Setting Creative Routines

As I’m pretty sure you all know, weaving takes time. When I was starting out, and I guess this is still sometimes true, I wanted to try so many things but there were a few hurdles in my way:

• being newer to weaving the process takes longer.
• the mental work of trying to figure out a design that I felt proud of.
• trying to make something I wasn’t skilled enough yet to make.

I kept asking myself how can I grow as a weaver? I know to get better at something, you need to practice it, but with a busy life how can you practice more?

I was recently reminded of something that has been around for a long time, that would really help with this issue. A fiber friend recently shared with me a picture of a weaving sampler she had made and suddenly it just clicked. I thought, what a great idea! It’s the perfect way to practice and focus on the different techniques. Also it’s a quick way to try new things and experiment.

Here are some of my recommendations for making a weaving sampler:

• If you want to make a sampler, but you don’t want to hold your loom hostage, you can make a quick loom from a cheap picture frame that you would remove the glass and backing from (or canvas stretchers like I used). I have directions on how to warp up a frame here. This quick frame loom would be perfect for a weaving sampler, because you can let it sit with your sampler on it and not tie up your main loom.
• Pick a few weaving techniques that you’ve been wanting to try, and add more as you go.
• Weave your sampler with the same colored weft thread. This will help you focus on just the techniques you’re working on.  Check out my weaving techniques tutorial roundup here.
• There is no design pressure, just experiment and have fun

I would love to start a weaving routine, and a sampler would make that much more possible. When weaving a sampler there is no pressure to finish the weave and you can work on it on a regular basis.

Setting up a creative routine has been on my mind a lot. When I posted about creative books that have helped me I received two recommendations for The Creative Habit (affiliate link), which I hope to read soon for good ideas on setting up a creative routine. I also just came across the book Daily Rituals: How Artists Work (affiliate link), which I thought was great timing. I’m excited to jump into this book because it discusses the many rituals of very talented artists. I’m sure a lot of the rituals will be odd, but that’s what makes this book so interesting.

Both of these books touch on the idea of growing your creativity by making time for it. And I would like to add that I think a daily routine would be really great and help someone gain skills quicker, but not everyone can commit that much time. We are all busy and if once a week is all there is time for, that routine will still help you grow creatively.

And now for a fun idea I had, if you’re interested, I would love to connect with each other by sharing your own weaving sampler. For the month of June, I would love to have check ins with those of you who want to do this. To participate comment below with which techniques you’ve really been wanting to try. Feel free to send me some pictures as you work on your sampler along with your thoughts and discoveries during the process. I would love to share some on the blog!

Happy Weaving!

Kate

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