Today we talked about ergonomics and efficiency.
As part of the presentation I talked about Katie Reeder Meek’s book Dance With Your Loom, but there are a couple other things that people might find interesting.
First of all, a book (NOT AI!) on anatomy. I talked about the sitz bones and the tail bone (coccyx), but also, about the two long bones in the arm and how holding a shuttle ‘over hand’ stresses the arm. Sometimes it just helps to take a look under the skin of our bodies so that we better understand how they work.
I also talked about posture and position at the loom, but as usual I didn’t cover everything, so I hope people take the time to learn more about their own bodies and how better to maintain them.
And, if someone is having pain when they are weaving, try to figure out what is causing it and then change what they are doing. Because it is a lot easier to avoid damage from inflammation than to recover from *having* inflammation.
As handweavers, we work together with our equipment. Doing so in a way that helps the body to do the job is just so much better for us. Learning to stop and rest before we spark inflammation may mean that we need to ‘rest’, but resting appropriately will help us to weave for longer in the long run.
Many positions/postures in weaving are not comfortable, so learning how to listen to our bodies, take care of them, allow them rest, will be beneficial to keeping our bodies working well. Choosing ‘good’ tools will help, too.
Weaving should be a ‘happy’ experience, not a painful one.
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