Blog
Today I had five people ask the same question in my online classes. Granted, this question is one I get at least a few times a week, but today was a red letter day. When that happens, it is time to put some answers out to the wider world because I know some of the rest of you experience this also.
The question is: Why do my warps bunch up a half inch to an inch in from the selvedge?
As many of you know, I was an occupational therapist for 17 years and still hold state and national licenses. I have seen so many fiber artists and crafters with injuries that meant they had to scale back or stop their beloved fiber activities that I have used my therapist expertise to address these issues in the tapestry workshops I teach. So I was completely thrilled to see the book I'm reviewing here hit the shelves. I did a little dance when I saw it at my LYS last week (Shuttles, Spindles, and Skeins in Boulder has some copies--go get one or ask your local yarn store to carry it).
Ergonomics is just a fancy word for how we interact with the environment. It addresses how we use our bodies for safety, comfort, health, and productivity. And as a fiber artist, how I use my body is of paramount importance especially given all I know about what can happen when we don't take care of our most important equipment. I spend a lot of time every day in activities that are very repetitive (including typing this) and I bet you do too.
There are occasional days where I find myself curled up in a ball on the floor of my studio hoping things will be different when I finally prop myself back up emotionally enough to continue. This doesn't happen often, but yesterday was one of those days. I stepped backwards and tripped over my spinning wheel, landing in a pile of yarn and fleece (thank goodness for small mercies and the soft nature of my medium) and I lay there and cried. I wasn't hurt, just frustrated by how far behind I felt and by the mound of items on my to-do list that never get done.
I don't always know what causes these days where things feel so hard, but I'm noticing lately that many people are feeling the same way. This makes me feel like less of a loser for the struggle and it reminds me that we need to support each other when times feel tough.
Shocked again. I still can't believe how big it is, this tapestry I'm about to start weaving.
There was another moment in April when I was shocked by the size of the piece. But time makes one forget and there were a lot of workshops to teach between April and today. So when I got the cartoon officially blown up last week, I had another shock.
In April I was an artist-in-residence at Hambidge in Georgia and I spent some of the time creating a full-size mock-up of this tapestry design. It was just done in cheap paper and my goal was just to see the true size of the forms and to be able to move them around at full size to see if I liked them. I also needed to check what the curves would actually look like so I could choose an appropriate sett for the piece.
