Making

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"Wow, I was scared but this was very easy."

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"Wow, I was scared but this was very easy."

C wrote this in response to a question about how their first warping went on a small tapestry loom. It made me think back to my first tapestry warping and how I felt exactly the same way.

I was warping a very large frame in Navajo-style from a book. The loom was given to me by my grandparents. My grandfather made it. But I was on an occupational therapy travel assignment in Seattle and my grandmother, the only person I knew who had any experience with this sort of warping, was 1300 miles away and unable to help. I managed the warping using one of Noel Bennett’s books, but it wasn’t pretty.

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A fleece followed me home... wool fumes overwhelmed me

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A fleece followed me home... wool fumes overwhelmed me

Last week I took a two-day workshop with Maggie Casey as part of the Estes Park Wool Market. All in all I spent four days up in Estes Park immersed in wool, sheep, yarn, and making. By Sunday afternoon I found myself driving down Big Thompson canyon with a huge smile on my face, wool fumes from the four fleeces in the backseat wafting around me. Even dodging the tourists stopped in the middle of the narrow, winding, road to look at bighorn sheep didn’t penetrate the wool bliss.

I love diving into materials. And wool is a material that can do so much. I didn’t know this until I learned to spin.

Blog-o-versary | Fifteen years of blogging about tapestry weaving

Blog-o-versary | Fifteen years of blogging about tapestry weaving

How ever did I get to fifteen years on this blog? I suppose one week at a time is how that happened. I started the blog on April 20, 2008 and that makes it 15 years today.

What on earth have I talked about for fifteen years? The digital pages have been full of stories relating to tapestry weaving and now and then a peek inside other parts of my life. Remember the skunk house when I lived in southern Colorado? Or the Colorado Trail thru-hike in 2022? Those weren’t very tapestry related, but I found them fun to write about. There have been knitted creatures and all sorts of fiber-filled adventures along the way.

The blog is also full of useful information if you’re a tapestry weaver. I’ve talked about yarn and looms and technique and design and that is my primary goal in continuing to write it, creating a resource for information about tapestry weaving.

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Woven doodles and finishing work

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Woven doodles and finishing work

Sometimes a little doodle on the loom is all you need to find your weaving momentum again. I had completely forgotten about this little tapestry until last night. I have a very large pile of small and large tapestries that need finishing work. I hate to say it, but that pile has been growing since 2020. I know because virtually all the tapestries I wove on Change the Shed over the last three years are on that pile.

Last night when I was feeling weary and just wanted to relax on the couch and watch TV, I decided it was the day to tackle that pile. Instead of knitting while watching, I would finish those tapestries. And indeed I did the finishing on two small ones in an hour. One of the ones on the top of the pile was this little guy.

Let your hands take over from your brain for a bit

Let your hands take over from your brain for a bit

Have you ever found that state where you lose track of time, completely immersed in something? Where time seems to expand endlessly and your world is simple and completely about whatever you’re doing? For me that happens with hands-on making. It happens with tapestry weaving but also drawing, knitting, and other art or craft I might be engaged in.*

I recently read Michelle Obama’s newest book, The Light We Carry. It is a delightful read. Near the beginning of this book, she talks about knitting.

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The joy of learning: online? or in-the-flesh?

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The joy of learning: online? or in-the-flesh?

THE LIFE OF A FIBER ARTS TEACHER

As most of us return to teaching workshops in person, I’ve seen several musings on some of my colleagues’ blogs about their feelings and experiences of going back to teaching post-covid, not that I believe we are actually “post-covid”! I have been reticent to return to classrooms full of people due to health concerns, but this October the covid numbers were low, I was able to get the omicron booster, and it was time to face my fears and return to the classroom.

It turned out beautifully. Spin Off Autumn Retreat (SOAR) was a wonderful conference. I wrote about it last week including a run-in with a 12-foot skeleton and some beautiful fall weather in Wisconsin. This week I’ve been thinking more about returning to teaching in person as I’m preparing to teach a retreat I run myself in Taos, NM.*

Staying pain free while you weave: Wellness for Makers

Staying pain free while you weave: Wellness for Makers

Missy Graff Ballone’s new book, Wellness for Makers: A Movement Guide for Artists is a book I’ve been waiting awhile for. It is finally out from Schiffer Publishing.

Many of you know I worked as an occupational therapist for 17 years in a wide variety of settings including adult inpatient and outpatient rehab, work rehab/pain clinic, SNF, home health, and I worked for many years in pediatrics in outpatient and schools. Ergonomics was not my specialty, but any OT has to know quite a bit about how to to adapt environments and habits for health and to adapt after injury or disease.

I hear many stories on social media about weavers who give up weaving because they have too much pain with the practice. I think a lot of times that is because they do not know how to adapt their practice and equipment for pain-free use as well as long-term health. It is sad when people give up activities they love because they think they’re too old or have too much pain due to other factors than age rather than learn to adapt the way they approach that activity so they can keep engaging in it. Before you give up weaving, please get a referral to an occupational therapist who can help you figure out ways to continue!