The Zipper Club

Is one club I never wanted to join.  But it looks like I will be.  Looks like at least a double bypass surgery will be required.  

I am still reeling from the day. Emotional roller coaster about sums it up.  Wait time - because I'm not critical nor have I had a heart attack - will be significant.  This is not going to happen any time soon.  

This diagnosis has ramificacations well into the future.  Plans are going to have to be scrutinized and in many instances scheduled dates outright cancelled.  Trips out of the country especially are going to have to be suspended until after the recovery which is also significant.  

The doctor wants me on beta blockers which means weaving will be difficult, which means overall physical fitness will deteriorate during the wait.  I will probably have to cancel shows, which means no income.  

I am trying very hard right now to find the silver lining.  

Olds Fibre Week

Here we all are at the end of the week.  Tired, yes.  Happy?  Hope so.  I know I am.

We covered three main weave structures in Level 2 - Twills, Overshot and Double Weave/Wide.  In addition to this we looked at cotton fibre characteristics, touched on Profile Drafting (as one way to explain the similarity or connectedness of twill and overshot), some wet finishing (because, you know, I'm me) and the class did their Oral Presentations on Friday morning.  There were a few other things in the booklet as well.

We also talked a bit about ergonomics and efficiency (again because I'm me and I do have these soapboxes).

The Olds program is geared towards helping people understand the basic principles of weaving.  It doesn't just cover the weave structures but tries to bring all those other things that go into making good cloth as well.  It is an approach that resonates with me at a deep personal level - it is essentially my own approach to the creation of cloth.

The certificate requires the student to attend 4 levels with a final Independent Study.  A student could complete it in 5 years or they can repeat years.  Sometimes Life Happens (ask me how I know) and a student can't get to all of the homework.  And it is a significant amount of homework - I think someone estimated about 100 hours.

The students attend the class in person for instruction and feedback during Fibre Week and then go home with the course booklet outlining the homework required.  Homework needs to be submitted in time for marking before registration opens for the following year, so about 9 months in which to do the 100 hours.

It was very heartwarming this year to see the growth of students in the Beginning Weaving class, and the good number of students doing Level 1.  I'm hoping that they all pass and move on to Level 2.  It looks good that Level 3 will proceed next year - 6 students in my class, plus there are several people who took Level 2 last year.

There is a group on Ravelry for Olds Fibre Week and the Fibre Week website is here

And I hate photos of myself because they always remind me how much I need to lose some weight.  Maybe once next week is over I can get serious about tackling that...

Currently reading Faithful Place by Tana French

Hump Day

We are now officially half way through the week.   There have been some ah-ha moments, which is what we are aiming for.  

When I am teaching, my goal for my students is that they go home knowing more than they did when they arrived.   Whatever that means for them.

Olds College - and many dedicated volunteers - is/are working very hard to make a program that gives a consistent and well rounded body of knowledge to the students.  The certificate program consists of four levels and covers the basic weave structures plus additional information that I feel is necessary for an understanding of how to create good cloth I.e. Cloth suitable for its purpose.

Weaving can be approached in many different ways.  The practitioner can follow published patterns, or design their own.  How one chooses to follow the craft is a purely personal decision.  For me, designing my own is a big part of how I feed my creative urge.  But not everyone feels that impulse.  They may not have the time, or they may not feel confident about being able to do it on their own.

In the end, weaving is weaving.  By teaching I hope to bring a greater understanding of the craft to the student.  I don't pretend to know it all, but I usually know what references to go to in order to find out what I need to know.

The craft, the technology, of weaving is so vast that after nearly 40 years of weaving I still learn more stuff.  That aspect - of being a perpetual student - is part of the attraction.  Learning is fun.  Learning is challenging.  Sharing the knowledge is the cream on the top. 

Olds Fibre Week

We took it easy getting here, leaving Friday, stopping over at Hinton, AB, then continuing the rest of the way to Olds on Saturday.  We arrived early enough that we were able to erect the booth structure and begin setting out yarn before the hall closed just after 6 pm.   This morning we were back by 9 am or so to finish setting up.  Doug has some tweaking to do with the wooden things from Don George but basically everything is under control.

It has been a struggle to dial back my participation and bear in mind that slow and steady is the approach for this week.  

I tell people I am healthy, but I'm not, really.  I have several chronic health issues and one of them seems to have exploded to the point of requiring immediate treatment.  I'm hoping the least invasive will be all that is required but until they do the test, I won't know for sure.  Yes, it could be serious but I'm under care and I just have to get through this week.

So, although I'm not what you might call healthy, I am quite physically fit, more so than many people my age (and less than others - I'm not trying to claim more than I am).   Bottom line is, though, that because I have a reasonable level of fitness I am confident that if the more invasive procedure is required, that I will come through just fine.  

Cancelling my involvement in Complex Weavers is a disappointment, but there will always be another conference.  

Plans Change

Once again I have had to learn the lesson of not growing too attached to my plans because sometimes the universe, god, what have you, has other plans for me.

While I am happy about that, it means I will not be attending Complex Weavers Seminar after all.  It is a huge disappointment to not go and be able to visit with other weavers, many of them known primarily via the Internet.  I was looking forward to face to face interactions and to not just see but actually be able to feel the textiles.  But once again I had to cancel.

But such is life.  High points, low points, sometimes both at once!

Currently reading The Rest of the Darkness by Susan Hill

Mad Scramble

Life keeps tossing small grenades at us.  Nothing critical, at least not yet, and I'm keeping positive thoughts that they will have been more flash than bang.

But of course I have also been up to my old tricks trying to squeeze one more thing into my schedule here, one more there, generally at the cost of stuff that needs to be done before I leave Saturday in the early morning.  Or at least as early as I can pry myself out of bed.

Saturday will be the summer solstice, therefore the longest day.  The good news is that there won't be any driving in the dark, either to Alberta, or hopefully, to Tacoma the following weekend.  Now if the weather co-operates and stays dry I will be a happy camper.

Since I've never taught at Olds before I have no idea what they have for equipment so today I have been adding yet more stuff to the pile.  Doug has already filled the passenger footwell and seat of the van and since I will be driving the truck, will have stuff crammed into every nook and cranny of the rather small Ford Ranger - my chariot for the trip.  Yes we are taking both vehicles because Doug will come home while I carry on south.

Yesterday the shop that I've been working with for quite a long time trying to find a product they like and think they can sell posted photos to Facebook of their new deck chair and wala - one of my towels was in the basket beside the chair.  The designer will send me a glamour shot of the towel soon so I can share.  This product has been a long time in the making and I'm very happy she is happy.

Today I threaded the tea towel warp on the AVL, finished the teal mats, beamed and threaded beige mats on the Leclerc.  I was hoping to test drive the warp on the AVL because the plan is to use up some of Lynn's linen as weft but I think I've run out of time.  Tomorrow morning will be taken up completely with personal stuff and I still have to finish packing my clothing and other miscellaneous stuff that I need for both destinations.

If I get anything in the studio done at all it will be a bonus.  There is still the beige mat to sley and tie up, the teal mats to cut and serge, never mind any weaving.

But at the end of this trip I will visit with a couple of friends for a while so I'm looking forward to that, being able to kick back and enjoy them in person instead of at a distance.  When I come home it will nearly be time for the Big Reveal on the Big Project from May.  Plus I will have to hit the looms hard in order to continue building up inventory for the coming fall sales.

I am hoping that the mad scramble will be over for a while, though.

Squeak!

I just managed to squeak the last towel out of this warp.  Fifty yards = 20 spa towels, which is pretty much what I'd calculated.  The reason there is so little warp left is because I used up about 48" weaving a colour gamp for the designer's approval.  Now I know that my math was pretty much spot on, which is reassuring, given how often I make mistakes!

Still have to inspect and repair the towels and get them wet finished, but that will probably wait until I'm back from my trip.  Doug will be pressing 12 towels today which fills the order so I'm feeling pretty good about completing this warp in spite of my continuing back issues.  :(

Next I'm going to beam a 'quick' tea towel warp, this time beaming from the top of the tube instead of the side.  I think I tried that before and it didn't work terribly well because the yarn fell off the bottom of the tube and wrapped around the spindle, but I'm not sure and if it works it should give me a better tensioned warp.  This one had mild issues with unequal tension on individual ends causing them to not open a clear shed, therefore causing weft 'bubbles' which I'm having to labouriously pull through the textile to the selvedge and then sew in.  Not efficient!

I'm thinking that if I do the tubes I might look for something I can put on them which will prevent the yarn from sluffing down and wrapping round the spindle.  Since I just tossed out all the plastic netting I used to use for that purpose, guess I'll be heading to the dollar store to get bath scrubbies.  Proving once again that you should never throw something out because as soon as you do, you need it!

Currently reading Skin Game by Jim Butcher