Tag: mistake

Right Now Is the Best Time

Karen

What do you do with a blank slate? Do you feel empowered or immobilized? It is easy to get stuck in over-planning instead of jumping right in and doing something. I am facing a blank slate now with the rya weaving. I finished the first two rya pieces on this warp (the first one HERE; the second one HERE), and now I have time to think about the color and design for the third piece. I have a good assortment of wool yarns to choose from, about twenty-five different colors.

Rosepath weaving on the loom. Glimpse of rya knots on the way to the cloth beam.
First rya section is seen wrapping around the cloth beam, and the second piece is on its way there, with bits of the red wool strands seen hanging down. Now ready to begin the third set of rya knots.

Sometimes all the options overwhelm me and I freeze, doing nothing instead of doing something. I can think about the next steps all day long, but until I act on the ideas nothing happens.

Opportunities come and go. If we are immobilized because we fear making a mistake, we miss the chance to make a difference in the moment. Your best opportunity is right now! Whatever you have in front of you…whatever you know to do…no matter how small or seemingly insignificant…do it. Do the next thing now. And if you don’t care for how it comes out, …there’s always next time!

May you find yourself moving forward with gusto.

Happy Weaving,
Karen

Mistakes Are Not The End

Karen

Five towels down, three to go. Or maybe only two to go. Because of my initial threading error, I had to start over. Now, I am not positive if there is enough warp left for three more towels. (Remember the threading error? I wrote about it HERE.) Mistakes cost us. If the warp runs short before the weaving is done, I will have to blame it on my own mistake.

Cotton three-shaft twill with warp floats. Handtowel, Karen Isenhower
Thin black lines separate rows of color to give this cotton towel a stained glass effect. The thin red line will be the cutting line between towels.

Errors have consequences. Even when the mistake can be fixed, we regret the mistake. “I should’ve-would’ve-could’ve” kind of thinking. The good thing about weaving is, you can usually fix your way out of a mistake. And I can make something out of a smaller woven piece at the end. When someone you love makes a mistake, surely you offer kind help and patient assistance to lead them to a workable solution.

What if you were on the receiving end of that kind of loving attention? Good news. You are on the receiving end of kindness and patience. You do have someone treating you like that. Our creator is rich in kindness and patience toward us, even when we keep making mistakes. Even when we think we may have wasted too much of the warp, he lets us start again and get the best out of what remains.

May seeds of kindness and patience be planted into your life.

With kind regards,
Karen

Cut It Off and Start Over

Karen

This is what starting over looks like. After weaving a couple inches, I had a bad feeling. Uh oh, there is a fatal mistake in the threading. Not just one or two wandering threads, but I mis-threaded all the way across the warp!

Threading error. Re-threading 866 heddles.
Sample with various weft color options. After cutting off the sample, the process of re-threading the 866 heddles begins.

Cut off the sample. Pull 866 threads back out of the reed and out of the heddles. Re-thread 866 threads. Re-sley. Redo the tie-up. Tie-on again! Breathe. Even so, I am thankful I get to begin again. The mistakes are completely removed and I have a fresh start.

I had to search to find the root of this error. I examined the threads in the fabric; and I compared the woven sample to the draft. Not until I studied my planning sheet did I see that I had written out the draft incorrectly. I had mistakenly exchanged shaft 4 for shaft 2 in the threading draft. Aha! and Ugh! My instructions to myself were faulty!

We cannot fix everything in our lives. Often, we cannot even find the root of the problem. Fortunately, our grand weaver, who searches hearts and minds, is able to reveal the source of our error. And then, in his grace, cuts away what was not working and gives us a brand new start. No old strings attached.

May a fresh start come your way.

Grace to you,
Karen