Facing A Challenge...

Alrighty folks... well... I'm finally going to do it. After 8 years... I am going to buck up and face my fears... and try to start working on my 56" Macomber Loom. Back in college, when I was hoping to concentrate on Pottery... I was so kindly disregarded in class choices since I was a freshman (go figure) and needed to fill up my space, preferably with an art class. Turned out that my adviser was also the Fiber Arts professor and she, of course, prompted me to take her course. I was hesitant. I really didn't know anything about working with Fibers... and I really, honestly, had a pretty crappy art experience in high school. I can't believe we, the taxpayers, pay some people to sit around and work on their OWN art projects, while allowing kids to pretty much blow off a couple of class periods doodling or mashing polymer clay between their fingers. Frustrating. Anyway... as I was saying... I didn't know much about Fiber and let me tell you, there were some kooky things being taught that I knew nothing about! Line, Form, Shape, Color... sounds pretty elementary, but when you are in college and have never had a decent understanding of such things via your high school years... it can be pretty overwhelming. Come to find out though, despite not really caring much about the ins and outs of the "artsy fartsy world"--I actually did take a liking to weaving on a loom. I would go to the studio in the evenings to work on my projects. Just me, the radio and a small Macomber Loom. Most of the other kids in the class really didn't care and did simple things that they could blow through in the 3.5 hour class time twice a week. A long story short... I hated college. I roomed with my best friend... it was supposed to be the time of our lives... and it actually ruined our friendship to the point where we didn't speak for YEARS. I'd say maybe 5 yrs. We do send an occasional "hello" email... but it's not the same. (I never recommend rooming with your best friend, unless you want to try to endure through the tension--Best of Luck). I also had a very obnoxious boyfriend at the time. One of those things I look back and and say WHAT THE H-E-Double hockey stix WAS I THINKING!? Seriously. No... MORE than seriously. What a waste of my time, breath and GAS MONEY. Yeah, he didn't drive or work and lived 40 mins away. WHAT.WAS.I.THINKING? Ew. Anyway... I decided to drop out of college. I never was very studious anyway and I absolutely hated my english class. **shudder** I finished out my semester and then went to work. The American Dream. Right. But it led me where I am today, so I really can't complain! About 4 months or so after having left college and moving back home... I decided to drain out some savings and buy a 56" Macomber Loom. The thought at the time was that having a loom that could making things as big as rugs would be beneficial. Instead, it turned into quite the ball and chain hauling it around the few times I moved. I did use it a couple of times, but it ended up becoming more of a "catch all" than a useful tool. I am ashamed. But today, I begin again! I pulled out my trusty old weaving book from college and I am going to attempt to face my fears. May sound lame, I know... but I have this little nagging inside of me that says that nothing I do is ever good enough. I don't want a constant pat on the back for the things that I do... but I guess everyone wants their talents to be worth something, right? So, I start today. I have already set the loom up, ready to start threading on the Warp. Here is a picture of my loom, as it is now, in my dining room (please don't mind the 70's linoleum) (Also in the picture is the warping board with a funky yellow yarn that I am going to use for my first project... and also, my trusty weaving book). Perhaps this will become a theraputic art for me. (Hopefully). Here are a couple of other pics of sample weaves I did in college. Unfortunately, the only scarf I actually kept ended up getting eaten by my parents dog. No joke. Not like "the dog ate my homework" or anything... because it happened a couple of years after I was out of college... the dog must've been drawn to the wool... or perhaps a yarn was dyed in some organic substance that attracted her. Either way, it is gone. So my sister is the only other person with a piece of my weaving. I made a scarf for her, however she claims it is too scratchy to wear. I can't dispute her, I honestly didn't do the best job in picking out a comfortable yarn... although if she wore it, it would probably become a little less scratchy over time. This here is the Waffle Weave (which I absolutely love and get a thrill just from even looking at this sample... it's so neat to watch it come together on the loom!): And this... its just a small sample of a bunch of different weaves that we did using cast-off yarns...
Wish me luck, eh?

And on an ending note, I'd like to share this little bit of my weekend. My mom and I set up a table at a small fall festival in my hometown. It pretty much rained the whole day, which was a bummer... but I did make a little money and that helped to buy some groceries today!! But, here is a pic of my sweet little nephew snuggled in a U-haul blanket with my mom. We were all freezing up on the windy hill, luckily our stuff didn't blow away!

I am off to peruse through my Weaving Book and hopefully refresh my memory so that I can start becoming The Weaver at the Loom that I know I can be.