Category: Olds College master weaving
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The Puzzle of Value
Mary and I both enjoy puzzles so in our ‘spare’ time we have been twiddling bits of coloured cardboard. As we were working on the sky and water of the current puzzle, I became really aware of how much my eye has been trained to the nuance of value by working puzzles. The blue/greys of…
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Ticking Boxes
Continuing to tick boxes on my journey to retirement. The cold ‘snap’ is over, the temps have warmed up…to minus 23 when I got up this morning. Felt positively balmy when I went out this morning! 😀 This week broke record low temperatures for our town. Talking to someone this morning, he mentioned having cabin…
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It’s a Journey
This morning I met with my accountant who helped me chart out the next steps in retiring. Notification has been sent to both taxation arms that my account is closed because my business is. We also discussed what needs to happen in order to file my income tax for 2019 and she has my books…
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Keeping Track
I have two planning calendars – one for the current year, one for the coming year. Early in January I wipe last years calendar off, post the now current one where I can easily consult it (door of my office) and set up the calendar for the next year which I also keep in the…
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Snow Day
Today is a snow day. For us that doesn’t mean we all rush to the store to buy bread and milk but instead grab our heavy coats, put on our boots, make sure that the block heater is turned on. Both vehicles have snow tires on and the truck, at least, has a shovel in…
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Re-Imagining
I think one of the reasons I have been struggling with this whole ‘retirement’ thing is that I don’t really want to ‘retire’. I am tired. That much is true. I have been dealing with nearly constant fatigue and lack of energy since about 2006. There is nothing quite like a body that has been…
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Just the Facts
I’ve been around for a while. Joined the internet in 1994 when Usenet was the place to go to find other like minded people. The textile group then moved to quilt.net, then Yahoo. Now it seems most chat groups are proliferating on Facebook. In the ‘old’ days, people interested in weaving mostly learned from books…
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Jargon
Every craft, every endeavour that we do as humans, has ‘jargon’ attached to it. Since weaving (and spinning, and knitting, and, and, and) all require specialized tools, knowing what these tools are called and the names of the processes involved in the craft makes communication more specific. It’s really really hard to ask a question…
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Challenges
One of the challenges in the Olds curriculum is that of weaving double weave, both double wide and double width. The top sample was woven by one of my students, the lower one by me. The fold in each of these textiles is visible in the photo. Well, that’s the point. It isn’t visible. One…
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In the Fullness of Time
after wet finishing and brushing before wet finishing (loom state) Patience has never been one of my attributes. I have a plan, I want things to fall into place. NOW! Over the years I have had to curb my impatience and just let things develop in their own time. So I tend to cope with…