the merging of threads and the beginning of cloth

having spent considerable time fiddling about with the layout of this little space, i figured it was about time i wrote something. this oddly resembles my general approach to houses, offices, and work...procrastination is an art. i'm sure someone somewhere said that somewhen.

after far too many months (yes, really, months) of measuring, counting, calculating, threading, sleying, and tying on, a breakthrough happened over the last few days. out of the immense amount of thread - living in constant fear of unruly knots and the potential discovery of misplaced confidence - there appeared cloth. it was momentous. pride soared and housemates were called in to find me clambering over my bed pointing maniacally at the mass of wood, metal, and textile and the INCH OF WEAVING!!

excitement a little bit more contained, i progressed from simply spreading out the warp threads with a handy bit of thick embroidery cotton, through double picks of the ecru coloured cotton, to finally placing weft as intended, one strand of lovely cotton at a time.

and there i alighted upon a discovery. my intention to make a balanced, but relatively solid weave had not materialised. as i began to place the threads it was quite apparent that this piece of cloth is going to be alot finer, more transparent, and basically more holey than that. despite all that preparation, i've ended up making a piece that is going to be far harder to get 'right'. the weft is already wonky, my lack of experience with the equipment has left some areas of the weft more tightly packed than others, and i am sure those holy selvedges will not be straight. but this is exactly why craft/making is fantastic. as much as you prepare, no two instances of technique, material, and tool are the same. there will always be an individual stamp - i just hope to get far better and for that to be a result of practiced skill than a lack of it!

i will perservere, and photographs will follow - although i have attempted to avoid the "classic" shots of the loom...hundreds of taught threads zooming away from the camera as they pass over the back bar (apologies, i cannot remember all the words as yet!) of the loom...they are incredibly satisfying images. and meanwhile i will keep everything crossed that the rather as-it-turned-out flimsy piece of wood i'm using to attach the warp to the cloth beam doesn't snap...i did mention i'm new to this??

a room and a steady income...

unfortunately, i'm no virginia woolf of the weaving world, and fortunately i am not delivering a lecture to aspiring young ladies on the benefits of creative endeavours. but the pun amused us all too much to let it go unpunned. so here i am and it is delivering thoughts on weaving, making, learning, and craft as i think and do all of the aforementioned.

as a relative newcomer to the craft world i have rapidly discovered there is alot more going on in virtual spaces than one would first assume amongst people who have a general preference for the handmade. but you know that already - you took the trouble to find this miniscule part of the internet.

and so i am joining the fray. in this space i aim to bring together some interesting threads of my professional work in contemporary craft with my experiences as a very, horribly novice weaver in an attempt to document a moment in craft making. a rather pun filled and small one, but fingers crossed an interesting one nonetheless. i hope it adds something to the debates going on in the field, and if not, at least amuses to some degree along the way.

i've just to get that five hundred to last the year...