Order out of chaos

Some people thrive on chaos.  I am not one of them.  I like order - everything in it's place.  I also enjoy creating order out of chaos.  That, in a fundamental way, is what weaving is about. 

Weaving takes a highly chaotic element - string - and turns it into its most organized state - cloth.  Along the way, the weaver adds organization to the string in various ways: chaining it in warps, sleying it in reeds, threading it through heddles, winding it on beams and bobbins.  But these are just interim steps.

In the end, the only thing that holds the string in its most organized state is itself.  Through a series of interlacements with others of its kind, string becomes cloth.  That is, in itself, a miracle of creation.   

Esther Benedict
I always knew I would weave. From the time I got my first potholder loom as a child I was enchanted with taking thread and making it into cloth. It took another twenty years, though before I finally got myself a real, grown-up loom, and another twenty years after that for me to decide to make weaving part of my livelihood. I enjoy most fiber arts, including spinning, dyeing, sewing and embroidery, as well as weaving. I haven't give up my day job - I'm still a law firm administrator, as I have been for about thirty years. I like working for lawyers - they're smart, demanding people who keep me on my toes. I keep them organized. I live in Oxnard, California with my husband Bruce, a dachshund named Rosie and a Siamese cat called Bijou.
www.belle-estoile.com
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Weaving in the Garden