you are hand weaving, you are automatically making 'slow' cloth.  The biggest investment in hand woven cloth is the labour that goes into getting it from the animal's back, or the plant, processed into yarn, then from yarn into cloth, then from cloth into...whatever it is meant to be.

I remind myself of this by saying "it's just string".  Especially when I - who am not yet and never will be, perfect - have another oopsie.  Like I did yesterday.

The clock is ticking down on getting the book projects done, so yesterday I decided that my first priority was to deal with the next one.  One of my favourite weave structures - Bronson Lace - was ready to go.  I'd wound the warp on Friday and beamed it - all that was left was to thread the (narrow/short) warp, sley, tie on and start weaving.  Piece of cake.  Right?

Wrong.

The yarn I'm using is a new-to-me 2/10 unmercerized cotton from Ashford.  I'm using a borrowed loom which has a square rod to tie onto.  The yarn, which is slipperier than Brassard's unmercerized cotton didn't want to hold its knots on the square bar.  Decided to cut off and lash on.

I was very tired from not having slept much the night before and - without checking the warp beam to see where the warp packing was - because on my Leclerc the warp packing pretty much unloads without my having to check on it - the borrowed loom has a different configuration and the warp packing tends to pile up for a while before coming far enough over the warp beam to drop by itself - anyhoo - I grabbed the scissors and snip-snip-snip and the warp slithered out of the reed and heddles to dangle from the warp beam.  Sans cross.

At that point I took a break, had a snack, then removed the $5 worth of warp from the loom and tossed it into the recycle bin.

I could have 'saved' it.  But the aggravation level of dealing with a warp that no longer had a cross outweighed the cost of the yarn.  There is plenty more - the warp weighed about 80 grams.  There was lots left on the cones.  Another warp was wound and rough sleyed.

I came to weaving with an awareness that life is uncertain, that time - whatever time we may have - is precious and not to be 'wasted'.  I'm also not a patient person.  Even though I am very efficient when it comes to weaving, there are still things that I'd rather not do.  And spending an hour to salvage $5 worth of yarn is not one of them.  Even though it will take an hour to wind a new warp and get it beamed, I'd rather spend my hour starting anew than fussing with saving a warp that just isn't - in my life/studio - worth it.

At long time ago I came to the conclusion that I can always make more money to buy more 'string'.  Once the coin of my time has been spent?  There is no getting more, by hook or by crook.

But each of us has to decide - do I spend my time doing this?  Or that?

Mindful Practice

What does that mean, 'mindful practice'?

Practice without being aware of what you are doing, what you need to get better results, is just practicing 'bad' habits.  It does very little good to cement poor technique firmly into the memory.

A friend once said that I got more weaving done on a 'bad' day than she did on a 'good' day. 

Part of the reason for that is the simple fact that I have spent decades - literally - mindfully practicing what I do, changing things as I realize that I could do them 'better' and taking the time on the slippery part of the learning curve to make better processes work for me.

For the past few weeks I have been struggling with adverse drug effects that are sucking the energy right out of me.  Getting to the studio is difficult but I force myself to do as much as I possibly can.  Because I have a lot that I want to do and time marches relentlessly on.

Today I did a little time study.

I wove a 72" table runner (22 ppi x 72" = 1584 plus 122 picks for hems = 1706 picks) in about 55 minutes.  That included stopping to wind three more bobbins.

1700 divided by 55 minutes = about 30 picks per minute.  That also included stopping to change bobbins and advancing the warp.  So, my weaving rhythm is actually higher than that.

So far today I have woven 7 feet in the morning (same ppi) plus the 6 feet I just did.  After laying down for half an hour, I am about to head for the loom again and see how much I can get done before it's time to make dinner.

For people who say they will never be as fast I as am, I ask...why not?  What I do is not a secret.  Why I do it as quickly as I do is because I've practiced.  So can anyone else.

For those people who say they don't want to be as fast as I am, I say...there is no reason you need to.

Do what makes you happy.  That is all there is to it.

My Way!

The warp currently on the loom is for gamps.  Colour and value gamps.  As such, the wefts are 20 of the 'rainbow' spectrum, plus 10 shades/tints/neutrals.  A total of 30 different wefts, some of them very very close in hue and value. 

I'm not weaving just one gamp, which I could just go ahead and set the colours out, weave them off and never think about them again.  No, I'm weaving three gamps.  One in plain weave, one in 2:2 twill and one in 1:3 twill.

Not to mention there will be a gap of about four weeks between doing the first (plain weave) and the other two.  I had to come up with a way to keep track of the colours in their order.  At first I just laid them out in their order in the plastic tub, but there are multiple packages of each colour and at times it was very difficult to tell the packages laying next to each other apart.

So I grabbed a box of little baggies, numbered them from 1-20 (for the spectrum - I'll deal with the last 10 later) and carefully laid them out in their order in the bin.  Then I started winding the bobbins/quills (quills because I don't currently have 30 bobbins available!) and have laid them out in their order.  At first I started by carrying five at a time over to the loom but I was still having too much trouble distinguishing the colours, so now I weave one colour (5" or so) get up from the loom, walk over to the work table, put the used quill/bobbin into the appropriate baggie and take the next back to the loom.

It isn't the most efficient, in that I'm doing a lot of walking, but it is being very efficient in terms of keeping track of which ones I've done. 

And Fitbit is loving the 'extra' steps!  Win-win!

Musings

My life has been a roller coaster for more years than I care to think about.  Being a self-employed weaver in the 20th and 21st centuries is...challenging.  Then, for the past 10 years, add in serious, potentially life ending health issues (my allergies and whiplash injuries are not exactly life ending, just annoying), well, there has been plenty for me to muse on lately.

See, being self-employed means a whole lot of things.  Working to deadline.  Bringing in and paying for materials long before you ever see the income from using them up from making fabric to sell.  Accepting commissions and sometimes not delivering what the client wants.  Or making a terminal error because you are rushing, don't stop to think, mess up.

Like I did, recently.  (Yeah, still not perfect.)

My new medication is helping to keep me alive, but at a cost.  Fortunately the adverse effects aren't horrible, just annoying (see comment about allergies/whiplash above).  But one of the things it does is make me feel tired.

I don't have the fatigue brain fog any more - just this low grade feeling of never being able to get enough sleep to feel refreshed.

As some people with chronic illness say - my supply of daily spoons is limited - and I run out long before I'm used to.

I am going to exit my 7th decade in just over two years (I should have said 'exit', not 'enter' in a recent post).  When I chose to weave I thought I would production weave and sell my textiles for the first 25 years, which would take me to 50, then teach for the next 25 years, which would take me to 75.  Well, I'm damn close to that second number now. 

I am thinking I am well beyond 50 and yet, here I am, still weaving for production, schlepping boxes of textiles to craft fairs.  People I know have been retired for over 10 years.  And here I am, still working to deadline, juggling dates, commitments, scrambling to get things done.

As my energy drains out of me at the end of the day (like now) 'retirement' - at least from the production aspect of weaving - seems more and more attractive.  But I have this stash.

So now, I'm thinking that if I concentrate and work with intent on getting my stash woven down, that 2020 seems like a good year to end doing out of town shows.  This year I'm only doing one out of town, the other two are local.  So I will probably carry on doing the local ones - if only to sell down my inventory and reduce that aspect of my stash, too.

It is beginning to feel as though it is time to start winding up the selling textiles part of my career.  I do still enjoy the teaching, but now I am focusing more and more on the Olds program. 

Today I finished the run of silk scarves I wove for the fall sales.  I have some silk set aside for a project for The Intentional Weaver.  I may get that into the loom next.  Technically I only need about 7 projects to illustrate the weave structures I'm including, but knowing me I will want to do variations to show how to manipulate the weave structure to create different designs.  There are also several people who have offered to design and weave projects for me.  Realistically I probably will do, oh, 12?  Myself? 

Given how fast I am, that isn't even a whole lot of work.

I have made arrangements for my editor to come in July to deal with the photographs so I'm going to try really hard to get those 12 things woven over the next 3.5 months, in between marking homework and teaching classes.

Which doesn't leave a whole lot of time for production.  So I may be a wee bit thin on the inventory part of the craft fair shows.  But I am going to try to use my spoons wisely and balance my energy so that I can get everything I want done accomplished.

Because I can never seem to dream small dreams...

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.

Busy

A not uncommon sight in my studio - bins piled up with warps, spools, general...messiness.  While it may look messy to someone else, there is a certain level of organization in the mess.  Because I never work on just one project, one warp at a time.  My approach to getting everything I do, done, is to have several items that progress, in their turn, depending on a number of factors.

I have always been really good at working to deadlines.  I can 'see' my schedule, I have a pretty good idea of what needs to be done next in order to progress efficiently.  There are times when I work in batches, collecting things to the point of, say, wet finishing, then doing a big batch of wet finishing.  Like I did yesterday.

Doug said he could go pressing today, so yesterday I ran four dozen mats with matching runners, plus the 14 towels I wove last summer, through the washer and dryer.  This makes more economical sense than running only a dozen mats through the washer - that's a waste of time, energy and water/electricity.  Much more economical/efficient to do two dozen mats at a time.

I tend to go on a warp winding binge.  I get into a rhythm, filling boxes or bins with warps to be done later.  As I design more colour ways for a particular design, I push myself further out of my comfort zone in terms of the colours I use together.  I work from my stash, adding another level of challenge - what can I do with what I have?

Then I tend to weave them off as quickly as I can.

I've gotten good at scheduling.  I know how long it takes me to do a task so I have a good idea of what I can accomplish (when I'm not sick) in a given time.  Sometimes the available time is just 15 minutes.  What can I accomplish in 15 minutes?  I can wind bobbins.  Pull colours for another warp.  Clean up.  Make up a yarn order.  I don't ever say "oh I only have 15 minutes - not enough time to do anything productive".  Those 15 minutes here and there can add up.  I can even weave a place mat and a half in 15 minutes.  I can wind a mat warp in 20.  How do I know?  Because I pay attention to such things.

I don't watch the clock to see when I can stop working.  I watch the clock to see how much time I have and what I can fit into that time period.

A friend has told me that I get more done when I'm having a bad day than she gets done when she is having a good day.  But she does different things than what I do.  It's never a good idea to compare yourself to someone else because you never know what is really going on beneath the surface.

What I do say is that if you like my results, you might like to take a look at my processes.  Because what I do and how I do it is no secret.

I also do a lot of my thinking when I am in the studio, working when only surface attention is required.  People frequently tell me that they can't make more than one of anything because they get bored.  I never get bored when I'm weaving and I almost always make multiples.  I get into the zone and weaving becomes a kind of working meditation for me.

My problem is that as I age and find my body wearing out I still think I'm 35 with all the energy and enthusiasm of that 35 year old.  Well, I still have the enthusiasm, which is part of the problem.  I'm slowing down, my energy isn't the same as it was 30 mumble years ago.

But I hope that as I enter my 7th decade in a couple of years that I can at the very least retain my enthusiasm without becoming frustrated at my reduced energy levels...

Organized

This draft has a repeat of 20 ends made up of four groups of five.  To keep track, I tie each group of five into a slip knot, then when all four groups are threaded I tie them all into a bundle.  That way I know all four groups have been threaded and I can start the next repeat.  

Some people use different methods to keep track.  Every person has to figure out what works best for them because we process information differently.  What works for one may not work for another. 

Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down

One of the routine discussions that goes round the weaving world is that of how to hold the shuttle.

Now, everyone has to work within their abilities and disabilities, but here's the scoop on whether or not thumbs up or thumbs down is good for you:

"What is this “ideal shoulder position,” I speak of? Lucky for you, the ideal position of external rotation can be demonstrated by standing (or sitting) up straight, imagining that there’s a pencil between your shoulder blades (scapulae), and you’re pinching your scaps together to keep the pencil from falling. Lift your arms directly in front of you, make a fist and lock your elbows. Rotate your thumbs so they’re pointing towards the ceiling; you are now externally rotated at the shoulder (pictured below, ignore the arrow for now). This is an ideal position. Alternately, flip your thumbs towards each other then down towards the ground; you’re now internally rotated at the shoulder. This is bad."

(edited to add the link to the above quote)

I have been weaving, production weaving, in other words many hours nearly every day, for 40+ years.

I have two whiplash injuries, so my neck is compromised as well as my back and shoulders.  And yet, and yet, I can still weave for 3 (or more) 45 minute sessions every day, holding my shuttle as shown in the photo above.

Over the years I have consulted with various professionals - chiropractor, massage therapist, physical therapist, dance instructor who holds a degree in movement.  All, every one of them, says the thumbs down position is 'bad' for the body.  Maybe not today.  Maybe not tomorrow.  Maybe not ever!

But for those people who are already compromised in their neck, shoulders, back, I strongly urge them to try holding the shuttle in the manner pictured above.  It helps with wider warps insofar and you can more easily propel the shuttle across a wide warp.  It helps with shoulder issues (especially if you have a tendency to rotator cuff problems) and I feel a smoother rhythm can be achieved much more quickly.

I have certainly had positive feedback in workshops from students who make the effort to change. (If you are one of those who experienced an improvement by changing, please comment below?)

In the end, however, if you are happy with what you are doing, no need to change anything.  But I do suggest that if you hold the shuttle thumb down that you take frequent breaks.  And if you only ever weave for 15-20 minutes at a time, the thumbs down position may never cause any grief.

Each to their own!

Soaring

Here I am at the loom having just caught the shuttle.  Notice I have 'caught' it between my index and middle finger and am using my thumb to brake the bobbin and apply a slight amount of tension to the weft to ensure that it seats well around the outside end, creating a secure and consistent selvedge.

Before the industrial revolution there were so many people involved in the production of textiles everyone pretty much knew what went into getting the fibre from the crop onto one's back.  But now the vast majority of textiles are produced in factories, far away from the eye of those people who rely on textiles.  In other words - pretty much all of us, one way or another.

As hand weavers we keep the craft of textiles alive.  As such I hold no secrets.  I am quite happy to share what I know.  If I get paid for it (such as by teaching workshops or publishing my hints/tips), even better.  Because I am in this as a profession, not as a hobby.

Weaving has never been a hobby for me.  Spinning, knitting, bobbin lace - all hobbies.  But not weaving.

I tell people that while I don't take myself very seriously, I take my craft very seriously indeed.  And over the years I've learned - quite a lot, actually.

I have taken workshops from as many people as I could, bought numerous books, reading many of them cover to cover.  And I've tried things.  Many things.  Failed too many times to count.  If you consider learning a failure.  Because sometimes the most valuable lesson of all is that you won't do that again!

As I was weaving this morning - after too many weeks away from the loom - I hit my stride - my zone.  And I thought about how, even when only surface attention is required, I am constantly monitoring what is happening.  Paying subliminal attention to the loom, to the shuttle, to the weft.  That even though it may look as though I am mindless, I am anything but.  Rather, I am actually pretty engaged in what is going on.  And when something happens that isn't consistent - the weft 'catches' in the shuttle, for example, I can immediately adjust and 'fix' that.

I rarely teach beginning weaving classes any more.  I'd much rather students get their introduction to weaving elsewhere and then come to me once they have learned some of the vocabulary, some of the concepts, some of the principles.  And then I can refine what they are doing.  Tweak their skills.  Advise on their equipment choices, their ergonomics.

At this point in my career, I find this enormously satisfying.  To see new-ish weavers take wing and soar.

And all the while I think about all the giants who allowed me to stand on their shoulders.  And I give my thanks to them for helping make me the weaver I am today.

Here is a link to the video clips I have loaded to You Tube.  And of course you can still get The Efficient Weaver from shops that carry Interweave Press products, or from their website

Options

After talking at length with someone this morning about efficiency (more on that in the future) I went to the loom, finishing one colour (below - very subtle) and starting the next.  The weft for the new stretch of cloth is 100% natural green, which will develop into a deep sort of sage green after wet finishing.  Knowing that the higher contrast between the warp and weft would be much stronger visually, I quickly changed the treadling/tie up to something much bolder, more graphic in appearance.

And as I did that bit of work, I thought about how the computer assisted dobby doesn't do anything that can't be done on a 'standard' floor loom.  It just allows me to do it a whole bunch faster.

I still have to know what I want and how to get it.  I have to understand the weave structure I am working with and how changing the tie up and treadling sequence is going to change the effect of the interlacements/design.

But instead of crawling around under the loom, physically untying and tying string/cord, a few keystrokes achieves the same thing.  And instead of an hour or more, I was back weaving in less than 20 minutes - probably closer to 15.

When I decided to buy the AVL in 1981 there were very few 16 shaft looms around, never mind a dobby.  But my goal, right from the beginning, has been to earn an income from textiles, one way or another.  With that goal in mind I wanted to work efficiently.  One of the first 'production' pieces of equipment I purchased was an electric bobbin winder.  The reason?  It was taking me longer to hand wind a bobbin than it was to weave it off.  I knew I'd starve at that rate, so since I was attending Convergence in 1978 at Fort Collins, CO, I saved up my money and bought an electric bobbin winder.

I still have that winder.  Well, to certain values of same!  The motor has been replaced along with the foot pedal.  I use it for winding bobbins, the AVL pirns for the fly shuttle when I need to use those (I also have an industrial pirn winder with industrial fly shuttle and pirns which I much prefer to use but can't always, depending on the yarn) and sometimes spools for sectional beaming.

Thing is, there are options.  We can each approach the craft at whatever level we want.  Some prefer a slower, more meditative practice (although for me weaving has always been a working meditation - I just do it a wee bit faster than most).  Some prefer to follow directions.  Some like to experiment, some to take a more research oriented, experimental approach.  Some like to make a lot of things because we like to eat.  So to speak.

All of these approaches are completely and totally valid for that person.  We each get to choose.  There are options and we get to decide our path, our processes.

It's one of the things I really love about the practice of making textiles, be that on an inkle loom, tapestry, 'standard' floor loom or other textile practices like bobbin lace (really just another kind of weaving), knitting, crocheting, felting.  Etc.

Most fibre craftspeople do more than one craft.  That was one of the reasons we chose Confluences for the theme of our conference here in '19.  We are looking forward to the confluence of many different textile practitioners and how they combine different fibre crafts.  Yay for options!

Satisfying

It has been about exactly 2.5 years since the by-pass surgery, so a little over 3.5 years since I started to notice that things were starting to deteriorate.  I was warned that recovery from such surgery could be 2-3 years before getting back to 'normal' - whatever that might be, given I'm also that much older now and lost so much fitness during the lead up to, then the recuperation from, the surgery.

I have been trying my best to regain as much of what I 'lost' as possible, which was a bit of a struggle given the renovations which disrupted not just the outside, but the inside, including my studio.  Which still isn't quite back to 'normal' with a few more small jobs needing doing.  But those are inside so Doug has been concentrating on getting the outside as finished as any house ever gets.

The AVL sat, neglected, while I dealt with regaining my fitness, dealing with travel to teach, dealing with mom and the aftermath of that, then more teaching, also trying to write a book (currently on hold).  But since coming home from ANWG in Victoria, I have managed to complete the conference cloth (aka the Neverending Warp) and put this warp for table runners onto the loom.

The conference warp was woven as tea towel 'blanks', each one taking about 30 minutes to weave.  I tried to do three a day to build up my weaving chops on the AVL - which takes more effort, physically.

This warp however is continuous while I use up the Fox Fiber naturally coloured cotton, so I am doing 45 minutes, finishing on a repeat.  

Weaving on the AVL for 45 minutes at a time is aerobic for me.  Recently I did a rough and ready calculation, and I seem to be weaving about 36 picks per minute including bobbin changing, tail clipping, drink sipping (hydrate!), etc.  So my weaving rhythm on this loom with this yarn appears to be in the 40-44 picks per minute range.  

And yes, I work up a sweat doing it.  The beater is heavy and pushing that thing back and forth on average about 40 times per minute?  It's aerobic.  I may not be jogging or on the elliptical or treadmill, but if your heart rate increases and you break a sweat?  That qualifies for aerobic.

Most of all, it feels incredibly satisfying to see the cloth roll onto the storage roller, the yarn getting used up, and feeling like I'm pretty much as good as I'm going to get, given my age and overall health.

Satisfying.