My weaving studio is usually a place of solitude where I can slip into deep concentration. I am counting warp ends; or I am paying close attention to synchronizing shuttle, treadles, and beater for greater efficiency and speed; or I am doing calculations to plan my next project. Or I am examining the cloth on the loom with a magnifying glass, counting picks per inch; or I am trying to wind a quill with just enough, but not too much, yarn. Without realizing it, I get absorbed in my thinking.
When I am in this state of being immersed in weaving, I am easily startled by any innocent interruption. My husband has solved the problem of seeing me jump and hearing me gasp when he walks into my concentration bubble. He has hung a little brass bell a few steps outside the doorway to my weaving room. “Ring-a-ling-a-ling…,” the bell quietly announces, “It’s just me…” Now, with fewer incidents jolting me from solitude, I may live longer, as well.
May you welcome those who come near.
Come on in,
Karen
You have described one of the joys I have found in weaving…the ability to truly lose oneself in thought! Although the outsider may consider weaving as a physical application process with complicated rules, one must simultaneously find oneself drawn in by the function of the brain. For me, there are always more questions than answers, and each project leads to possibilities that thought and the artistic process are stimulated to consider.
Eileen, you said it well!
I’m an only child and my brain works a little differently than one who is use to siblings and constant background noise. I hear conversations I have with myself in my head. I guess that is the sib background noise. I jump when weaving, caculating especially warp ends needed for a coverlet with three length on the loom without re threading, reading a great mystery, doing ancestry work, sewing,etc…. I’m so wrapped up I don’t even hear the phone. I’ll have to get a bell. love, peace and joy, linda
Linda, I thought it was only me. I guess getting wrapped up in our thoughts is one of the common joys of weaving (at least for some weavers), as Eileen expressed, too.
Karen