Here's a pretty interesting story. Back in January I got a Color Horoscope Weaving commission from Charlene who saw a reference to me and my website on Sara Lamb's blog. I went right to Sara's blog to check out what blogs were all about. I was so taken with the idea I immediately set up a blog of my own. I asked Charlene to tell me her favorite color which would be the color I would use for the weft. In all of my previous commissions, my clients came to my studio and selected a color from the yarns on my shelf.Color is so very subjective, and Charlene was not in my studio. She sent me an color rendition of a coat she wanted to wear with her horoscope shawl. HERE WAS MY MISTAKE. Instead of sending her a color sample card and having her select the weft herself, I matched the printed color square.
It's funny how a person can feel so good about something that misses the mark. I wove the shawl and sent it off fully expecting email squeals of delight. Silence... I finally wrote to Charlene to see if the weaving had arrived. She wrote back reluctantly and said she was very disappointed. The color didn't match her coat at all!
I said I was glad she wrote and that I would weave her another shawl. This time I would send a color card and have her select the warp. (all the while kicking myself that I hadn't thought to send Charlene yarn samples in the first place. What had I been thinking?!)
I was pretty mortified at first, but eventually came to appreciate a valuable lesson. The second weaving is much prettier, don't you think? And now I will have another funny weaving story to tell when I'm teaching....
6 comments:
This may be a weird question, but what happened with the original scarf? I guess it's not like you can give it to someone else, right.
No, it's a great question! I was hoping someone would ask. I spent a bit of time pondering this question. My answer was this: I took the original to a Color Horoscope Weaving workshop I taught in Virginia in April. I told the story, and then I cut strips of it and gave them as samples to all of the students. This left we with a piece about 24" long. That is the piece you see on the blog next to the new woven piece on the loom. I plan to cut the 24" into two 12" pieces. I will keep one as a sample and send the other to Charlene along with her new scarf.
I thought this was a perfect solution to the question.
Actually, I think I like the first better -- but it's all subjective. I think the lesson here is that the internet, wonderful as it is, cannot replace the real world. "Yarn in the hand is worth two online," or "the proof is in the weaving," or "rose by any other monitor," or .... something. Sorry, couldn't help myself.
Of course, Beauty is in the eye of the client. Thanks for the chuckle. I was hoping I would have a better comeback.
Hi Bonnie,
Love your blog. Quick question. I noticed that you are using what looks like a rag shuttle. Is this to reduce the need to weave in the ends that you would experience when using a boat shuttle?
nhweaver, Check out my April 1 blog entry: A Shuttle Question, for the long version of your question.
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