I have recently been helping someone learn how to use a rigid heddle loom after she asked if I might be selling one of my looms. I said I wasn’t selling one but one I had given on long term loan would be coming back to me very soon and she could borrow it if she put it together as it had been broken down for travelling.
So the loom came back and was delivered in to very eager hands. I gave her the instructions to put the stand together, the booklet that originally came with the loom - a 16inch Ashford Rigid Heddle Loom, plus a copy of the Ashford book of Rigid Heddle weaving and a DVD showing the direct warp method.
Saying don’t worry just take it slowly and all the pieces will make a loom and a stand plus watch the DVD a few times and read the warping pages of the book and I’ll come back on Tuesday afternoon and see how you’ve got on, this was a Sunday afternoon so I thought she would manage to put the loom together and on the stand plus probably have a go at warping as she was so thrilled and enthusiastic.
Tuesday arrived and there was the loom on its stand warped and with some weaving on it. She was to say the least thrilled and told me she hadn’t gone to bed before 1am Sunday and Monday night being so excited. She asked me what I thought so I said I never doubted you’d have it all put together and a warp on but to be weaving as well was brilliant.
I spent some three hours there and gently explained that she had manage to warp the loom the wrong way round and that’s why she’d had trouble with the tension. I added that it was a very forgiving loom so her piece of fabric would be good but it would be better next simply by warping it the right way round. I also said it was something I have done too but every ‘mistake’ is really a lesson in the making.
We talked about the basics, that are simple to understand and execute on this loom, but that to execute them well takes gradual process and plenty of stand up and walking round away from the loom. To each of my gentle suggestions to take time to stretch not only body but brain in a different way I was met with the ‘Oh but’ response of full on love for discovering that weaving could be so enthralling.
Her posture and place at the loom wasn’t good so her back was already sore and shoulders were complaining too. She put it down to old age, she’s late 70’s I think, but I showed her where she could put the foot rest and suggested a straight back kitchen chair with cushion might be better. We talked yarn and why the book suggested different ones for different jobs and about the different heddles each best for different warp threads.
I suggested she begin to keep a note book to chart her warp set up, what yarn she used for both warp and weft and what she wanted to achieve and what it actually turned out to be. But for now to just experiment and discover her own rhythm that gave her fabric but also gave her body a chance rest.
I said I’d come back in a few days but she could always knock on my door if she wanted to ask me a question or whatever. My door did get knocked as she excitedly wanted to show me what she had woven in the 15 hours since I’d sat in her home :0)
I gave her a wee sketch book and some coloured pencils so she could play around with colours and try to look at her yarn and consider being a little adventurous. She left chuckling so I hoped I hadn’t dented her enthusiasm as she had asked me about the latest piece and I had gently pointed out where she might try not to beat the yarn to death but gave real praise as it was remarkable just how much she was producing, though I was concerned by her obsession leading to little sleep.
I said I’d see her at the weekend for a couple hours to look at her colour experiments. I was at my end of energy so knew I needed some space silence and quiet pottering so asked her to ring to see if I was downstairs, if she got answerphone it meant I was lying down or just having a quiet time.
Her colour choices were ‘interesting’ and she was disappointed by the outcome and asked me how did I make my work look like it was dancing or smiling or being very quiet. I laughed and said a lot of hard work to let the work have something of me in it. She thought about that for a long time and finally said ‘but it is about the colours too, isn’t it’ in that semi pleading way and I realised that allowing herself to put her self in to the weaving was going to be something she’d discover was happening even as she thought she had nothing to put in to her work or was scared what she might reveal.
So I said of course it’s about the colours and whether they are concentrated in one spot or spread around then there’s the sliver of red running through a black and white tartan-like pattern that lifts the whole or a strong colour which can balance another thus making both rich rather than glaring. We sat in silence for a while and then my ‘pupil’ suddenly started to laugh then she grasped my hand and said ‘you don’t really know how to pat me on the head do you’. I was a bit baffled by this so just responded with an errrr, which made her laugh once more.
Eventually she wiped her eyes and managed to only giggle as she informed me she wished she’d known I’d talk to her without patronising. Though she also wished she’d known I’d expect her to be professional about her approach. Then I laughed and began to apologise if I had been too hard on her but I did think she could do much more. She stopped me with the wave of her hand.
Then she held my hand and informed me her late partner had announced one day that the new girl – me, doesn’t take prisoners doesn’t look away and looks straight in your eye when she asks a question but she really listens to the answer so be careful what you say as she’ll ask another question and you’ll be telling her your life story before you know it. I smiled then and told her I hope I hadn’t made her feel uncomfortable.
Oh but I love that, says she, you haven’t once made me feel like a fool or thought I wouldn’t be able to look at a DVD and books to begin putting the loom together and even get weaving, you made me believe it too and didn’t pat me on the head as a good girl when you came on Tuesday but just began looking seriously at the weaving and then had me change chairs and where I put my feet and on you went expecting me to follow as you offered me a helping hand from time to time. You do know I’m old!
I asked if that was important and she began to laugh again and said well you don’t think so, so I don’t either now.
We spent another half an hour working out what she might do in the next few weeks, when I could pop in if she wished.
In the weeks since she has continued to weave and learn.
I have continued to pop in, admire, suggest, show and laugh.
I could have easily said no to her original request, but I know that using my hands to transform yarn into cloth gives me much more than cloth. It offers way to still the noise in my head, forget the pain of my body top to toe for a little while, think through the ideas for work and consider much else besides.
I said yes to the request, not to share my skills but in hope the things I know I get from weaving would be gift to this lady who is quite lonely, and just needed someone to treat her as intelligent full of possibilities human being rather than stupid redundant old lady which I know she gets from relatives.
We are both students so who knows where we will journey, what we will learn :o)