“Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.” – Scott Adams
It’s been another busy week of exploring things. Sometimes I feel like I’ve gotten a lot done and other times I feel like there is just so much to do.
I did four scarfs (one didn’t make it all the way as the warp thread broke), all with the same yarn and they all looked different because of the color, density and number of threads I used to warp the loom. Each scarf was lovely in its own right, but not until the last one did it even come close to approximating what I had envisioned.
Dena, my “weaving teacher” said, “Lori is doing a ‘study!'” That was a crack up. She said, “Well, four scarves make it a study!” I would have to agree. As frustrating as I may have felt at times, it was indeed an excellent exercise in understanding the materials and structure.
I played around with a new yarn for me, Blue Heron. Handpainted yarns that are just amazingly beautiful and soft. I ventured in to toying around with “spanish lace”. That was interesting. I ended up in what I call the Bermuda Triangle, where you are weaving and unweaving, again and again, in the same area. You have to be very careful when doing this, its not recommended, because the yarns start to grab each other and can quickly begin to breakdown and ‘fuzz up’.
Spanish Lace
So eventually I cut off my shuttle, gently pulled everything out using a large wooden weaving needle and then tried one more time with fabulous result. I was glad I stuck it out.
Then there is photographing. I can get a shot, composition, and detail, but I’m not liking the inability to pick up the beautiful color and texture of the yarns.
As with a lot of things, you run into areas you know little about, but are necessary pieces to the whole picture.
There is much to do that is not weaving, but are necessary to making it a going concern. The good news is, it has been fun so far and I’ve had great help.
I hired Ron, my old boss to render for me a drawing to tie your scarf into a celtic knot from a video I saw. He did a great job and I got a number printed up already.
I haven’t even ventured into business cards yet and then of course, there is getting the website sorted out. Anyway, getting the website sorted out needs to become a priority so I can blog over there instead of here! 🙂 Although you have all been so supportive!
Thanks Rene! Yeah, I resurrected my knitting “skills” (cough! cough!) from my teenage years when Dave was going through treatment. There was only so much email and reading I could do some days and the knitting/crocheting helped me feel productive and creative. Not too mention it garnered some new friends.
I love that your friend made a prayer shawl for you. How incredibly special and meaningful. Our doctor friend sent Dave her mother’s healing blanket that they all made when she had cancer. He was so touched (as was I) by the gesture and he would curl up with it. Funny how those kinds of things can touch you deeply.
Glad you hear hubby is recovering and you got your Veetamins! You should notice an improvement in 2-3 weeks. Let me know!
Lori-
Your work looks beautiful!! I’m so happy for you that you’re pursuing this new venture I’ve knitted (just a smidge) in the past, I really should try again. I do have some friends though that would be very interested in your new website when you get it up 🙂 One of them knitted a beautiful prayer shawl for me, she prayed for me while she was knitting it. I clung to it like air when Jeff was getting his transplant. He did his in-patient so I spent most of my nights at a hotel near-by. I stayed in his room on his worst nights though. He’s recovering nicely from his pneumonia and I got my B vitamins! Have a great week!