Overflowing with Potential

One of the new weaving studios, patiently waiting for the looms

I made it to my new home on the island of Terceira, in the Azores. So much has had to line up to get to this point, and there is still so much still to happen.

The other weaving studio, also patiently waiting for the looms

This is the first time in close to forty years of weaving that I have been without my looms and I am missing them. I sent off seven of them at the end of August and I am told that they should arrive on Terceira on December 28. That might or might not happen, and if it does (fingers crossed), I might or might not be able to get them through customs and have them delivered soon after. It is all a bit of a maze and I am taking it step by step, figuring it all out as I go.

My loom inventory changed as I prepared to move. I hadn’t expected this to happen, but looms have a way of coming and going and I just held on for the ride. On the boat are three Glimakras (64” standard, 39” standard, 39” ideal), a 36” 8-shaft Louet David, an 8-shaft Schacht Babywolf (26”), a 24” 24-shaft AVL workshop loom, a 32” 8-shaft Macomber, and a 24” tapestry loom. Two more Macombers will follow later. The decisions were hard to make, especially because it will be harder to obtain different ones once I am settled. While I don’t yet know what my new weaving life will be, I am hopeful that in my forty years of weaving, and hundreds of looms coming and going, that I have chosen wisely. Time will tell.

I remember in my senior year of college the enormity of having to create a whole life for myself. Now it’s forty years later and I am doing it again. There are times when I feel overwhelmed, not even sure how to begin, and there are times when the excitement carries me. Sometimes everything feels hard, and when that happens I try to quiet myself, look out over the ocean, and just breathe. The weather is stunning, even when it is overcast. The air smells luscious, the light on the ocean is gorgeous.

I will be starting a new “Foundations of Weaving” course soon, and hope to open my weaving bed and breakfast this spring. I will have a better sense of it after my looms, equipment, and furniture arrive. I don’t yet know what I will call my new business. I love “Terceira Tecelagem” (Terceira Weaving), but it feels a bit obscure and I am still having a hard time with the pronunciation. Stay tuned.