I’m sure you can see where I’m going with this. \u00a0Swatches and sample cloths are homework. \u00a0It’s the basic learning that we have to do in order to confidently approach more complex patterns in the future and enables us to design our own pieces. \u00a0All the decisions that we have to make in designing and executing a piece – yarn, color, structure, finishing – are informed by that body of knowledge we’ve accumulated through the course of what we’ve made already. \u00a0And yes, a sweater\u00a0is<\/em> a sample – a fully-executed one. \u00a0But! \u00a0All the other mini-samples I\u00a0made along the way are completely\u00a0relevant and useful. \u00a0Useful because there’s learning to be had from each and every part of the process and also because the act of making the sample helps cement the process in my mind and in my hands. \u00a0I am learning each time I warp, each time I thread, each time I cast on – whether it’s a swatch or otherwise. \u00a0It’s the homework I need to do so that I can confidently move on to the next lesson. \u00a0We all knew that homework was necessary when we were in school, so why should learning a new skill be any different? \u00a0Just because it’s self-directed doesn’t mean it’s any less valuable or less important.<\/p>\n Right now, I’m up to my ears in homework. \u00a0And it looks like this:<\/p>\n I’ve got four of these already and, lucky me, I need to make about 30 more. \u00a0I saw real progress from the first to the fourth and only stopped because I had to get\u00a0on a plane and my little tubs of paint are 3oz of gel that wouldn’t get by the TSA. \u00a0To get to the 30 good ones, I expect to make twice that amount. \u00a0At least two of each one, so now I’m up to 90. \u00a0Each of them will be a sample – and each sample will help me get better. \u00a0Finally, finally I understand why truly amazing artists will make the same pot, paint the same landscape or knit the same sock over and over and over. \u00a0Keep doing it until it’s right, and then do it again – just to make sure you’ve got it. \u00a0And then again, because the third time’s the charm. \u00a0And once more because\u00a0you want to prove that you can. \u00a0True skill, true mastery is not in the single making of an amazing thing – but the ability to make that amazing thing over and over. \u00a0Which means sampling. \u00a0Apprenticing. \u00a0Working. \u00a0Making.<\/p>\n I’m about to get on a plane again, this time to go home. \u00a0To my little paint pots and brushes and watercolor papers. \u00a0And a pile of homework so high that it’s threatening to fall over. \u00a0I couldn’t be happier.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There are words you hear again and again in the textile world – swatch, sample, gauge, sett. \u00a0For some, these words bounce off the ear like rain on a tin roof. \u00a0Loud pings of “why!?!” and “waste of yarn” come … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/-DOgFb2njgVU\/VgGd639Lk4I\/AAAAAAAALS0\/NlMB8Ad754g\/s480-Ic42\/IMG_20150922_132533.jpg\")
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