Am I the Only One?

If schools were run to suit my learning style every student would have the option to be in distance education, learning in the quiet of their own home from well prepared lessons and at their own pace. By my early thirties I knew that lectures, live demonstrations, and group settings are not my best way to learn something. In fact, in a typical classroom setting I find it very difficult to learn at all! I am an introvert and the stimulus of all that is going on around me is overwhelming and distracting.

I realize I am the odd duck here. It seems most people like to be shown how to do things and rarely learn from a text book. I was the kid that took the textbook home, did my homework, and went back to school the next day finally understanding what the teacher was getting on about.

When the guild announced a workshop day to learn to make a fully lined, zippered boxy bag and supplied the link to the tutorial so that interested people could bring needed supplies, you know what I did? I went ahead, jumped the gun, and made the bag at my own pace and with no distractions. 

I made my boxy bag with an exterior of handwoven fabric, the warp being a hand dyed (not by me) tencel and the weft being my own handspun wool yarn. The finished bag is not absolutely perfect, but I'm pleased with it.

I'll still show up at the workshop, but now I can relax because I've done my homework. 

Sample Weaving

Last Saturday I attended a weaving workshop held by our guild and generously taught by one of our experienced weavers. We were learning about a weave structure which is named "Summer and Winter" after its alternating blocks of dark and light. I managed to complete 4 of the 14 samples that day, which was probably about average. I went home and completed two more of the samples that evening.

I continued with the project today and got another 6 samples finished. They aren't perfect, which of course bugs me, but I remind myself that they are just samples and are meant as learning tools. The good ones will make their way into a sample book/file, and the ones with errors may possibly be redone correctly some day --- that is if I like them enough otherwise. Some I like more than others.

Of the ones I did today, these first two are my favorites. Pardon the ends. Those are dealt with after the work is off the loom. This warp is still a work in progress.

Sample 7

Sample 8

The lower Sample in this next photo is riddled with mistakes. I think I wasn't paying careful enough attention and lost track of where I was in the treadling a couple of times. I kind of like the top Sample in the picture though. It was an experiment using "Swiss Twill" as the treadling pattern on the "Summer and Winter" warp.

Swiss Twill treadling (above)

Sample 9 (below)

Sample 10