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  • Blog 2014-2021

Learning Curve

11/18/2018

 
Picture
Once upon a time,
​when computer text was green
and there was one font,
I was given an assignment in my Animal Science class--
use Lotus 1, 2, 3 to create a simple spreadsheet
​ on the topic of my choice.
Picture
​It was a big deal to learn about computers then--
something my professors thought no one in their right mind would do unless forced,
(nearly as essential as the endocrine interactions of newly pregnant ewes),
and I have to admit that without the nudge,
I would never have done it. 
Spreadsheets? Computers?  Bah.

I took the class because I was interested
in sheep, wool, and yarn,
and also because I was hoping
​ to become a Veterinarian--
a path I didn't ultimately pursue.
(Though I did not mind shoving up arm up a cow's rectum
while lying on a frosty, windy hillside,
I did mind that such calls would keep me
from knitting and spinning
as much as I might like).
Picture
Notes to Self; hand woven tapestry; hand spun wool warp and weft; natural dye; 25" x 24"
But Back to Lotus 1, 2, 3.
Yarn-centric nerd that I was even then,
I designed a knitting calculation spreadsheet

that would shift the stitch numbers from
those for the gauge given in a pattern
to stitch numbers for the gauge chosen by a knitter
for the yarn she had (ideally hand spun).


My professors thought it most original. 
I thought it pretty basic and silly--
a thing I could have done with pencil and paper in half the time.  

But I was a diligent student
out for the A's I needed to get into Vet school,
so didn't say so.

A couple of years (and many science classes later),
I strayed to a different end of campus,
wandering into a room
on the third floor of the home economics building,
where light streamed through big windows
and fell upon row up on row of floor looms
and all thoughts of veterinarianism flew away.

I quit calculus,
​learned to warp,
and devoted myself
​ to a grid of a different sort.
Picture
Time passed, as it does.

I wove -- quite a bit.
Lotus 1, 2, 3, went out of fashion.
Fonts became a thing. 

Spreadsheet programs began to be called  'apps.' 
Lives were devoted to creating them.
Other lives were devoted changing them.
Soon these apps
were filled with bells and whistles
many as silly as my spreadsheet
but which force us,
on an almost daily basis,
 to relearn things we thought we already knew,
or devote  hours, days, weeks
to finding that one little thing that has to be clicked
to accomplish the thing we did yesterday
with no trouble at all.
Bah.

As far as I know
endocrine paths of pregnant ewes
remains much as it always has.
We love our computers
and rely on them,
but the blankety-blank learning curve
never seems to flatten out.
Picture
Weaving, on the other hand
is pretty much what it was 20,000 years ago.
Picture
Over under, over, over, over under. 

There are skills to be learned, of course--

tension, selvedge control, warping techniques,
how to spin grocery receipts into yarn--
and these can feel momentous
if you've never done them,
the learning curve very steep.
Picture
But these days
we usually choose to climb
​these particular hills,
​and once we're heading up --

why the view just gets better and better.
The skills, once learned, are ours to keep.
Picture
I'm actually all in favor of learning stuff.
Indeed,  learning hard stuff
is what we humans do best,
and for many of us
person to person learning
is still easiest -- 
using arms and hands and voices

Once upon at time,
(even before computer text was green)
we might  have lived in the same village.
where we could slowly and easily
share weaving thoughts
as we spun our yarn 
and picked pebbles out of our bean seed.
We could wave our arms around
and describe that slick little maneuver
for getting the warp tension just so,
(or how to save a file to dropbox),
then show you after lunch.


It's the thing Elizabeth Wayland Barber
called "the courtyard sisterhood"
in her life changing book
Women's Work: The First 20,000 years

Sometimes we still get to do that
but with weavers separated, rare
and all over the world,
we now rely on  our marvelous
confusing, confounding,
 and ever-changing devices
to write blogs,
to shoot video 
to create WEBINARS,
in an attempt to mimic 
what we once accepted as normal.
Picture
They are miraculous, these devices.
After all, here I sit,
​ writing to you this very morning
while my laundry dries outside
 and my tea gets cold--
and it is almost like being together.
Picture
The trouble is that sometimes
the devices don't work as planned,

and those of us who know a lot about weaving,
are thrilled to BITS to ponder
esoteric, yarn-centric questions,

and to share what we know the best we can,
while you cook supper,

do not always have the latest
​digital technical minutiae 
at our fingertips. 
​
Picture
Last week, that meant that 
though Rebecca Mezoff and I
had the utterly thrilling miracle

of over 900 people registering for our Webinar--
(So many people actually interested!),

only 100 could actually "come"  to the live webinar itself.
Picture
Luckily, thanks to another techno-miracle
THERE is a recording of the whole thing,
waving arms and all.

that anyone can watch.
(Indeed, if you do, you will soon see
that I have some learning to do
when it comes to my interaction with the screen

for I seem to make a habit of
pointing at something amazing

as though you are next to me,
which it feels like you are

when, in truth,
all you get
is my finger jabbing your nose).
​
I don't know if it feels different, not being live,
but it is there,
and you can pause us at will.
​And one of these days, we'll try again.

Picture
This Four Selvedge Warping business
 is just so thrilling,
so useful in myriad ways,
that, learning curves and all,
we're going to keep talking about it. 

We have The Fringeless Class
to
explain all the details,
(Rebecca, the most patient of teachers,
is brilliant at finding just those tricky bits
that need a tiny, slow motion video to make them clear
as anyone who has taken her other tapestry classes knows).

And we now have the free Webinar
 to share more of the possibilities
when enthusiasm boils over.
Picture
Four Selvedge Bracelet -- specific instructions in the class but we talk about making them in the webinar
​So much of it is about connecting --
not only warp and weft
and spindle and yarn,
but all of us --
the 21st century 
Courtyard sisterhood,
learning hard things together,
then getting together to talk about it.


We, and the work, 
are worth it.
​

Thanks for being here.
Patti Kirch
11/20/2018 03:17:57 pm

Secret Code Swett, revealed, tapped into place, not to be forgotten!
Happy Thanksgiving friend

Laura
11/20/2018 09:27:50 pm

Sarah, I love your posts so much.

Susi
11/21/2018 10:10:17 am

It was a great webinar, even though I had to catch it via the video later! Thanks for all your efforts!

Jaya
11/21/2018 10:17:42 am

Hi Sarah (and Rebecca),
I was unable to actually attend the webinar due to being late from another commitment. Thank you for recording it. I have watched the recording and enjoyed it very much. I appreciate your taking the time to do this and record it!

Juli
11/21/2018 10:31:00 am

I am so glad we have the internet because I love sitting in the courtyard and listening to you ponder ideas and show what you've created, and it is a long way (well, maybe not so far as the crow flies) from Oregon to Idaho. May the connection never be disconnected!

Terri Bryson
11/21/2018 10:58:22 am

Terrific blog! I didn't sign up for the original viewing. I knew we'd be traveling. So happy to hear that you recorded it and I can still see it.
Thank you!

Michele Dixon
11/21/2018 11:21:03 am

Sarah, this is one of your best blogs!

Vicki Aspenberg
11/21/2018 09:11:44 pm

I so much enjoyed this beautiful post. And I also thoroughly enjoyed the Webinar. Thanks so much for both.
.

Ida
11/22/2018 03:52:06 am

I´m actually thankful that you didn´t become a veterinarian but an amazing artist and teacher in weaving in stead. (I can relate to the " shoving up arm up a cow's rectum while lying on a frosty, windy hillside,"since I was a dairy farmer for 18 years.Not so glamorous to be a vet. all the time) Second I am thankful that I was able to participate in the webinar although it seemed that I had logged in wrong time on my side of the planet. The web site had some circle in the middle going round and round and not uploading the video. I left the computer some frustrated and disappointed but when I returned to the computer 30 minutes later; there you were! I was very lucky to be part of the webinar and maybe logging in too early made me one of the 100 people who were there. Lucky me!
I'm also thankful for the progress of technology. Who would think that I in the middle of nowhere would be part of a weaving course from USA and meet so many friendly and talented weavers who share the fascination for the craft.
You and Rebecca have enriched my life in more than one way. That is also something to be thankful for.
So; Happy Thanksgiving to you and Rebecca.
Take care
Ida

Deborah Pawle
11/22/2018 06:12:34 am

Hi Sarah, a while ago you did a post where you were using a Charkha? spinning item would love to know more about this, please. Love your bracelets

Nancy B
11/23/2018 01:05:45 am

The webinar was a great success. The rest is a learning curve. Next time (there will be a next time, I hope!), you and Rebecca will have sorted out the numbers thing, and all will be well. Perhaps it's the revenge of Lotus1,2,3... ? Tech is bedevilled by the fine print (or is that the fine font?), but it allows me to participate even though I'm on the other side of the Atlantic. The trick is keeping all this useful technology as a servant: who's in charge is important.

Gisela Towner link
11/27/2018 08:37:33 am

I enjoy your post so very much. There's something about your writing and pictures and drawings that all comes together so nicely. It always brightens my day.
Thank you!


Comments are closed.
    Picture

    ​Sarah C Swett 
    tells stories
    with
    ​ and about

     hand spun yarn. 


    Picture
    Click for info on
    my four selvedge
    warping class
    with
    ​ Rebecca Mezoff  
    fringeless


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