Then I’ve amassed thousands of continuing education credits.

Rarely do I put on a warp and weave off a piece of fabric without opportunities to learn.  This rainbow warp is a good example.

Sometimes these opportunities involve re-learning things I already knew but managed to ignore.  Sometimes a little quirk in my perceptual abilities mixes things up.

Both things happened here.

And that’s part of what I love about weaving.  (Seriously – I enjoy untangling my own knots, too.)

Maybe it’s because in choosing plain weave, I’m choosing simple.  Maybe it’s because I make it my quiet time.  Maybe it’s because a lot of the work involves mind-numbing, repetitive, unskilled labor.

Most certainly it’s because it involves paying attention.  Focusing on the task at hand.  Not thinking about other things.

And that requires practice. The practice of paying attention.

When my mind wanders, – when I go away in my head – mistakes happen.  And those funky little glitches in the process wake me up and put me back on task.  Even when I don’t notice them until I’ve finished.

I like getting called back to the present.  It feels like a gift.  A reminder that what’s important is going on now, in this moment.

Happily, nearly every mistake (in my weaving) can be fixed- by asking and answering the question: “What will I do about – ?” And problem solving.

Usually it’s just a matter of taking the time.   Doing the work to make the correction.

Of course some people will say it’s better not to make any mistakes at all.

But since that’s not my experience,  I’ll just keep practicing.

And continue to enjoy my education.

*The third thread from the left is wound around the heddle instead of coming back to the warp stick, and,- the heddle itself is facing the back of the loom instead of the front.