Of course, New Year's is my holiday, with all the talk of resolutions and the feeling of a fresh start. (And the parties).
Not to mention that the frantic, dark, harried pace of December slows down to the nice wide, white, open expanse of January. January is a peaceful time where I live. It's snowy, cold - a great time to turn inward.
Resolutions & Me
Some years I make lots of resolutions or set lots of goals. I started running 9 years ago (after a hiatus of about 12 years) as a New Year's resolution. That one definitely worked!
Last year, I just picked four household projects that were driving me crazy. I thought I could knock them each off in a week in January. That's not quite how it went, but I did finish 3 of the four projects. (The other one lingers on my to do list.)
This Year
This year, I'm thinking more in terms of areas I want to explore in weaving. And about how I'll continue to incorporate time to weave in my life.
Weaving areas of interest for this year:
- designing my own projects
- block design (summer and winter, overshot and more)
- doubleweave
- blankets
For the rest of the winter (which, for the sake of this discussion, lasts until the end of May), I'm going to stick with my 10 hour a week weaving schedule. It's working well for me.
Summer is a huge challenge for me. I look forward to summer every year. I love warm weather and the outdoors. Last year, I knit two lobsters, one scarf, and wove two scarves on my rigid heddle loom.
I didn't weave at all on my baby wolf or my Toika. The Toika sat naked all summer after a quick burst of weaving in spring. The baby wolf had a huck towel warp on it all summer., sitting, waiting patiently, for a weaver who was playing outside.
This year I want to strike a better balance between enjoying all that summer has to offer, and maintaining some weaving momentum.
Ideally, I'd head into summer with several projects designed and ready to go....so I could do more weaving and less thinking over the summer. The early morning schedule that I've been using, of heading to my studio first thing, has worked really well, and should work in the summer too. All of that early morning light is a beautiful time to be awake. (I am definitely not a night owl!!)
Classes
I'm also considering two classes through the NH Weaving Guild that have a spring meeting and a fall meeting. That way I can get instruction at the spring meeting, do the weaving homework over the summer, and bring my samples back to the fall meetings.
The two classes are in lace weaving and Theo Moorman technique. Those topics aren't necessarily huge areas of interest of mine, but I know they'd be great to learn about, and I'm hoping the structure of a class will help me stick with it over the summer. (It is fair to remind me of this next fall when I'm staying up until midnight and complaining bitterly about deadlines!!)
You, my delightful readers, are great at reminding me how many weaving resources and opportunities surround me in New Hampshire!
And You?
What about you? Do you make New Year's resolutions? Do you have weaving plans or directions that you'll explore in 2010?? I'd love to hear about them! (Non-weaving resolutions welcome too!)
10 comments:
Hi Sue, thanks for the inspiration yet again. I have just received my certificate that informs me I failed my weaving subject - no surprise - I didn't submit all requirements. Feeble excuse - I ran out of time. I need to be more like you and practice some self discipline and use those morning hours more effectively. I've got a couple of days to work on my NY's resolutions.
LOL, I make a resolution of sorts every year. I give myself permission to weave, knit, design, sew or ride without guilt for whatever is sitting undone because of it.
Doubleweave is on my list of goals for this year also.
I'd like to average one project a month.
Stop nitpicking my FO's.
Hi Sue
I try to avoid resolutions, but this year have succumbed. Colour learning and sampling lots of different structures are my goals. I feel I "ought to" settle down and focus, but I've resolved to ignore that :)
Cheers
Judy
This year's resolutions seem more fun than last year's. But you did pretty well. I'll have to take a picture of the double-woven table runner my mom made me. She gets a lot accomplished on those looms of hers, but she's always complaining that there's never enough time. Is ten hours a week going to be enough for you?
Lesley - Bummer on the certificate, but at least it was just not having the whole package put together. Hopefully you can try again in the next round!
Theresa - Good for you! No guilt!
Restless - Interesting goals. Good luck!!!! (I'm very bad with setting time limits to goals....so the project a month plan, while excellent, would be extremely hard for me.)
Judy - I really do think focus is over-rated!! Looking at different areas and combining things you learn in different ways because of that has to be one fount of creativity, right?
Jolly - I won't accomplish all I want to weaving-wise in 10 hours a week, but that schedule already leaves me feeling like other important things in my life don't get enough attention....so I'm not ready to increase my weaving time.
I love resolutions and plans and goals. (Especially at the beginning when I'm just thinking them and not doing all the hard work involved in keeping them!)
Sue
Definitely more weaving in my forecast - probably after January since this is when I have to do my company's taxes - Boo Hiss!!!
I'm sure that resolutions are a good thing but we tend to beat ourselves up when they fall by the way side. I plan to just keep on weaving and challenging myself to try new patterns and stretch a bit more.
I have a inventory box to fill but it will be filled with what excites me.
An older friend said that we reach an age where we can simply do what we want, when we want. Sure feels like I'm there and its nice. :)
(okay, it does have limits...as most things do!)
I do need to utilize my time better but otherwise, I'm all for more action and less talk. I think over analyzing is procrastination in a fancy jacket :)
Happy New Year!
Benita - Good luck with taxes. Ugh. Not a fun way to start off the new year. But more weaving is a great plan!!
Susan - You're a fabulous weaver, so I'm sure the things you create that excite you will excite the rest of us too! Looking forward to it!!
I might have to add a resolution to not take outdoor photos when the windchill is below 0 F. Poor Jim almost got frostbite today taking pictures of my scarf. The light was so good though!
Happy New Year! (Almost)
Sue
I had started listing things, because I like order and organization. I'm a Libra! In the end, I decided that the ones I need to attend to are, walk two miles five times a week and ramp up fruits and veggies. I ran for years until after my second knee surgery. I'm counting on treadling as knee exercise. Other than that, I think I'll let my muse guide me. However, I have learned that if I weave in the morning, I have better natural light.
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