I kept trying not to write this post. It started as blurb in the newsletter about acquiring the rights to Handwoven Home and releasing a new digital edition, but then I kept thinking about the wonders of publishing and ran out of room to wax poetic. I’m still not sure this subject is post worthy, …
After a two year hiatus, the public weave-alongs are back. On February 14, we kicked off a clasped warp and weft table set in twill or plain weave project bonanza in our new home YarnworkerU. The name is both a nod to educational spaces and a play on words regarding the personal nature of weaving. …
There is a saying that life is short, but the days and nights are long. How is it that we can feel like some days will never end, but in a blink of an eye we are rolling into a new season, a new year, a new decade? Time, and how we spend it, is …
Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts during the 2022 Yarnworker Check-In Survey. Over 700 rigid-heddle weavers responded to the survey. In addition to the numerous multiple choice questions, I asked a number of open-ended ones. This is an act of putting on my active listening ears to let you describe your weaving …
Every two years I send out a survey to get a feel for where rigid-heddle weavers are on their weaving journey and what specific issues they may be experiencing. Feedback from these surveys helped start the weave-alongs and prompted me to create specific content, most recently, A Weaver’s Guide to Yarn. First a Bit of …
Just before the start of the Fall semester at New Mexico Tech, the administration decided to change things up which resulted in merging my Weaving 101 and 201 classes. This mixing of levels is both synergistic and chaotic. Imagine a class happening in the middle of a lab. While the beginners are inspired by the …
I love a good challenge, but I’m also not so fond of change. An oxymoron, I know. As weavers, this dual nature is built right into our history. I often note that while computer technology was built on loom technology, Luddites were also weavers. I sympathize with both camps. Since I learn best by doing, …
Last year, I decided to take a sabbatical. The dictionary defines a sabbatical as “a period of paid leave granted to a university teacher or other worker for study or travel, traditionally one year for every seven years worked.” It is meant to refresh, rejuvenate, and refocus, the individual so they can get back to …
Three years ago I launched Yarnworker as a place to call home in the vast world of the internet and as a platform to share tips, technique, and stuff that makes your weaving life better. If Yarnworker was a human, this would be her willful stage of development. Having your hobby be your jobby is challenging and …
Since June, I’ve laid my head in a different bed one week to the next. Occasionally the bed has been my own, but more often than not, it hasn’t. Mostly, I’ve been teaching on what I’ve dubbed the 2016 Rigid Heddle Road Trip, or attending conferences and other weaving-related gatherings. Teaching is really important to me. …
