These days you see lots of writing about “Mindful” knitting, weaving, crafting in general. It’s an interesting idea, but from my point of view, the most important aspect of this idea is paying attention…something that involves patience, focus, and a state of mind that is close to meditation. If you can pay attention, then “being present,” and involving your entire self in the activity should follow. Paying attention (along with patience, focus, meditation) is something I have in VERY short supply. I actually have to practice patience. And, I’m fortunate that Bruce has an abundance of patience so is able to very gently suggest that direction when I’m bouncing off the walls. My personality is about as un-mindful as it gets!
I did learn something about my world-view a few years back in a training class at work. It was a week-long effort at instilling leadership skills through understanding of your own qualities and how best to work with others. Let’s just say that while I learned a good deal about myself, I find it difficult to use my “skills” to interact with others. Someone I once worked for said of me, “Sara does not suffer fools lightly.” I don’t disagree with that assessment — although I’m not particularly proud of it. But back to mindfulness and crafting, my personality type does contribute to my battle of paying attention.
During the training class we were given a test to determine where we fit in a group if you wanted to have a successful collaboration. After the instructors looked at the results, they came back to me and asked me to do it over because my results were unlike any they had seen before. Normally you sit mainly in one of four blocks, with a few traits scattered over the other three. Some people even have rather equal groupings in two or sometimes three of the blocks. Mine were all located in one block. The one called “creativity.” My second test came out the same as the first, and one of the instructors actually called the author of the test to see if he/she could give some guidance on what that meant. Apparently, I’m good at coming up with ideas (something good to have in a working group). My failing was that I am absolutely uninterested in the mechanics of getting it done. I can see the problem, I can see the solution, but my attitude is, “I’ll see you at the finish line when you figure out how to get there — you’re on your own.” This is a truly terrible characteristic for a leader or for someone trying to fit into a group.
I have several books on band weaving, and have looked at a plethora of YouTube videos on weaving, but have had a hard time moving from the instructions to the threading for the looms that have different sized slots or two sets of holes. After looking at many of the ideas, and failing to find the proper threading, I decided to invest in a couple of pre-threaded kits of different skill levels. This also aided in putting together all of the tools I’d need to produce several bands. In particular, I wanted to get ahold of a Gehpa, the traditional Sami shuttle with the curved, pointed end. Having watched several videos where you have to pick up or drop some of the warp threads to create the pattern, it was clear that this style would be beneficial.
This is the kit I chose from STOORSTÅLKA, coming from Jokkmokk in Sweden (also available from the Woolery in the US).
This is a straightforward band with no pick-ups, and you can see that right away I lost control over the edges and the tension, causing the band to get wider as I went along. It’s not surprising that I kept going….somehow I continue to assume the gnomes will come out at night and fix my errors. Finally, I did unweave to where the band looked more like the image above, and in doing so, discovered a few other things (mistakes) I’d done. The curved Gehpa is nice to work with, although it seems too large for these small bands. The pointed tip is indeed VERY good at picking up threads, although for this band, that wasn’t part of the design. When I turned the band over, there were quite a number of skips, and part of the messy edge was due to warp threads sticking together and the shed not separating cleanly.
This is an excellent example of me NOT paying attention. I’m now back to just two rows beyond the band clip, and ready to begin again. Given the very sticky nature of this wool, I will need to be more mindful of the shed, and will slow down when I pull the weft across to better maintain the width. I’m also adding a little card to indicate the desired width as an aide (that I apparently didn’t think I needed until now).
Sometimes even the smallest of projects require the greatest humility.
Meanwhile…
Wildlife at the house continues to provide fun and amusement. Lyla has decided that I need a supervisor for sweeping, and an absolutely giant raccoon has been a recent nightly visitor. At first we thought he was an American badger because of his size (at least 20 pounds), but evidently is just a regular raccoon who is quite well fed.
There is a ton of bird nest-building going on, with the attendant squabbling over pieces of fluff and straw. Both robins and Jays also seem quite interested in the invasion of sparrow nests (which are fortunately inside bird houses and well protected).
Crocus have sprung up all over the yard, and the last of the snow (for now) has melted. I’m not naive enough to think that there might not be another good snowfall before it’s all over, but meanwhile, it does feel like spring.
Yesterday was a great mail day. My brand new model Electric Eel version 6.0 arrived, and includes many of the suggestions that I (along with many other spinners) had requested. I’m waiting for Bruce to have time to help me put it together (it’s not that I actually need the help, but he gets very enthusiastic about my tools and has come up with a fair number of improvements and modifications himself). The other was a lovely package from Latvia. Harvest Looms makes very nice shuttles, small looms, rigid heddles and this great loom dock to hold the heddle steady as you do the threading. It’s a big improvement over the clamps I’ve used before and I’m looking forward to starting another project (whoops, there goes the patience and paying attention to the dozens of other projects already in the works).
Well, no one can have just one (project).
Actually, I think I need to count them all and frog those that are never going to make it to the top of the pile. I have a whole cabinet (smallish) filled with things I thought I wanted to make.