Necessary

Now that the towels are woven and, even as we 'speak' being pressed, it is back to the place mats.

So many people lament that before they can do the 'fun' stuff they have to do the 'awful' stuff.  Stuff like winding a warp.  Dressing the loom.

What they really need is some help.  Help in figuring out why they dislike those bits of the craft so much.  Why the essential prep work required to do the 'fun' stuff has become such a roadblock to their enjoyment of the craft.  Why they struggle so with the part of the process that must be done in order to wind up with cloth.

All of the steps are essential.  Weaving is a multi-faceted craft with many different steps that bring the weaver closer and closer to their goal of a woven structure.

Now, some people find parts of the process difficult because they may have some sort of impediment - physical or mental - but most of us?  Most of us just need to change our attitude, change our process, change our equipment.  Above all, we need to stop doing the same thing we have always been doing and expecting different results!

Now that I have woven for decades, refining my tools, techniques and processes, I pretty much get the results I expect most of the time.  Therefore there is no need for me to change anything.  And yet I do.  Whenever I see a process or tool that I believe will assist me, I will adapt what I am doing, or buy the new tool, even if it means saving up the money to make the purchase.

Warps get wound, beamed, threaded, sleyed and tied on with a minimum of fuss and tangles.

I am practiced.  I am, dare I say it, skilled.  But those skills did not come easily, nor quickly.  There were many potholes and bumps along the way.  There were plenty of errors of judgement, short cuts that turned into disasters, projects that - quite simply - failed.

In the end, if you want woven cloth, you need to, somehow or another, get a warp on the loom.  No warp, no weaving, no cloth.  Simple as that.

Find yourself an 'expert'.  Learn all they can teach you.  Decide for yourself if those lessons are appropriate to the way you want to work.  Change those things that need to be tweaked.  Analyze what you are doing, how you are doing it and the tools you are using.  Change what needs to be changed.  Seek out other 'experts'.  Learn all they have to teach you.  Repeat  And repeat again until you learn enough to become your own expert.

Different looms, different types of cloth, different materials may all require approaching them somewhat differently.  Assemble the books (or whatever resources you are using), tools, materials that support you in what you want to accomplish.

But sometimes the biggest change required?  Attitude.  Sometimes that is the most necessary step of all.

Dear Friends

One thing the Internet has done is allow people who live at a distance to stay in touch.  Someone recently commented that all her 'best' friends lived far away, some of whom she hadn't actually met in real life.   And to her that was a happy/sad realization.  

When I read that comment I realized that in many cases that is true for me, too, although I am blessed with many friends that live near enough to me that I have met them.  Some of them live in my town, but we also stay in touch via emails, Facebook as well as in person.  

Now that I have cut back on teaching, I am not meeting nearly as many people, so if I am going to see my distant dear ones, I need to still travel.   Travel that is purely for pleasure is so much less stressful, though.  Miss a flight?  Not a big deal.  Friends will understand.  Not like a room full of people who have paid money for you to show up, maybe booked time off work to take a workshop.  

So we have been planning some trips, just for the pure enjoyment of getting together with dear friends.  

In the meantime it warms the cockles of my heart when a remembrance gift arrives in the mail as happened today.   With winter coming these socks will keep me warm in more than a physical sense, but also in an emotional one.  Knowing that a dear friend thought enough of me to send these uplifting socks. :). In a cute bag, too. 

Show Time

It is time to pay attention to the calendar and the count down to the first of the shows of the season.

UNBC kicks the season off with Artisans of the North, Oct. 24/25.  

Studio Fair follows Oct. 30/31, Nov 1. 

Both of these shows happen here at home so we get to sleep in our own beds and no long commute. 

Circle Craft takes place in Vancouver Nov 11-15 at the Convention Centre. 

Art Market is the following weekends Nov 19-22 in Calgary at the Telus Convention Centre.  

Got the last of the Mocha series towels weaving today.  This week is busy with meetings and appointments but my goal is to finish this warp Wednesday afternoon, then tuen my attention to the shawl warp.  Since the fringe twisting takes at least as long as the weaving, I need to get them off the loom asap so they can be finished in time.  Since I will be away for a couple of weeks in October, I really need to pour on the coals for the rest of Seotember. 

Overall, I'm pleased with these towels although personally I'm not a 'brown' person...I think these look quite appealing. 

Another Warp

Here is the last of the Mocha series warps being wound.  At 10 towels each warp, they will have boosted my inventory by 40 towels.  Still haven't settled on a price for them yet because they do have linen in them, but these are 2/8 cotton rather than 2/16 so they should be cheaper...but by how much?  I am really quite pleased with how they have turned out but the colour way is on the 'brown' side so perhaps not as appealing as a different colour.  

If I had a crystal ball that actually worked I would be able to know what would appeal to people.  Ah well, that's part of the challenge!

And you will notice that I really do set my tubes up so that the yarn feeds off from the end.  There are lots of people who will tell you this is a really bad idea, because from one end of the tube twist will be added; from the other end twist will be subtracted.  Recognizing that this might cause a problem, I decided the solution was to continue, but always take the yarn off the same way.   My tubes are therefore set up to wind off counter clockwise.  Why?  I don't remember.  But if you can't be perfect, be consistent!

Currently really Deadly Election by Lindsey Davis

An Eye For Detail

One of the things that comes with experience is a trained eye.  An eye that will pick out inconsistencies quickly, sometimes even as they are happening, so that whatever is going 'wrong' can be fixed.  

This is something that really has to be experienced.  While inconsistencies can be pointed out after the fact, a weaver truly becomes skilled when s/he sees them immediately so that corrective measures can be taken. 

It only takes changing one thing and suddenly changes need to be made.  Just going from 22" to 30" in width means I am having to modify my shuttle throwing.  Not a lot, and not all the time, but the rhythm of weaving action is different.  

Beginners sometimes think that once they know The Secret, everything will be 'perfect'.  I'm here to say that day will never come!   Training your eye to see the little details will help to overcome all the imperfections that exist and bring you closer to your goal.  

Even though these towels are far from perfect and presented some technical challenges, I am satisfied to affix my name to them and have them in my booth come October. 

Happy Place

 

colours are not accurate, but you can see the weave structure

There is a meme going round Facebook that says something to the effect that if you want me, I'll be in my blanket fort with my crayons.

My loom is my blanket fort and my crayons are yarn.

Moody Blue

Next warp on the AVL.  Since I need to test the new computer/loom connection I decided to go with a fairly simple threading, the better to see oopsies, should there be a problem.  Hopefully all will be well, but...

This warp is for shawls and I hope to use up a bunch of my Tencel stash.  However shawls take a significant amount of yarn, so it will depend on whether or not I have sufficient quantities in colours that will go with the warp.  

First step, though, is getting the warp threaded.