OMG! A Brush with Greatness

Okay. That sounds sarcastic, and I don't mean it to.

In my last post, I declared my intention to post a question to the Weaving Today website that might elicit responses from other weavers using the site. What I had in mind (and still plan to do eventually) was to post a picture of some gorgeous mixed fiber yarn my daughter gave me and ask for ideas from the Weaving Today community for projects that would be an appropriate use of this imported-from-Italy, hand-spun, delicious resource. So far, I have been unable to get a picture of the yarn that does it justice, and I'd really like to have suggestions that are specific to the yarn, so I haven't posted it yet. What I did was post a short paragraph on the "introduce yourself" thread letting people know that I'm involved in finding out how weavers use digital resources. Within a few hours, I had an answer from MADELYN VAN DER HOOGT!

Madelyn is the editor of HandWoven, the magazine for which Weaving Today is the companion website. She is the person who answers most of the weaving questions posed by users of the website. Well before I became involved in this process, I mentally signed up for the M van der H fan club because of her analytic turn of mind with weave structures and her designs, which combine solid understanding of materials and tools with a turn for the creative and wondrous.

This highlights what I think may be the most attractive feature of digital spaces--it makes available a body of expertise and a community of practice that might not be physically available. While I tend to think of digital spaces as just another social necessity, they also make available a community you can access in your jammies, and from a distance.
The Weaving Today website has been, it tells me, accessed by 45,452 users, who have contributed 2,521 posts to 2.285 threads. In any given day, 150-300 "new" users participate, some of whom may be members who don't bother to sign in. A very few users are signed in at any given time. While there is a location on the site that is set up to list most popular thread and thread with the most posts, and thread with the most replies, no data has been listed in those spaces in the time I've been visiting the site. Typically, there will be a bare handful of new threads or new posts on any given day. But . . .

Today I "talked" to Madelyn van der Hoogt. WOW.

But We'd Rather Be Weaving

The thing about blogging about weaving is that it cuts into your weaving time.  This may explain why, though there are 200-400 people logged into the Weaving Today website at any one time, only a scant handful of them are signed in as members.  I was the only one tonight, and one of as many as eight during the past couple of weeks.  Members signed in are identified by username, so for the next few weeks I'll take a sample of how many folks total are represented.. Although there is no way of checking, I suspect that there are regular users who don't sign in, since it seems that guests can access pretty much anything on the site anyway.

Of the identifiable users (those who have posted) a reasonably clear picture emerges.  Users fall into a couple of categories:  People who spend a lot of time talking about weaving, and people who spend a lot of time weaving and go online for specific answers.  Of the latter group, many are from other countries, although self-declaration is the only way to tell.

In my favorite forum, general weaving questions are posted and answered.  Most often, threads run to a few posts, a starter question, followed by an answer from Madelyn, followed sometimes by a thank you from the original poster.  In a few cases, someone other than Madelyn answers, in which case Madelyn corrects them or expands on their answer.  In a very few cases, such as the thread involving using non-weaving tools for weaving applications, threads run longer. 

Threads, for the most part, consist of questions by intermediate weavers who are exploring a new technique, using a new fiber, or are experiencing a difficulty they have not previously encountered.  Also well represented are brand new weavers who have a loom they don't understand or who are seeking advice about what loom they should use as they begin to weave. 

Before my next post, I plan to post a question to my favorite forum with a question designed to collect a number of responses.  But right now,  I need to go weave.

Other Webs, As Well

In keeping with my unofficial motto:

"Anything Worth Doing Is Worth Overdoing,"


I plan to investigate all of the Weaving Today website.  The site includes seven blogs, seven forums, and a number of video, visual, and calendar resources.  Weaving Today is a companion site to HandWoven magazine.  There are plenty of opportunities on the site to subscribe to the magazine (which I already do) and to purchase calendars, books, videos, and other resources.  Many of the available print resources are downloadable.  The blogs and forums are at least moderately active.

The site is colorful and easy to navigate.  There are links to events all over the country--this is National Weaving and Spinning week.  I am intrigued by the possibility of having Madelyn van der Hoogt (editor of HandWoven and fiber "rock star") comment on something I'm doing.  I guess I'll go warp something up!