Taking a New Turn

Sometimes this roller coaster of life takes us one way and then another and all we can do is hold on for the ride. But sometimes we get to choose the direction. And sometimes it is fun to pick a direction that you have never been in before. So that is what I did!

I will be sharing this path with you as I travel it and hopefully remembering to take my camera along as well. (I forgot it last night)

So last night I did something I have not done since I was 10 years old. And let me tell you that was a few years ago! I attended a class to learn how to weave. Now I have never had a class to learn how to weave before, but the last class I took to learn a skill was when I was 10 years old and it was to learn how to knit. I do a lot of things but most are self taught. So this class thing was way different for me.

So off to the class I went. Really having no idea what to expect, I walk into and older building that has been turned into studios. This building was in it previous life a store or shop of some kind. It had very high ceilings and was exactly what you would expect from an old building. There was a shop up front of all the items the artists in residence here had for sale. I was greeted by my teacher Jane and another soon to be weaving pupil, Jen. Now being women we got busy saying hello and sharing a little about ourselves. As well as asking question of each other as we got acquainted. 

Now it was time to get down to business. So we were each shown a loom to sit by and given a small basket with a few goodies inside. Things like scissors, small ruler, needles, pins etc... Jane shared a brief history of the type of loom we were looking at and how it was used back then. And then we got busy tying our warp threads onto the apron bar. After completed we moved on to winding some thread onto a small shuttle and then we began weaving our filler and then the heading. This part went pretty quick and it was just a matter of getting into some sort of rhythm.   

Then we got to pick some color to add to our little project. And the weaving continued. And on and on I went till it looked like this.

This was the first piece and the cardboard is used as a spacer bar.

And then you continue on to the next piece. I know it looks like a mess, just hang with me a little bit here.

Well I have to stop right here a minute and tell you that all I was thinking at this point was, BORING! I was wondering what on earth I had gotten myself into. I never quit anything I start so I knew for the next 4 weeks this was what I was going to be doing on Tuesday night. So I swallowed hard and took a deep breath.

And then Jane, who I will have to say is probably the best darn teacher on the planet turned to me and said. "You look bored and are going to be even more so if I don't teach you some other things real quick." 

So we chatted a bit about what I would like to be able to do in the end and we have a new line of action and I can't wait for next Tuesday. So stay tuned for the continuing saga on "Weaving Wednesday."

Here is my completed project for the evening.