Changing One Thing

 

finding the sweet spot for weaving

Weaving is full of subtleties.  

Change one thing and everything can change, I tell anyone who will listen.

I talk about the 'sweet spot', usually meaning the area between the breast beam and the beater where the weaving is 'best', but there are also 'sweet spots' for tensioning, and for the angle left on the weft before it is beaten in.

There is a 'sweet spot' for density - and that will change depending on the quality of the cloth the weaver wishes to make.

There are ways to 'bend' the sweet spot in order to achieve that end use quality, by changing something involved in the mixture of things that go into creating a textile from a mass of individual strings.

The problem is that the *symptoms* of a problem can overlap and then the *source* of the problem can be obscure.

So I tell my students to begin by changing just one thing and noting if there is an improvement.  No?  Then change one other thing, test, assess and see if that works.  Or not.

I have been dealing with this dynamic with my body which has been presenting with a suite of symptoms for a number of years.  When I sought help, the obvious issue as assumed to be *the* issue.  Until I finally got in to see the pain specialist.

He noted my symptoms, came up with two other possibilities, decided to treat the easier one and see what happened.  

Because the body is like a textile.  Just because the symptom is there doesn't mean that the most obvious cause is the actual problem.  Instead of an epidural injection for the bulging disc in my spine, he suggested an SI joint injection.  And that seems to be the actual problem, given that things are finally improving.

But that isn't my only physical problem, and after discussing that issue, he agreed to let me experiment with a drug that was showing benefit for other vague nerve pain issues.  And between the two - the SI injection and the new drug, I can finally say - with some confidence - that things are improving.

It has not been a pleasant time, as we carefully try the new things, note the results, determine if we continue on this route.  But I totally understand the 'change one thing' approach to problem solving and was willing to try and see what happened.

The doctor has a second possibility for my pain, so he is watching to see if the SI joint really does resolve my problems, and if not, then he will explore the other possible injury.

Change one thing.

Not a bad thing to remember, in life as in weaving.

The Rat Race

 

Tis the season...

Facebook has been showing me 'memories' and of course at this time of year, most of my posts were about craft fairs.  Being at them, selling my work.

I miss craft fairs.  Truly.  When I 'retired' from doing them I thought I could still participate - and then covid happened.  Since covid isn't 'gone', 'we' are all just ignoring it (well, some of us *can't*), so instead of volunteering in the guild booth, I just send my boxes of textiles and let the guild earn the commission on what they sell.  I feel bad about not helping, but neither do I want to catch covid (or flu or a cold or whatever other virus may be floating around).

And yes, I mask, AND I've had the most recent booster, but the vaccine doesn't prevent you from catching covid, only from getting really sick if you do.  A mask is actually the better tool for preventing catching any virus, but the viral load in a crowd with little ventilation means the odds of something 'catching' you gets, well, riskier than I like.

Frankly I've been quite happy to NOT catch a cold or flu, never mind covid, so I continue to isolate and mask when I do go out.

But all those photos of the various booths that Facebook has been feeding me as 'memories' plus reading an essay about the way our society (North American, primarily) has shaped itself to push, push, push, accomplish more, rise higher in the rat pack, strive for more until 'enough' isn't even a concept, has left me thinking about my own pursuit of a career in the world of textiles.

I don't miss the rat race - the critical deadlines that I daren't miss or I might not have enough money to get through the winter.  I don't miss the working 'sick' (whether it was contagious or my own body in revolt).  I don't miss the implied criticism of the (fortunately) few who would make comments about my 'high' prices.  Once I became more assured in my own self it was easier to shake those off - but they never really stopped stinging.

And I thought about how hard I drove myself, in the pursuit of sales, teaching gigs, published articles.  How stressful it was.

And yet.  

And yet, I love weaving.  I can't imagine my life without it.  Which is largely why I am working so hard to regain what function I can from this injured body.  

The essay talked about how people work, work, work and then collapse, only to do it all over again. 

I thought about how much that observation 'fit' me.  Except, that instead of hating my job, I loved it.  Not all of it, of course not.  But the weaving?  I loved it.  Still do.

For the time I am at the loom I can set the worries of the world aside (some days are easier than others - lately it's been damned hard) and just focus on being.

Being at one with the loom, the yarn.  Being present in the moment.

It's all the other stuff that has to go along with the making - the selling, the being in business, etm.

But ultimately I was not in the 'rat race' to climb ever higher.  I haven't done what I've done to gain accolades.  I knew from the beginning that I don't get to claim a title, or a prize.  What I can do is learn.  Learn as much as I can.  And then share what I learn with others.  Help them.  If they aren't interested in what I have to say, they can ignore me.  And I'm perfectly ok with that.

I am not saying I don't appreciate the honours I've received.  But that is just the cherry on top.  Because my goal was never to get a 'star' on a walk of fame.  My goal was not so much to be an influencer, but simply to share information.  If I have influenced anyone, it is because they saw the value in what I was saying, that they could see embracing the technique or process and have it improve their practice.

So by the time I finished reading the article, I was able to say, yes, I participated in the 'rat race' by working too many hours, putting life on hold at times.  But along the way, I *also* loved the part that drew me to the craft in the first place.  And quite frankly, if I was going to be in a 'rat race', one that included me at the loom for hours every day was one I was willing to run.

But I also knew that it wasn't so much a 'race' as it was a journey.  It was, at times, damned difficult.  But there was no contest, or at least I wasn't competing against another weaver.  I was only ever trying to improve myself.

So I took to celebrating other weavers.  I am happy to put other weaver's books and classes and textiles on share on my social media.  Because we are not competitors - we are colleagues.  And when one of us does something good, we all benefit.

"No man is an island" is something I took to heart a very long time ago, and I still believe that.  

Launch Day!

 

Tomorrow the Sectional Beaming class on School of Sweet Georgia is set to launch.

This class was particularly challenging because I didn't want to just show the process, but to include information on how to use the equipment in 'interesting' ways, including how to beam an 'ordinary' warp wound on a board or mill.  As such, there were challenges in terms of staying within the format for the class (video) and then providing documentation that (I hoped) would help people explore the possibilities for the equipment to make interesting cloth.

Sectional beaming was such a mainstay of what I did that for a time I didn't even own a board or mill.  Everything I did was done by sectional beaming.

Over the years I learned a lot about what made for 'good' sectional beaming.  I also learned how much I could glide over 'perfect' and still get 'good' results.

There are definite advantages, but also, disadvantages.  As part of the support for the video class I found myself writing a 20+ page booklet to try and address more fully some of both.

There are many people who are production weavers who use sectional beaming, whether it is with the 'standard' spool rack, or the warping wheel or square.  I don't use the latter, for reasons, which may have nothing to do with why someone else uses them.  If someone is interested in either of those, I suggest asking for advice or feedback from someone who does because like everything else about weaving, it depends.

As a new weaver, I thought I had the correct answer for everything and everyone.  Until I realized that human beings are not identical and what works for me, may not work for someone else.  Since then I have tried to help people find what will work for them, and then encourage them to do that.

A number of my Olds students, when confronted with the first requirement of their homework to document *their* method of dressing the loom would assume that meant they needed to feed what I did back to me.  I assured them that the problem was to document *their* method, not mine.  I hoped that some of what I showed them would appear in their process(es) but if not, no matter.  They certainly did NOT get marks deducted if they continued to use their own process because the point wasn't that they adopted *my* process, but to make sure they could communicate *their* process.

It was with a certain level of trepidation that I agreed to do this class for SOS because I know full well that every weaver who uses sectional beaming will have their own 'tricks' and that what I do doesn't work for everyone.  OTOH, I have used this equipment for decades and I do have opinions, hints and tips. 

So - tomorrow is launch day.  If you join for a month you can access all four of my classes, but also?  All of the SOS classes.  You can join for a year and have access to the classes for that year, plus you can ask questions on the forums and get info from others or ask me questions directly and I'll answer as best I can.

Plus you get access to the 20 page booklet of information on sectional beaming, which while not encyclopedic, was my best effort to address common issues with using it and is the only place it is available.

Self-Assessment

 

Mug with GCW diploma

One of the great gifts I was given as a young weaver was the encouragement to self-assess.  I had my mentor, yes, but I also attended a critique (not a criticism), had my own work critiqued as well as juried and of course, marked.

This reinforcement of looking at my own work with an eye for assessing it in order to improve was established early and it is - imho - an important step in becoming a 'better' weaver.

When I was asked to apply to teach for Olds College, I was honoured, then excited to teach students the essentials that I feel are required in order to 'master' the craft.  My first year I taught level two, but after that I taught level one.  

I would warn the students that level one was going to be a firehose experience and that I expected them to read the manual.  I saw little point in my *only* teaching what was in the manual when there was so much more I felt a level one student needed to know.  And if it was in the manual, the student could read it for themselves.

Which brings up self-assessment.  While there was a component of assessment in level one, it is directed at assessing others - important if the student is going to teach, which the curriculum assumed one would, at some point, in some way.  

Most of the students who came to the class were open to this approach.  Others?  Not so much.  But I warned them on day one what was coming.  Some simply were not prepared, didn't know enough, didn't have the foundation of knowledge for them to build upon.  I suppose some had 'expectations' that they would be told to 'do this and you'll be perfect' when that isn't any sort of reality when it comes to mastering a craft as complex as weaving.  (Or other crafts, I know, but I'm a weaver.)

One of the things I asked the students to do was include a 'letter' outlining their learning journey as they worked their way through level one with their box of homework.  On day 5 I would ask the students where they thought they were in terms of knowledge level when they walked into the classroom and where they thought they were now, on day 5.

Most of the students 'got' what I was getting at and when they had all had their say, I told them about doing a 'history' of GCW master weavers and that out of all of the weavers I had contacted, the vast majority of them all said that doing the GCW tests had shown them how much more there was to learn.

So, I try to stay in 'beginner mind'.  I try to not assume (too much).  I try to think ahead.  Extrapolate the changes I want to make with what I already know, and think through the process to begin to understand what the changes will make to my cloth.  I will weave samples so that I better understand a new yarn.

The learning never ends.

"A good teacher shows you where to look, not what to see."

The Intentional Weaver was written with students who want to improve in mind, and the online seminars were further developed to support first, my Olds students, then anyone who wanted to master the craft.

Teachable Moments

 

This morning, scrolling through FB, I saw a meme that said - Be teachable.  You are not always right.

I've mentioned (often) one of my mentors who always greeted us with 'what mistakes have you made lately?  what have you learned?'

This is an attitude I have tried to embrace in my own practice, but also?  To pass along to any students who may come to me.

When I entered the world wide net, I made a conscious decision to NOT use a user name, but my own.  Since I wanted people to hire me to teach, I needed to make sure they knew who was saying what I was saying, so that if they wanted to learn more of what I knew, they knew how to contact me.

So from the get-go, I used my 'real' name.

There have been times when this has worked against me - especially when people mis-hear or misunderstand what I have said, and then incorrectly quote me.  Like the time a student tried to convince another teacher I had taught her that making a cross while winding a warp wasn't necessary.  The mess the student made was therefore my fault, not hers.  Since the other teacher knew me, she asked - had I been teaching people to wind a warp with no cross?

No.  I had not.

From time to time I come across other people mis-quoting me.  If I feel is it appropriate, I will interject and 'explain' what I really mean, but I always try to do it in a way that is adding to the discussion, not shutting it down.

There was that time when someone asked a question about how to use their AVL in a particular way and since no one had actually answered the question in a helpful way, and it was something I did all the time, I answered the question in the group instead of privately (a mistake given the response that followed.)

After I shared what I did a number of (male) weavers jumped all over me, telling me that I obviously didn't know how to weave on an AVL, I had no understanding of how an AVL worked, that what I was suggesting was simply impossible and I needed to get thee hence to the AVL school and learn how to weave on such a sophisticated piece of equipment 'properly'.

Given I'd been weaving on an AVL a lot longer than some of these naysayers, I closed my internet connection and went back to my AVL, where I was weaving on it in precisely the way I had described.

When I came back to the group some hours later, I saw that the criticism of me had continued until Allen Fannin spoke up and said that while he and I had agreed to disagree on some issues (true), when I said something people should pay attention because "Laura actually knows what she is talking about."

In the end, just before Jon Violette left AVL to pursue other things, he confided in me that I had essentially beta-tested the AVL PDL.  I told him I knew that.

Weaving is a craft that will keep you humble.  Because there is always something more to learn.  Some variable that is going to throw a curve ball into the mix.  Some new way to approach creating a textile.  In spite of literally thousands of years of human beings playing with string, there is still more to be revealed to any individual weaver.

So, I try to keep in 'beginner mind' mode.  I try to think through the process.  Think about the characteristics of the materials I want to use.  Plan on how to marry different fibres, if they have different characteristics in order to create a textile for a particular purpose.  And then listen to what the loom and the yarn are telling me.

I tell students weaving is a biofeedback exercise.  If a weaver wants to create something they will go a long way towards success by paying attention.  Listening to what the loom is saying.  Feeling how the yarns are behaving.  And sometimes?  They need to adjust something - the loom, the yarn, or even more importantly, themselves.

Sometimes a student will say that they can't wait until they don't make mistakes anymore.

And I laugh.  Because really, if you aren't making mistakes, you aren't learning, just like my mentor always reminded us.

As always, books available here.

The Void

 

There are times I feel as though I am a broken record (young uns may not get the reference), saying the same thing over and over again, trying to find different ways to convey the information.

Because a student once said to me 'saying the same thing over and over exactly the same way doesn't help'.  So, I try.  I try to explain, using metaphors, similes, utilizing different examples.  I try to paint word pictures for those who can visualize, and actual demonstrations for those who can't.

At times I wonder if I am actually communicating, reaching people in order to promote understanding.

And, once in a while, I get an email (usually) from someone who lets me know that yes, I am reaching people, even 'remotely'.

Once in a while someone will email to thank me for my 'contribution to the weaving community' and I sigh a bit in relief, because that is what I am hoping to do.  Reach people in order to help them.  Give them hope that while they may suck at things right now, they can - with mindful practice - get better.  That the processes involved in weaving don't have to be onerous.  That it doesn't have to be frustrating, and potentially actually painful - forever.  It doesn't need to take forever to get a warp into the loom.*

When Interweave Press (as was) asked me to do DVDs I agreed on the condition that they come here, where my setup could be used.  I wasn't entirely sure they would agree, but in the end they came.  When we were in the airport checking them in to go home, the camera person commented to me that he had had very little hope that we could do two completely different topics in three days but that we had pulled it off, in no small part due to my extensive preparations.  I told him that I'd done just enough video work that I had a clue and had done my best to streamline the taping to make it fit.  

He nodded and agreed that yes, I did have a clue.

And that's the thing.  I came to weaving with a broad background of doing a variety of different jobs, had experience in a variety of different skills, plus my focus on efficiencies led me to be aware of how to film out of sequence to make the whole process able to be filmed with the post production taking care of sequencing it so that it made sense.  I had a filming schedule drawn up, had two locations, each suitable to the subject matter.  In the end, it worked, and worked well, and while I went to Vancouver to film there, I was clear on what I would need and again, had my schedule drawn up so that they knew what I was going to be doing and approximately how long it might take to do it.  In the end they added time which took a lot of pressure off.  And they were generous in both their fees and the travel budget they offered.  

Last night I got another email from someone who had taken a workshop with me, but recently took on a student who has been watching my online classes.  And commented that the online student had obviously been paying attention and that the student *also* could hear my voice in her head (implying that she did as well).

I guess that makes me an earworm?

But this feedback helps *me* to keep on.  Keep on writing.  Keep on posting here.  Keep on answering questions in the few groups I belong to online.

Because every once in a while, someone reaches out and lets me know that I am not speaking into the void.  There are listening ears and watchful eyes.  And they say that they have been helped.

And that, that right there, is why I do this.

*the video clip was filmed in one go.  The entire  warp was beamed in under 10 minutes.  I included the clock on the wall so that viewers could see that the entire clip was complete and continuous.  It doesn't need to be a mess or a tangle or take several days and several people to assist.  You don't have to do everything I do, but if you like my results, you might like to at least be aware of what it is I actually do?

Classes at School of Sweet Georgia and Long Thread Media are readily available.

Things Suck Less

 

I first started having acute pain in my hip last December.  It's been nearly a year now that I've been dragging my right leg around (quite literally some days), and dealing with chronic pain from various sources.

Getting in to see the local pain doctor was a watershed event, and I finally feel as though I am beginning to make up ground, instead of losing it.  But it's a damned slow process.  And I still don't know what the future holds, physically speaking.

The physiotherapist asked me to video myself weaving, and there was a certain amount of trepidation when I handed my ipad to her to review the videos.  Was I doing everything 'right' or was the very act of weaving causing further injury?

I mean, weaving is just a series of repetitive motions and you do enough of them and the body starts to object.  Was weaving going to end for me?  Or could I adjust what I was doing in order to keep going?

In the end, after watching the video multiple times and questioning me about what I was doing, she determined that while the weaving was not causing me further injury, I do still have an injury that is causing issues with my ability *to* weave.

Instead of telling me to stop weaving until I was healed, she said to continue, but to make sure I wasn't pushing myself beyond my body's limits because no matter which way you slice it, do repetitive motions for long enough and you *can* cause inflammation, and then injury.

She did give me a new exercise which should help my upper back, which I noticed in the video was a bit 'bowed'.  Since I have two whiplash injuries, scoliosis in my upper back and TMJ issues, I'm trying to be 'good' about incorporating the new exercise into my day.  So far, so good.

Progress has been incredibly slow.  Painfully slow.  Literally.  But there has been progress.  There is less acute pain and more just a nagging boulder I drag around.  When I think about where I am (which is not where I would like to be) and where I was last year (which was horrible) the only way I could sum things up was that 'it sucks less'.

Fortunately she has a similar sense of humour and I got the chuckle I'd hoped for.

When people ask me why I do what I do, all I can say is that I've worked out the 'best' more ergonomic ways I can, given my personal body.  So I share the principles, and then encourage others to work out what 'best' means for them.  Some people are more flexible, some less.  Some have injuries, some are healthy.  My goal for the past 40 years has been to help people find their own 'best' way.

I encourage people to trim excess movements from their processes.  Why do more work when you can accomplish the task with fewer movements?  Be kinder to your body.  Treat it gently, whenever possible.

Like most human activities, movement can be good - or bad.  Given our own circumstances, we have to find the most effective way to do the things that need to be done.

We have to care for our bodies, let them rest, give them good nourishment.  What that looks like for each person may look very different.  

So I tell people what I do.  Let them see for themselves how long it takes me to do things, and show them that it doesn't have to take days to dress a loom.  That it can be done by one person, not a crew - especially if they don't have ready access to a crew.

I've given classes.  Posted video clips to You Tube - most of them under a couple of minutes.  You don't need to wade through a lot of chat to get to the meat.  (OTOH, if you like the chat, no worries.)  I've done online classes, for both School of Sweet Georgia and Handwoven.  And I've written extensively - here, but also actual books.

Life is hard enough.  My goal is to help weavers get to the point where the processes involved in weaving suck less, if that is what they want.  If they aren't interested, then no worries.  I had one student who came in person to study with me for a week.  When they went home and began to put some of the things they had learned into practice, their spouse asked one evening if they were glad they had come to learn from me.  "Why?"  "Because you go into your weaving room and there are no bangs and clatter and no swearing, just you weaving and then come out with something woven."

And that is why I do what I do.  I want weaving to suck less for those who are struggling.

PS - School of Sweet Georgia will be launching the Sectional Beaming class next week...