What Now?

You are now officially a weaver.

But what happens next?

I think of my weavings as yarn sketches. I like to play with color and texture and see what turns out. I call all my weavings experiments, because I don’t do much planning ahead of time, except to choose the yarns I want to work with. Even then, I often change my mind and add and subtract as the work progresses.

You may feel otherwise. You may want to make useful things, learn how to form a variety of weaves, try some tapestry techniques, make huge wall hangings--just about anything is possible.

So, go to your library. I especially like the weaving books in the children’s department, because the directions are usually very clear. But don’t skip the adult books, because they’ll have some wonderfully inspiring pictures and lead you in more sophisticated directions. And don’t go just to the weaving books--I love looking at all sorts of fiber books. And the art books--oooh, the art books! Georgia O’Keeffe’s watercolor, “Pink and Green Mountain,” has been the inspiration for a number of my fiber pieces.

And then there are bookstores and mail order companies and used bookstores and museum exhibitions and fiber guilds and craft fairs and...

I’ve found weaving to be a never-ending source of fun and satisfaction and excitement, and it has led me into all sorts of areas I’d never thought about before. I’ve joined computer lists about fiber, written on computer talk pages, joined guilds and other fiber groups, read books and magazines, and seen live fiber pieces that I didn’t even know about a few years ago.

If you enjoyed making your first loom and weaving, you have a wondrous and thrilling time ahead of you.

Yee-hah!