Recently I decided that I wanted to take a weaving course at my local yarn shop. This is a bit of an unusual thing for me to do because I am a bit of a recluse. But when I saw the course, I immediately signed up so I wouldn’t have a chance to think about it and back out (I guess I know myself pretty well). I am a pretty introverted and awkward person. There is nothing wrong with this and I kind of like it this way, but I have been attempting to push myself out of the box a little and try new things. This class was perfect for this – it was something I was excited about and something that didn’t seem too difficult to make (and something that wasn’t a huge time commitment).

The best thing? All of the supplies were provided and you just showed up.

The course was for two hours on two Saturday afternoons. The first class was an introduction to the basics and getting our weavings started – the instructor went over the technical terms which I didn’t understand completely until I re-read them a hundred times (that’s just me, it was nothing to do with the instructor, it takes awhile for things like terminology to sink in to this brain), then showed us the basics of weaving, and encouraged us to do whatever we wanted. There was no pattern, which is a good thing in my mind, so we were forced to be creative with our designs (each weaving was truly one-of-a-kind). Then we were sent on our way to keep working on our weavings throughout the week until the next weekend when we would finish them (tucking in the loose ends, mounting them on a little stick, admiring each other’s creations).

I knew about 5 minutes in to weaving that I loved it. I like the idea of jumping in to a project without any plan whatsoever. And I mostly like how relaxing it was. I’m pretty sure that the walls in my home will soon be full of woven wall hangings.

I took this up as a hobby – I don’t really have any intention of selling them, which I think is a good thing. I find that I can get frustrated with sewing sometimes because I want to make things for myself, but I need to prioritize sewing for my Etsy shop. So I think weaving is going to be just for me. Plus, I love a hobby that I can do sitting in front of the tube watching some British drama. I’ve already purchased my own loom and I’ve come up with a million ideas for my next pieces!

If you live in the Calgary area, Stash Lounge is the place to go! It is my favorite local yarn shop and based on my one experience, I would highly recommend taking a class there (I’m planning to sign up for a yarn dying class as soon as it comes up!).