Getting a Sample of my Mojo Back

 

This past weekend was the DFW Fiber Fest. I’ve been on the board of this annual event for three years now; it’s a LOT of work, but it’s also a really great reminder of the fantastic fiber arts community, and the power of getting together to do creative things with string. We hire both local and national instructors, and we draw over sixty vendors from the region and across the country.

I had gotten cotton yarn a few months ago to weave a sampler, but just hadn’t ever gotten around to it. I finally sat down and warped the loom on Friday during the event, and sat and wove, and talked to people about weaving, and showed people how the weaving worked, until I finally finished it on Saturday. It was good to visit with everybody, and it was satisfying and pleasing to weave again.

I normally don’t title “pieces” of my weaving, unless there’s something going into a show that needs a title. A sampler, in particular, wouldn’t get a title – by its very nature, a sampler is a process piece, a test, a recapitulation of technique and pattern. But I decided that because of the unique situation, and the fact that it’s more of a way of brushing off my weaving skills, than a set of pattern sketches, this piece deserves a title. I’m calling it, “Fuck That B.S.” Because it’s bullshit to let somebody stomp on your joy, and it’s bullshit to doubt your worth because of petty things people say, and I just don’t need that kind of bullshit in my life any more.

8 replies
  1. Janyce Short
    Janyce Short says:

    I’ve just started card weaving, and you are my inspiration for starting. This is a wonderful piece!! I keep seeing your name for classes in the Pacific NW but they always fill up before I even find them. I’m really looking forward to the card weaving convention in 2019 so I can finally take some of your classes (I’ll keep looking until then though). Thanks for all you do for the card weaving community and us newbies!!!

  2. Michael
    Michael says:

    Thanks for your kind words!

    Pacific NW? I’ve taught silk in Oregon once, but that’s been it… I’d love to come up there and teach, if you know a guild that wants me to!

  3. Janyce Short
    Janyce Short says:

    I’ve always been fascinated with silkworms. That must be a lot of fun to raise them. What do you cover in the silk class?

  4. Michael
    Michael says:

    I’ve done it several ways – I focus on reeling and twisting, starting from cocoons to make a variety of different yarns. If there’s time in the schedule, we make hankies.

Trackbacks & Pingbacks

  1. […] used a piece of the “Fuck That B.S” sampler as the backing. I figured it was apt, and it was the right width. It gives the finished project a […]

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