Out With the Old

 

To end this...unprecedented...year, are weather events breaking records around the world.

There is a cartoon showing a group of people with a very long stick, looking carefully around a corner at the door marked 2022, and very gently poking the door open.   The unstated being that obviously what awaits us on the other side might well be more of the same.

Unfortunately, I suspect that is exactly what awaits us.  More extremes.  Of every kind.  As human beings we are going to have to stop thinking that things will get better on their own and begin working towards solutions to what is happening in and on our world.  Our one world.  Because there is no Planet B.

I saw someone comment on Twitter this morning that he could only do what he could do, and so he was going to keep on doing what he could.

It is a philosophy that I have lived with all my life.  I can't change the big things, but I can change the small things.  Maybe.  I won't know until and unless I try.

And so I set out on a new journey.  Well, I started last summer, but these Big Projects take time to come to fruition.  But now I am looking forward to the launch of my on line class The Intentional Weaver with SOS.  

One of the reasons I agreed to work with Felicia and her crew was the ability to interact with the people viewing the classes.  It's not in person, but it's as close as extreme climate and covid will allow right now.  

On line classes are not the same as in person.  We rely on the camera capturing the precise view that the student needs.  And sometimes it doesn't.  But I will be there to answer questions and perhaps explain, through words and static photos so that the student will gain understanding.

If you already have a copy of the book, it can be used as the 'textbook' because there is far more material in the book than the on line class.  We focused on specific skills for the class.  But, and here is why I'm kind of excited about SOS, they have asked me to do more classes.  And so I can look at other aspects of weaving and share them, too.

I am very grateful to the SOS team for the hard word they are doing to make the classes meet the needs of their students and the weaving community.  I am looking forward to continuing to teach via their platform and have begun crunching data and formats trying to work out the best way to do this on line.

If the student cannot come to the teacher, the teacher can come to the student - via the internet.

No, it's not perfect.  But it's something.  And if it helps one person learn more, then I'm happy to have been part of it.

The class will soft launch on Jan. 12.  If anyone is interested they can sign up for a three or 12 months membership using the link.

Encouragement

 

When I was a kid, I wanted to be a writer.  I tried prose.  Poetry.  I was pretty bad at both.

But!  It seemed I did have a way with words, just not the way I expected.

Decades later, readers have read my words here, and elsewhere, to the point where I'm feeling encouraged I should maybe keep writing?  

Number 4 AND 5 on Handwoven's top 10 list of articles read in 2021.  Seems like encouragement to me.

Well, I hope you understood that the above was written tongue-in-cheek (sort of) because writing is something I do for myself as well as for others.  I very much doubt I'll stop writing any time soon.  I have zero plans to produce another book (in spite of that moth eaten manuscript I call a 'memoir' - do I really want to reveal that much about myself?  Maybe not.)

However, I expect this blog to continue until I run out of things to say, even if my message is pretty much consistent.  Sometimes you have to say the same thing in a different way before someone else begins to understand what you are conveying.

And sometimes I peel another layer off the onion of understanding.  Sometimes a problem crops up and I work out a way to fix it - or at least work my way under, over or around it.

But it was a nice ego stroke this morning after a not-so-great night and too little sleep.

However, the sun is currently shining.  The snow has stopped.  The temps have warmed up (some) and the loom is ready and waiting for me.

I just wanted to say thank you to those who have followed me here since 2008, bought my books, contacted me to say what I do helps, incorporated some of the techniques I use and have shown in DVDs and soon-to-come online class(es).

It's a lovely way to wrap up a year that hasn't been great while heading into a new year that looks to be equally challenging, if not more so.

Stay safe.  Stay well.  Stay weaving and learning.

Efficiency/Ergonomics

preparing to thread - Harrisville hook held with the hook facing downwards

 

The current warp is twice as wide in the reed as the scarves were so I'm back to dealing with 768 ends.  The biggest effort is getting the loom set up - from beaming the warp (winding it if using a warp chain) to threading, sleying and tying on is a massive investment in getting woven cloth achieved.

As such I have spent much of my life tweaking what I do, grabbing on to new techniques/tools as I learn about them.  Then I give myself 7 warps to see if they fit well with me, my equipment and space.

The Megado is a different loom than the AVL and I'm still working out a few issues with it.  But It's coming along.  Since the Megado is to be my 'retirement' loom, I have to figure it out and resolve a few issues with it.

I spent much of this morning trying to work out the best way to resolve one issue and I keep coming back to the one thing I don't actually want to do, but may have to, in the end.  

It's minor, though, and I still have another approach I can try, and will once this warp is off the loom.

Part of the challenge with the Megado is the lack of space to work in the 'guts' of the machine.  It's extremely well engineered and the parameters are tight.  This makes the loom 'small', as in small footprint, which is great if you don't have a lot of room.  But it also makes it challenging to get into the shafts and work with them, such as adding more heddles should they be required.  Which is part of my problem right now - I really ought to increase the number of heddles on several of the shafts.  Instead I've been adjusting my threading drafts so that shafts that need more heddles wind up on the shafts that have more heddles!  Or I tie in 'repair' heddles.  Not an ideal situation, but easier than fighting to add more TexSolv heddles.

So I've been waiting until I feel up to roping in some help and spending the time needed to do the job.  However, it won't solve the last minor irritant and until I resolve that, I'm leaving the heddle situation for now.

There are many facets to the issue of efficiency/ergonomics.  Putting more heddles onto the shafts is not ergonomic as you have to kind of bend yourself into a pretzel to do the job.  And the tight quarters means it takes time to do the job with no real way to make it easier/faster.

However, I am almost finished threading this warp, and should be able to sley and tie on, then generate my treadling, perhaps even wind some bobbins, before I finish for the day.  But that means getting down to the loom.

Circles, Spirals

 

Yesterday I finished the last scarf on what will be, for the time being, the last scarf warp.  As I set up the spool rack I thought about how life doesn't just circle back on itself, it spirals.

This warp is 100% natural white 2/16 cotton.  Back in the day I would beam 40 yard long warps with 2/8 natural white cotton and then weave that off using various colours to make place mats, table runners, even napkins.

Since those days my weaving shifted into using much more colour, until I finally felt comfortable enough working with colour to combine some hues I would never have dreamed of using back in the 1980s and 90s.

And now?  I circle back to my former favourite colour - white.  

This warp is an effort to use up the last of my 2/16 dyed yarns.  When working with such fine yarn it is easy to forget just how much yarn fits on the spools.  A half pound spool of 2/16 cotton holds about 3360 yards of yarn.  Almost 2 miles.

You get a lot of play value from fine yarns.  Just saying.

There should be enough yarn for 6 warps but I expect to have finished the dyed 2/16 long before I get to warp #6.  However, I have other yarns that can also be used on the same set up - some cottolin (almost gone), some cotton/hemp, some linen.

But my next goal is that dyed 2/16 cotton.  I have numerous half or close to empty spools and if I can get them emptied I could potentially clear at least two more shelves of yarn.

And then I'll potentially look at the 2/20 mercerized cotton.  It's been stored in an ordinary cardboard box for far too long and needs to be used up.  We'll see what I come up with.

Currently reading Fabric by Victoria Finlay - a travelogue focusing on textiles.  Enjoying it so far.

Liminal

 

lim·i·nal

/ˈlimənl/

Learn to pronounce

adjective

TECHNICAL

1. 1.

   relating to a transitional or initial stage of a process.
2. 2.

   occupying a position at, or on both sides of, a boundary or threshold.

Weavers think a lot about selvedges.  Some of us actually obsess about them.  Are they perfect enough?  Are they straight enough?  Does every selvedge require a floating end in order to create that 'perfect straight' edge?

Other definitions are about ambiguity.  There doesn't seem to be much ambiguity about a selvedge.  It's very definite about being the end of the cloth, surely?

But if you consider that the term also relates to being at the edge of a boundary, is there anything more liminal that a selvedge?

At each edge the shuttle returns to the other side with each pass.  So the shuttle makes that transition from going one direction, then abruptly going the other in a process that takes the entirety of the warp to complete.

The more I think about ambiguity in weaving, the more I see it and coming across the term tonight as I began reading Victoria Finlay's new book Fabric, a few things began come together for me.  

Selvedges are not the only measure of the worthiness of a cloth.  It is what happens between the selvedges that is the important part of any cloth.  The selvedges just define the space of cloth/not cloth.

And yes, they must be crafted in such a way as to protect the cloth, to assist it in doing the job it is meant to do.  

What I have found is that if I pay attention to what I am doing to make the cloth as a whole, the selvedges tend to take care of themselves.  If my cloth has a 5 end float in the centre of it, without compromising the cloth's ability to do it's job, that five end float at the selvedge is not all that important.  It is not the number of ends in the float but the actual length.

In other words a five end float in a cloth that is 45 ends/picks per inch, the actual length of that float is much less than if there are 8 ends/picks per inch.  So I don't fret about how many ends are floating at the selvedge.  I don't force my selvedges to have a plain weave interlacement.  Plain weave will take up differently than other weave structures and can actually not improve the situation.  A floating selvedge is not necessary if you are weaving plain weave.  Unless you want one.

If you do, use them.  But sometimes I think weavers put way too much emphasis on things that are liminal - transitional - ambiguous.  

When I teach, I hope that I can convey to people all the different ways we can approach weaving.  How when you change one thing, everything can change.  How valuable it is to have multiple tools in your toolbox.  

And yes, pay attention to the details, but not at the expense of the whole cloth.

Give yourself the grace of being imperfect, but still worthy.  Still valuable.  Still functional.  Keep learning.  Keep trying.  Keep weaving, even when things aren't 'ideal' or 'perfect'.

Leonard Cohen said it 'best':  Forget your perfect offering.  There is a crack in everything.  That's how the light gets in.

SOS

 

The days roll on and this year draws to a close.  Time to think about what's next.

For the past six months I have been working on and thinking about my next Big Project, which is presenting classes through the School of Sweet Georgia.

I have been encouraged to share my excitement with anyone who is interested by offering a discount coupon for membership in the School.

The coupon can be used any time, but runs from the day you join, so maybe wait until just before the class launches on Jan. 12, 2022.  The coupon is good for 15% off a 3 or 12 month membership.

The next class, Magic in the Water, will be edited and launched next, sometime in February.

If you have my book(s) they can be used as reference works for the class.  The books cover the same territory but go beyond what we could put into a video.  Both books can be purchased from blurb.ca or blurb.com in either PDF or print versions.  Magic is in a 'magazine' format - I'm assuming a paper cover, while The Intentional Weaver is a hardback.

And of course, the School has other classes that you might find interesting as well.  

I am looking forward to being able to answer questions and interact with the students.  Being able to provide on-going assistance means a great deal to me because weaving is complex, full of ambiguity, and everything depends.  Learning how and in way those issues of ambiguity can be resolved is part of mastering the craft.  Weaving with intention, with mindfulness, is my goal.  I'm looking forward to sharing what I know with others who find weaving just as fascinating as I do.

Season's Greetings

 

Sending best wishes for the holidays to everyone.  Merry and bright, all things light, to you and yours.