Letting Go of Perfection

scarf 33

scarf 34

When I sampled for this production run of scarves I used several different wefts and weave structures, then chose the combination that I felt was the most successful.  The most 'perfect' if you will.

Unfortunately the Bambu 12 doesn't come in the variety of dark value colours that I would like to use so this morning on scarf #33 I decided to change wefts.

It was a choice between making a good first impression by using the 'right' colour weft to bring the warp colours out to their full potential and having a hand that was less than 'perfect' or using colours that I felt enhanced the warp colours but would not feel quite as nice.

Since you only have one chance at making a good first impression, I let go of perfection - because I wasn't going to get it anyway - and went with 'good'.

The top scarf - the first on this warp (#9) was woven with a solid medium range purple in 2/10 size Tencel.  The second one is being woven with a variegated yarn, also 2/10 Tencel.  I wasn't sure if the colour variations would show up on my monitor but they actually show quite well.  This was yarn I had custom dyed a few years ago and of which I just have dribs and drabs left - enough to do 2 or 3 scarves of each colour, perhaps a few more if some of the unconed skeins turn out to be good matches for the warps.

Normally my preference is to have the variegation in the warp, but these yarns were specially dyed to be very close in both hue and value and I like the slight shimmer of this first one.  So I will probably look for other warps on which I can use up some of this 'semi-solid' coloured yarn.

Stash busting.  Gotta love it.

Currently reading The Bat by Jo Nesbo

Controlled Panic

scarf 31

Working on a large project it is all too easy to let the nay-sayers living in your head to send you into a frenzy of procrastination.  Will it turn out?  Will people like it?  Will people actually pony up real money and buy it?

If you let yourself listen to those voices you can get mired down in thinking about all the things that will go wrong and wind up not doing that which you most want to do.  I find an approaching deadline does wonders to shut those voices up.  The panic from watching the deadline creep (or race) up on me is generally what provides the energy to break through the fear of failure.

With so many approaching deadlines, all of them critical each in their own way, I am having to really control the voices and the panic.  Too much of either can cause the wheels to fall off the cart, so to speak.  A little panic to provide energy is good.  Too much panic and I start feeling overwhelmed.  And get really cranky on top of it.

Because I do want to do everything on my schedule.  I know I will enjoy all of it once the deadline has been met and the event - or project - is behind me.  I will have accomplished a major goal (goals) and that will make me feel good.

But as a friend says, better to have done it than to say you are going to do it.  The anticipation is one thing.  The feeling of accomplish from having done it?  Priceless.

Currently reading Emergence by Temple Grandin

Anne Field

some of the scarves woven since arriving home...not wet finished

This morning the news that Anne Field passed away hit the internet.  As I finished scarf #28 this morning I thought about the weavers that I have known, some all too briefly, that have passed on leaving the weaving community 'less' than it was before.

The weavers who, through their example, showed the way to create cloth and, through their teaching (personally and/or through their written work) made all of us better weavers.

Our best tribute to those who have gone before is to continue to learn as much as possible about how to make good cloth.  Take their work further.  Spread the knowledge wider.  Acknowledge the legacy they have left behind.

I rather flippantly said on a chat group that if there were no looms in heaven I wasn't going.  Allen Fannin responded "I'll see you in the other place, Fry!"

Where ever those weavers have gone to congregate, I will go.  And sit at their feet.  And learn.

To Light A Candle

One of my personality quirks, if you will, is that when I see a problem I try to figure out how to fix it.  It is probably part of why I am the weaver I am today.  Because we all know weaving is filled with problems!  It is one of the reasons that the creation of cloth captivated me and continues to hold my interest today.

But I also apply this quirk to the world at large.  When I see a problem (sometimes it has to be pointed out to me, I admit) I will mull things over and see what I, personally, can do to rectify at least part of the problem.  Sometimes people appreciate my efforts.  Others - well, they continue to see the injustice and carry on railing at the dark.  Which is their right.  Sometimes that is the only way 'world' problems get solved after all.

Sometimes people take offense at my solution to a problem, for whatever reason.  When they do they can be quite vituperative.  I have had two emails that were so amazingly venomous I could barely read through them and dumped those toxic vials of venom out of my inbox as quickly as I could hit the delete key.  In both of those cases, I had asked for remuneration for my efforts and each person took umbrage at my selfish greedy request.

Which brings me back to my post about needing teachers.

In the weaving world, especially when I entered it in the mid-70's, there was a prevailing attitude of 'let's all be jolly here together and share everything we know.'  People took great offense when I starting asking to be paid to teach.  However, I knew that some people were being paid - why shouldn't I?  Was my time, knowledge, expertise not worth something?  I had, after all, paid good money to learn what I knew - tuition for classes, books, conferences (registration and travel).

My stated goal for myself was to be a professional weaver.  Part of being 'professional' is that you do get paid for your time and knowledge.

On the other hand, some people had very kindly helped me without request for payment and I also felt that I needed to 'pay it forward' at some level.  And so I started my website in the late 1990's when the internet was still primarily educational.  I joined chat groups and attempted to answer agonized cries for help.

It is a balancing act - how much do I give away before I start asking for payment?  How much ought people expect for nothing before they should start paying?

Questions for which I have no answers.  I can only go based on what I feel comfortable about doing.

And whenever and where ever I can, light a candle rather than curse the dark.

Be Not Afraid

painted warp being beamed

warp is twisted and tangled

after de-tangling

done - about 70 minutes from start to finish

I am not exactly sure when I started working, let's say about 9:40.  Between then and 10:55 (you might just be able to see the clock if you biggify the photo) I rough sleyed, beamed, threaded, sleyed and lashed on.

Some people have commented about my 'scary' painted warps.  The truth is that I have instructed the dyer to not de-tangle the warps.  I have every confidence in my ability to straighten the warps, probably faster than the dyer can.  And quite frankly, I would rather pay the dyer to be dyeing, not de-tangling my warps for me.

A few statistics - these warps are 10.5 meters long, 200 ends.  It is inevitable that the warps will get disturbed during the dyeing process.  How could they not?  But I do not find that in the least off-putting for several reasons.

I have wound the warps myself so I know they have been wound with consistent tension.  I have chosen the yarns so I know that they will withstand the aggressive method I use to get them straightened out.  I have every confidence in my process and ability to apply it successfully.

New weavers often get the fear of god put into them about dressing the loom.  You must do this, you must never do that.  Ultimately so long as you get the warp onto the loom with consistent tension you'll be fine.

Learn one method very well.  Put several short narrow warps on and weave them off quickly so that you can cement your chosen process into muscle memory.  Once you are confident you know what you are doing, start to analyse your results.  Are you happy?  Are you 'comfortable'?  (IOW, how much pain do you experience at any point during the process.)  If you are having too much back or neck pain, what can you change to make the process more comfortable?

Human beings are unendingly creative.  We've had to be.  Think about what you are doing.  Does it make sense?  Can it be done differently so that you are more comfortable (experiencing less pain)?  Can a different process be a better fit for you?  Or just tweaking the one you are already using?  Maybe you need different equipment?

Above all, don't be intimidated by the equipment or afraid of the process.  It's just string after all.

"Who Needs Teachers...

...when we have each other."

I am quite sure this comment on a chat group was not meant to denigrate 'real' teachers but was instead a heartfelt expression of gratitude that the members of that group were willing to answer newbie questions and share their experience.

But as a 'real' teacher, one who relies on a part of my income from teaching, it left me feeling...redundant, at the very least.  That my decades of research into, learning about, experimenting in and attempting to pass that knowledge on to others via published articles, workshops and seminars was in some way invalid.  That in the age of the internet, all that was needed was a few chat groups and a willingness to pass on freely one's experiences, as shallow or deep as they may be.

It was especially discouraging as I am about to embark on the effort, requiring dozens of hours, of turning two of my presentations into media formats (two different formats, two different learning curves).  It will take literally hours of my time, time when I could be at the loom weaving all of the lovely painted warps like this one.

Instead I will be devoting much of my coming days to writing outlines, trying to find visual aids that I can include (or generating them myself), weaving examples, collecting the equipment required, travelling 600 miles (and back again) in the one instance, all to try and share what I have learned in the 35+ years I have been studying this multi-layered craft as a profession.

But I'm not needed because "we have each other".

And then I found this review:  It was a lovely validation and reminded me why I spend the time to prepare teaching topics, battling air travel and jet lag.  Thank you Suzi for inviting me to Atlanta, and Isabel for your review.

I will be adding Rochester, NY to my schedule in the next few days - they have asked me to give presentations prior to the EGLFC conference this October.

A Change of Pace

Got the fourth scarf warp into the loom and wove the first scarf this morning.  Changed to blue/green, partly for a change of pace, partly because I may need to order more weft yarns in so thought I'd better work on some different colours.

I tend to work in 'batches' because using hand dyed cellulose yarns means that there will be a certain amount of fugitive dye.  Therefore having a washing machine load of the same or similar colours means I don't have to worry too much about dye transfer.  Not that I let the cloth soak - rinse, rinse, rinse - make sure the dyes don't have time to settle anywhere else!

Having the scarf warps to work on while jet lagged was actually A Good Thing.  No thinking required, just follow my notes and do.  (There is no 'try', only 'do'.)

But now that I'm nearly back to my 'normal' routine, it is time to start looking at the stack of administrivia that has been building.

My calendar for next year is virtually empty.  This is good - and bad.  Bad because I don't know where my income will be coming from, so to speak.  When I have a full schedule of teaching events, I am assured of a certain amount of cash flow coming in.  OTOH, historically when I have had a great gaping blank in my schedule it usually means that the universe (or whatever you call the intelligence behind this reality) has something up it's sleeve.  So I'm not panicking about that blank slate.  More just curious about what is coming down the pipeline.

To that end I have been working on several projects which may - just may - be part of what will begin to fill up my calendar next year.  There is a good chance that rather than teaching in person, I may take on more of a role on the internet.  Stay tuned!

In the meantime, there is a great deal of preparation for these things to be done.  With a schedule cram packed with more than half of this year left to go?  I am going to have to stay on top of things so that I don't start missing some critical deadlines....