Twelve years. Blog-o-versary

Twelve years. Blog-o-versary

Twelve.

That is the number of years I’ve been writing this blog. I have enjoyed being here every week. I am a natural journaler and to some extent, the blog is an extension of that. I have used it to talk about whatever fiber-related thing was going on in my world—and maybe a few more chickens than you all might have liked. It has also been a place to give you information about tapestry techniques I am asked lots of questions about, and perhaps this is one of its most useful functions. I’ve written posts about looms and sett and yarn and that helps me too because when I get an email asking about one of those things, I can just send you to the blog.*

The adventure of every day live tapestry... on YouTube

The adventure of every day live tapestry... on YouTube

I have lost track of how long I’ve been doing a live meet-up on YouTube every weekday morning, but I suspect tomorrow makes it 3 weeks. It seems like just a day ago that Colorado got stay-at-home orders and also like an eternity. Time is so different when routines change so drastically.

Change the Shed is what I’ve called this 30-minute daily tapestry check-in. I’ve heard from so many of you that it is helpful and I’ll keep doing it because it is helpful for me too. I do love talking about tapestry weaving. The subjects are varied and depend somewhat on whatever weaving I’ve put on the table that day. We’ve talked about yarns and techniques and tools and not much at all about the wider world (thankfully). If you want a little update on what it is and how to join in, you’ll find all the information HERE. Every weekday at 10:30 am Mountain on YouTube.

One day at a time...

One day at a time...

The world sure feels different.

I feel different. I am lucky that I have a job that I can continue to do and that gives some focus to my days, because I definitely feel distracted. I am generally able to focus on a project fairly consistently, but the last few weeks, I have struggled with sticking with pretty much anything.

I’m guessing some of you know what I’m talking about. So I’m just going to say it again, it is okay to be rudderless for a bit. I’ve been struggling particularly with what to weave in my daily Change the Shed broadcasts.*

This should not be hard for me. I have been teaching tapestry for almost a decade now, I have a personal artistic practice, and I have scores of ideas of what to weave. But still, nothing seems to have quite the interest that it did a few months ago. So maybe I’ll weave about that. Or maybe I’ll just weave back and forth with some handspun. The color changes are fun and it takes away the stress of making any decisions.

Hot Flash: a tapestry

Hot Flash: a tapestry

It might be that we don’t talk about peri-menopause enough. I don’t know. I won’t belabor it, but I do think it can make a hilarious subject for a tapestry.

(A whole bunch of people just clicked away, didn’t they! I bet those of you left are over 40 and female… thanks to you my sisters).

In one of the Q&As I did for the Design Solutions class I was talking about the work of Pat Williams and how much I love it even though it is so different from my own work. And then I thought, why not? There isn’t any reason I can’t weave something funny and graphic.

I tend to do a lot of playing around with my tapestry diary/sketch tapestry practice. I figured that I could try a design like this, call it part of my tapestry diary which totally takes away any feeling that it has to be any “good”, and I’d see what happened. Then I decided I wanted to weave it larger and enter it in the American Tapestry Alliance’s Unjuried Small Format show, Renditions. So a 10 x 10 inch design was born.

Change the shed: weaving together

Change the shed: weaving together

Making, crafting, creating… these are wonderful ways to spend time. Many of us participate in group activities such as guild meetings or informal groups with friends where we get together to weave or spin or knit. The worldwide COVID-19 crisis has confined many of us to our homes as we allow the front-line workers to have the best chance at conquering the devastating effects of this health threat. I believe it is helpful to have structure to our days and that weaving tapestry can be fulfilling and calming. I also think that if each of us can remain steady and have some focus, it makes a difference to the world. It changes how we show up for each other and that might well make all the difference.

A skein of hibiscus-colored yarn and a bit of anxiety-managing weaving

A skein of hibiscus-colored yarn and a bit of anxiety-managing weaving

March 2nd. Another round of book edits were due and I had sent them the night before. The new material for the Design Solutions online course was also up and everything seemed to be working in technology world.

March 2nd. Before the world changed so quickly and drastically.

March 2nd. I went to the yarn store because yarn makes me feel better. I ostensibly was looking for yarn for my nieces to learn to crochet with. But we all know the truth. I had met two huge deadlines which happened to fall on the same day and I was tired. And a little dreary. And petting the yarn always cheers me up. I try hard not to stop at yarn stores and when I’m tired or down is the most dangerous time (because who knows how much yarn I’ll add to my already large knitting yarn stash). But March 2nd, I visited. The Loopy Ewe.*