Fear of the loom!

I am sometimes surprised by the fear that can exist in newer weavers (and often not so new weavers as well). The fear that you will get stuck and not know what to do, the fear that the project won't turn out the way it's supposed to, the fear that you are not smart enough to learn how to use your loom, the fear that you will waste yarn if you make a mistake... I could go on.

I know people who have abandoned a new loom into a corner, a spare room or (dare I speak it?) a dusty garage. The fear is too great to make a start and they feel they have failed before even beginning.

I say that I am surprised, but I really shouldn't be. All it takes is a few moments of thinking back to when I was a new weaver. I was so excited by this beautiful piece of equipment, but silently terrified! What a privilege, but what a responsibility! 

Is that fear still with me? No, although I do sometimes feel an apprehension when trying something new with very expensive yarn!

So, how to rid yourself of the fear? It's actually very simple. You arm yourself with the knowledge you need and you practice! Read books, find resources, take courses, find weavers, join groups and network. And practice! Start simple and work your way up. Think of how an athlete trains. That is you, at your loom. Training, practicing, learning from mistakes and building knowledge.

If you do this, the magic will start to happen. That magic is CONFIDENCE! And with confidence, the sky is the limit.

If you are at that frozen with fear stage with your loom, perhaps you need some extra resources to help you out. 

My Youtube channel has a plethora of videos to help you get started in weaving.

My Online Weaving School is a great place for learning and gaining confidence. 

My Facebook Group is a friendly and welcoming place for weavers of all levels.

I hope this post will inspire you to go out there and weave beautiful things!

Calculating warp for the rigid heddle loom

At a request from a student, I have put together a warp calculations sheet and a companion video. Both are available here. You do need to sign in to access the materials, but I have made these completely free for your benefit. The video can be viewed on Youtube if you prefer. 
The printable PDF includes a sample sheet and in the video I take you through another sample, just to make sure you "get it"!
I have already had a huge amount of positive feedback from students who have found these useful, so please take a look if it's of interest to you.
Happy Weaving!

Three Heddle Adventures!

I am so pleased to announce that my first stand alone, feature class is now available to purchase!

This is the biggest class yet and involved a whole lot of work. I'm so excited to be able to share it with you now.

This course is a comprehensive introduction to weaving with three heddles. This is an amazing tool to know, as it extends the humble little rigid heddle loom to really show it's capabilities.

We start with a straight draw twill sampler and progress to the project, which is a beautiful scarf.

I really hope you can join me on this adventure! 

For more information click here.

New things happening!

It's been a week of "firsts" for me and a busy one at that! I have launched my first ever website, and though it's still a work in progress, it's looking quite nice and hopefully will make it easier for students and customers to find me on the internet.

I have kept the layout clean and simple as that is what I like to see when visiting a website. Drop by and have a look, I'd love to know what you think!

I also launched my first newsletter, something I have wanted to do for a long time. I was surprised by the response and already have a large list of names of the subscription list, which is wonderful.

You can join the newsletter list from this site or my website.

Then of course, there is my new teaching school. I love having classes on this platform, which is easy to use and lovely to view. I have had a lot of positive feedback on this new format and it saves all the headaches that the Youtube platform has given me over the past year! 

I hope all these new changes make your learning experience with me more enjoyable. Now that everything seems to be in place, I think I'll get back to what I do best - making classes!

Giveaway - one year subscription!

To celebrate the launch of my new weaving school on Teachable, I'm having a little giveaway. The winner will receive a one year subscription, entitling them to access any class, any time for a full year. Head over to my Facebook page to check out the entry conditions and to put your entry in. The winner will be drawn at the end of this week. Good luck!

Launching on a new platform

After a lot of research and deliberation, I decided to launch my video classes on a new platform. My Youtube paid subscription channel has been going for a year now, and there have been a whole lot of headaches! Many technical glitches and inconsistencies, viewers being unsubscribed, not able to access after paying, not able to access from certain countries, and the list goes on! Almost daily, I get messages from subscribers having problems with the channel, I had to find a better way. So, you can now find my classes on Teachable. This is great news for a few reasons:

*You have the option of subscribing for a full year or monthly.

*You have the option of just purchasing individual classes rather than a full subscription. Each individual class also comes with a printable PDF pattern with full instructions and photos to compliment the video class. You can't go wrong with all that information!

*You can subscribe or purchase a class from anywhere in the world.

*You can view your classes on a computer or device, it is available across all platforms.

The Youtube platform will continue to run for those who prefer to use it. Youtube has been the perfect viewing platform for many people, so that will not change. I will continue to upload videos to the Youtube platform as well. I just needed to give other options for those who need it. 

How about you hop over and check out the new platform? Yes, it's different to Youtube but I hope you find it easy to navigate and use.  

I still have plenty of work to do there and will continue to update and improve over the coming weeks, so keep watching. It's easy to keep an eye on my Teachable "school" by joining and logging in - you don't need to purchase a class or subscription to join and be updated when new content is available.
I hope to see you there!