Learning the Language

 

Recently I seem to be spending some time helping 'new' weavers.  One of the things we seem to run into is that of language.

Weaving is a centuries old craft (lately dating humans working with string back to around 40,000 years, give or take) and as such it has grown up around the globe, in every culture, every climate/environment, across the Babel of languages that humans have spoken across time and place.

When I was learning to weave, there were still distinct differences between British and American weaving vocabularies.  With the growth of the internet, that seems to have reduced somewhat, with American taking the lead given the popularity of US publications and the dominance of Americans on internet chat groups.  (And I don't care what Auto Correct says, die or dying are NOT weaving/dyeing terms.  You might want to learn the difference and school your devices to not default to the not textile term when you mean the textile term.  If *I* can do it, so can you.)

When I published Magic in the Water I made a conscious choice to use British spellings - because I'm Canadian and those were what we learned as 'our' language.  

Since I am quite well read, however, I am familiar with both, just choose to use 'my' language. 

Kind of like the time I was discussing textiles with a Swede and Norwegian.  In Sweden, the 'rule' is that you never, ever, apply heat to linen, while in Norway, you routinely boil it as part of the cleaning process.  I listened to the arguments (made lightheartedly on both sides) until finally one of them turned to me and asked what *I* did.  Straight faced I said I was Canadian, I did whatever I liked.

So, I use British spellings for things which confuses the heck out of a lot of Americans.  But it is my way of reminding them that people from the US are not the only people on the planet.  A gentle head's up that it might be a good idea to keep an open mind.  Because we can all use that from time to time.

It is also an indicator that I am not from the US, which a lot of people don't seem to realize - because I speak and write English, and since I've travelled extensively to many of the US states, *and* I have a tendency to 'pick up' accents, a lot of people don't really understand that I am from Canada.

Then you toss an archaic technology into the mix, and the specialized language required to understand it, and it can get...confusing.

So.  Talking weaving.

Yesterday I advised someone to learn the language.  Without the language, it will be a lot harder to learn the craft.  Because learning a craft is deeply tied to the language *of* the craft.  If you don't have the vocabulary, it's really hard to ask for help - or understand the answer.  Which was part of the problem I was having trying to help someone.  They were wanting to know what certain things meant, but they didn't understand the concepts that were being discussed.  And trying to help them via the written word?  Wasn't going to help much until they learned more.  More words.  More concepts.  

I suggested that since they seemed to have a local guild that perhaps some there might give them a helping hand, but beyond that, videos.

Some people just don't learn all that well from reading something.  Learning a physical process (because weaving IS a physical process, as much as it is a mental one) by at least watching someone DO the process can help clarify things.

Weaving is a huge rabbit warren.  There are so many ways a learner can take to gain knowledge, that when they express a desire to learn 20 different things, it's hard to rein them in and say, start here, built slowly, take the time needed to understand.

Because weaving is not difficult, but it IS complex.

And learning the language will make the process faster and more accessible than fumbling around using words that convey no meaning appropriate to the craft. 

If you do learn from words, my books are available here

Tis the Season

 

One of the many towels available on my ko-fi shop

If you are looking for something different, something long lasting, I have a number of different towel designs available in my ko-shop.

The ones above are primarily shades of beige with some pale peach and a white linen weft, which is a bit coarse, so the towels would make great 'rub down' sauna/spa towels.  They also come in shades of blue/grey with a bit of pink.  They are 'priced to sell' as they say.

In addition to these two, there is a lighter weight design using cotton/hemp as weft - another good rub down towel.

The rest are towels woven as part of the Matrix series with cotton warp, merc. cotton weft.  I'll be weaving the last of those today so that I can beam the next warp tomorrow - before my next physio appointment on Thursday.

There are still two copies of Stories from the Matrix to be had - signed - and Weave a V by Kerstin Fröberg.

If you don't see something that tickles your fancy, you can contact me, state your colour preferences and I can check to see what I have.  There are also a few 'fine' 50/50 cotton linen towels left, but those are diminishing quickly and not currently listed in ko-fi.

If you want to purchase something as a gift, let me know and I can include a card.

My books will continue to be available on blurb for the foreseeable future.  Blurb has options for countries other than Canada and the US so if you are in Europe or elsewhere, you may be able to purchase without running into international shipping issues.

And of course I can be contacted regarding guild presentations.  Topics and fees are listed on my website.

Bucket List

 

Welp (as the young 'uns say) I am now 'done' teaching in person.  Officially done.  Last students are marked, I've been paid, and that means I'm 'retired' from teaching for Olds, which was my 'last' commitment to the college and my students there.

OTOH, I remain accessible to the students if they have questions, just like I do for anyone who has ever taken a workshop from me.  Or read my blog.  Or my books.  Or just seen me ranting on a weaving group on line.  

I've just finished doing a chronology of my career.  

No wonder I feel battered.

Most of the time I had not one, not two, but *several* Big Projects on the go.  Concurrently.

No wonder I feel exhausted.

As a new weaver I anticipated weaving for 25 years, then teaching for 25, bringing me to age 75 when I figured I would gracefully (or not) 'retire'.  Instead I 'retired' (for certain values of) at the end of 2019, when I stopped traveling to teach (other than Olds) and doing craft fairs.  At no point did I expect to stop weaving.  And I have not - even though it *is* at a much slower pace.

But I'm 'retired', so slower is fine, right?

One of the things I *had* hoped to continue to do was travel, but covid put the kibosh on that, and now my body has.

We had already begun buying experiences rather than products for gifts, but covid meant staying home, not attending any indoor public event, not doing the local craft fair, not getting on a plane.  The way things are going, likely never again.

But I cannot complain.

I have been to more than 30 US states (I can't even remember all of the guilds I was privileged to teach at), attended weaving conferences in NA and in Sweden, been to several European countries (some of them before I started weaving, but still).

I have not made it to the far north, but have made it to the rest of the provinces including the maritimes, several times.

All in all, it's been a life and it was my life.

OTOH, 'in person' can be defined in more ways than being physically present, these days.  So I am mulling over options.  I *do* have a number of bookings for 2024 for remote presentations.  I am willing to book more (topics listed on my website).

And I have picked up my next book project again (hence the chronology).  

On the weaving front I am weaving the last third of the current warp (2/16 cotton at 36 epi) and once this is done, the next warp will be the same blue warp but at 32 epi and further explorations with the shifted? overlapped? twill blocks.

So my bucket list has been culled, right down to the basics.  

Keep weaving (for as long as I can)

Write (this blog, perhaps another 'book' - but 'books' will be more modest)

Encourage anyone who wants/needs it

Help those that I can

All that travel I had hoped to do?  Now officially taken off my list.  As an introvert I don't need a lot of outside of the house busyness.  It's enough if I get my modest task list for the day accomplished (which more and more often includes an afternoon nap, given the lack of energy spoons most days).

But cheerlead from afar?  Oh yes.  I can do that.  (shakes pom-poms of encouragement) 🙌

Seasonal Reminder

 

photo taken a few years ago

Woke up this morning to the gentle sprinkling of snow that quickly turned into a full blown 'storm'.  There is an atmospheric river south of us and I guess we are getting the leading edge of it.

I am not going to complain.  I have no need to leave the house today, so I'm not going to.  I may not leave the house until Thursday, when I have an appointment.  Let the rest of the population get used to the fact that yes, once again, winter is here.  Along with the snowy roads.  I don't know that we will get as much snow as we did the year this was taken, but we desperately need precipitation as the drought continues.  

The entire province has been experiencing drought conditions, with one town west of us officially in the 'desert' range for precipitation.  For the first time since recording weather stats began.  This is Not Good for the new year and whatever Mother Nature is going to send our way next wildfire season.

Because we now officially have a season that isn't spring, summer or autumn, but all three, and deadly - for the animals that live in the bush, for human beings seemingly intent on ignoring climate change, and the planet itself.  It isn't *just* the fact that the fires burn up the forest, releasing tonnes more carbon into the air, it is breathing the smoke, as well.  Bad wildfire seasons are bad on every level.

So, when I looked out the window to see that the light dusting of snow was turning into a heavy snowfall, I could not be upset about it.  Instead I felt a certain level of relief, aware that a good heavy snow pack in the bush would help the coming wildfire season by moistening the earth, encouraging the regrowth of new plants, bring food to the animals that live there, and protect us from flooding and fire.

But - and there is always a but, isn't there - the temperatures are still 'too warm'.  If we don't get temps below freezing, this snow falling today?  Won't stick.  It will melt and run away into the streams and rivers, leaving the bush with bare ground.  Dry ground.  Tinder for any spark that may appear, natural or human caused.

In the meantime, an oil executive is chairing the climate conference, reassuring us that climate change is a myth, and the best thing to do is to continue to burn fossil fuels.

Since I actually live in an area where climate change has been showing up quite pointedly, I don't believe him.  (If *he* can believe there is no such thing as climate change, *I* can believe that there is.)

So, we bought a new HVAC system, one that uses far less natural gas than previously.  Our natural gas bill for the first month of use was 1/3 of what we used the same period as last year.  While our natural gas consumption is not zero, 1/3 of what we *had* been using, is still less.  And right now, less is better than continuing the way we were going.  

We also have a new hybrid vehicle ordered, which will arrive in the new year.  Both of these purchases bit deeply into our savings, but we refuse to finance when we can pay, so we have and will.  Because we also know that financing is going to cost more than any interest we might make on said savings.  

Using less fossil fuels is better than using more, imho, regardless of if you 'believe' in climate change or not.  Because fossil fuels are *finite* and when they are gone, we'd better be prepared to pivot to something else - if we haven't already.

In the meantime, I continue to weave as much as I can, pace myself according to my current state of physical condition, hope for a better future.  One where we find solutions to the problems too many of us seem eager to ignore, and way too many seem intent on making worse.

As we enter the season of the winter solstice, I think about the message of so many of our 'spiritual' teachers - love.  Love one another.  Love the earth.  Love our lives - ALL of our lives.  And let's for the love of all that is holy, please stop killing each other - be that climate change - or war...

PS - no, covid is not gone - nor are colds, flu, RSV, etm - wear a mask when out in public...

Holiday Season

 

After Black Friday...

In NA the time for holiday purchases now ramps up.  Since we bought ourselves a new HVAC system this year, that will be our 'holiday' gift giving to each other for, oh, years...

As someone who largely made the majority of her income from producing things, I have mixed feelings about the buying splurge NAans are encouraged to go on, this time of the year.

So I would ask that when people are buying stuff, they look at small producers, rather than large corporations.  Boards of gigantic corporations really don't need more profits to buy another yacht or private jet (some people simply do not know what 'enough' actually means) but a small producer will be able to keep the lights on, a roof over their heads and - if you like what they make - keep making that stuff.

Like an author?  Buy their book.  Like a potter?  Buy a mug.  Like a weaver?  (ahem...)

There are two more signed copies of Stories from the Matrix in my ko-fi shop.  There are over a dozen different tea towel designs (and more in the pipeline).  There will be another 'book' in the new year.  Maybe.  Still working on that.  Blurb will continue to provide my three books currently listed there, available in both print and pdf formats.

However, in future, I may pivot to only pdf presentations and offer them on ko-fi.  Do I even have another book in me?  (After the current one launches - or not.)  Time will tell.  

In the past I've written long form 'essays' on various aspects of weaving, now sadly lost it would appear, in the conversion from CD to thumb drive.  If I can find the original CDs, I can see about getting the files transferred to a thumb drive, then investigate offering them as stand alone 'articles'.  Generally those documents were 'too long' for a magazine article, 'too short' for a 'book'.  But still, I put a lot of time and effort into writing them.  And some people did tell me that I made the information clear enough they could understand the concepts.  Always music to a writer's ears.

Today is the first day of the guild room sale.  If you aren't local (because I know most of you aren't) I still have a lot of towels listed in my ko-fi shop.  Just saying.

Marking Time

 

Don Holzworth 1956-2008

Tomorrow would have been my brother's birthday, were he still here.

Tomorrow would have been the launch of my latest (fourth) book, in part a nod towards his memory.  

But things happen.  

Or not.

And we, who are left, who are still here, go on.

My relationship with my brother was complex.  A (much) younger sibling, suddenly arriving to usurp my place in the home, sick with some unspecified illness which demanded nearly all of my mother's time and attention.  I had to learn to live with that change in focus, share my parents with a sibling, learn to get to know him as a person, although that took a while because he needed, first, to survive his infancy, and then to become the person he was meant to be.

And so I was going to launch my fourth book on his birthday as a nod to what he left me when he left - a level of financial security I'd never had before, in large part because he was a good money manager and he didn't live long enough to spend it himself.

For the longest time I barely touched 'his' money, only paying off my immediate debt, then used some of it to travel.

Because he loved to travel and I knew he would approve.

Perhaps part of his love to travel came from me?  Because he was just 13 years old when I left for a trip to Sweden, travelling by freighter from Montreal to Oslo, then stayed away for 3.5 months.  Months where my father was diagnosed with a terminal illness, and then it was my brother's turn to bow to the vagaries of life, learn how to adapt.  Change.  Deal with loss.

This is not a unique story.  Every one of us goes through something similar as we confront the challenges of living.  Changing.  Growing.  Hopefully learning.

I'm well into my 70s now and feeling the pinch of time as I deal with my battered body.  Last week I filled out a trauma/injury survey for my physiotherapist and suddenly became aware of how much battering this body has sustained.  I'd never considered dental issues a trauma.  Before.  And yet.  One of my earliest memories is of having an abscessed tooth extracted - while it was still infected.  Not much in the way of anti-biotics in 1954.  My mother brought me to the dentist.  He took one look, shot me up with novacaine (which didn't actually deaden anything) and then pulled the tooth.

As I looked back on my life in order to report all the injuries and/or trauma I've dealt with the list grew longer and longer - and I still didn't list everything.  Some 'injuries' were too slight to bother with, I thought.  Trolling through my memory, remembering each incident, reliving it (to some extent), becoming consciously aware of the injury once again, was interesting.  And, I am hoping, helpful to aid in further healing.  

But I am also in my 70s now, and I honestly don't know how much healing I can achieve.  I don't know how much longer I can weave.  Or write.  Will I retain my wits?  Or will they depart, along with my physical 'fitness'?

So I'm feeling pressure.  An imperative to weave down my stash.  No longer a desire, but becoming a need.  To write.  To share my stories.  to share my knowledge, most of all.

Do I have more to say?  Dunno.

The only thing I can do, is...keep going...for as long as I can.  Marking time doesn't mean standing still, after all.

A Gift in the (e)Mail

 This morning I got comfortable in my recliner with morning coffee and ipad and opened my inbox to a 'surprise'.

People sometimes tell me how much I have helped them, and when they do, well, cockles definitely warmed.  Since I woke up with (another) sinus headache and was feeling particularly groggy, I opened an email with some anticipation of a weaver wanting a question answered.  

Instead, my day - perhaps my entire week - got made brighter.  I quote:

"Although I am just a weaver in my spare time, I wanted to send you a message of saying thank you for your wisdom which transcends beyond the loom. I absolutely love your book and I also have watched your course on Handwoven a few times.

 

As a lecturer, I teach my students how to write undergraduate dissertations. Hence I am quite often confronted with questions such as “what referencing system to use” and “shall I use British or American spelling” or “how do I present my data”. In these instances, I always quote you (giving you due credit of course), with the simple but useful words “if you cannot be perfect, be consistent”. Indeed the students find this very useful and it surely helps them to get more autonomy with their decision-making. This is something I have often struggled to teach them in the past.

 

At our session yesterday, I resorted to your wise words again, but the students have adopted them already to a point where I only need to say “if you can’t be perfect” as they instantly respond with “be consistent”. I have explained to them before where I got this from and that it comes from a very efficient weaver who has perfected her craft and approach. In fact in my next writing group session with them I am going to draw the parallels between good and efficient weaving and academic writing.

 

From one teacher to another, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks for developing these useful and easy to remember guides that are so useful for many disciplines. You can now know for sure that they are being passed on at (name of college redacted) London to a new generation of Business Management graduates who I hope will hold on to them for other challenges they will encounter!

 

I wish you all the best!

 

Christopher"

With cockles completely warmed through, it's now time to go to the loom and toss a shuttle a few hundred times.  :)