Quite a few years ago, I abandoned the idea of New Year’s resolutions that were centered on self-improvement and replaced them with resolutions to do things that I wanted to do—a bucket list of sorts. When I told my sister one year that my resolutions were now along the lines of "I’m going to see what that new restaurant downtown is like" and "I’m going to learn how to weave lace", she laughingly responded, “But that is what you want to do.” Yes, it was what I wanted to do. No guilt, no expectations of a total personality change, just some things that I wanted to try or do.
It works for me. You all can go ahead and feel bad about not going to the gym every day in 2017, for not reading all of Shakespeare’s plays, or for not yet speaking fluent Italian, but I’m not going to join you. I’m working on next year’s resolutions. Currently, they involve visiting Yellowstone Park and finding out if you can weave a rag rug using velvet as your weft.
Your crafting life can really benefit by reimagining resolutions as things you want to do. Adopt my approach, and you might find more pleasure in your weaving. Imagine weaving resolutions in 2018 like these:
Try some yarns you hadn’t considered before. Photo credit: Pixabay
- Weave plain weave on an 8-shaft loom, or weave a 4” scarf on a 20” wide rigid-heddle loom, without feeling guilty.
- Cut off that warp you hate.
- Throw away the cone of mohair that makes you itch when you look at it.
- Add some crazy weft to your very structured runner.
- Try a different treadling than the one you so carefully planned.
- Warp with the souvenir skein you’ve had for 10 years.
- Combine your favorite colors in a way that makes you happy but doesn’t jive with color theory.
Maybe if your resolutions are more in line with your intentions and what you want to do, you might find yourself exploring some avenues in weaving you never before considered. It’s much more fun than feeling guilty about what you didn’t do, and I bet far more productive in the end. Join me. And
I’ll let you know what I find out about using velvet for weft!
Weave well, Susan