Bonnie Tarses just asked me what my top ten weaving tips are. I’d never thought about it before. Off the top of my head, and in no particular order I came up with:
- Experiment
- Keep records of the things you try; both the successes and the failures
- Take any workshop class that sounds vaguely interesting
- Consider warping as another hobby you enjoy
- Learn many different warping methods; all have their uses
- Figure out whether you’re happier ignoring mistakes or fixing them. And then do that.
- Set the loom up so it’s ergonomic for you; your body is the most precious weaving tool you own
- Be brave; modify your loom so it works better for you
- Use the good yarn, even when you’re just learning to weave. Time is precious and learning how to weave with crappy yarn only teaches you techniques for weaving with crappy yarn.
- If you weave something you hate; put it in a drawer until you forget about it. When you discover it later, you can appreciate it for what it is, having forgotten what you hoped it would be.
Looking at this list, it’s more about how to learn, rather than prescriptive “do this / not that” advice. And I like that. There are many ways to weave. I have my opinions about what works; others have theirs. What’s important to any given weaver is to discover what works for them, and I think the guidelines above will help you discover that for yourself.
And now I’m curious. If you’re a weaver, what are your top ten tips for weaving?