Connections

Thank you all for your comments and suggestions on my impending lace project. And it feels like that: a bit of the doomsday about it, in its all whiteness, and its laciness.

I've decided to make the Leaf Lace shawl, mostly because of its more stockinetteness, if that makes sense: fewer holes (lace without holes, now there's a project for me). Anyway: I've taken your suggestions to heart about markers:



I made a few more, to go with the existing crop:



And because it came from Claudia, and because she actually knows me, I'm taking her suggestion to heart: I have along another, safer-bet project: fair isle mittens. To be honest, I have two *other* projects along too: one must never be caught without handwork.

All of your help is greatly appreciated, and reminds me of how nice it is to be connected to a community of fiber people. Locally, I have a great group of people whose opinions I trust, and the further-afield group of people connected through the internet: I may or may not actually know them all, but some I do, and others I may someday meet. We are lucky, lucky, lucky, that when we reach out, there is someone there.

A few weeks ago I attended a weaving meeting out of my area. I did not expect to know anyone there, but was pleasantly surprised to see that I did. I should have realized that after 30 years in a small geographic area, I would have connected with lots of people doing the same type of *work* that I love to do.

The connections go beyond the merely personal though. As weavers, spinners, dyers and knitters, we are a community without borders. We speak a common language, with which we can keep open the lines of communication, even when the political climate of our respective geographic areas would prefer that we not.

That common language spans time and space: generations of makers have shared our joy in the process of making. It is my hope that we can keep these connections alive, across borders and through time, as we learn from those who have gone before, and we pass on what we have learned.

We can continue to connect across borders as a single community, but only if we continue to communicate. If you are a maker who does not yet have a blog, consider it. My ramblings have sparked interesting commentary, and that feedback sometimes keeps me occupied and thoughtful as I work. We *need* more weaving blogs, especially.

We need more weavers. We need to support vendors, have enough people doing enough interesting things for lively conferences, and be able to pass on what we know. We can show people how simple weaving can be, and perhaps encourage people to learn. That's why Brandy's comment to my last post was so very gratifying. Brandy, I hope you do get a small loom and try, and that your child learns too. Weaving needs to be an everyday event, something people just do, not some far off, unattainable wish about something you might learn someday.

Me? gone fishing (well, gone knitting, and spinning, and weaving!).