Designer Spotlight Blog Post – Liz Gipson
Welcome back to our Designer Spotlight! This week’s feature is from Liz Gipson, known better as Yarnworker (aka the Rigid Heddle Queen). Liz has been busy the last few years modernizing the way we learn to weave. She has been offering weave-alongs for nearly a decade, inviting weavers to tackle aspirational projects among a community of weavers. Without further ado, here is Liz Gipson.
Please note that all photos are used with Liz's permission, and all the photos belong entirely to her.
Meet the designer, Liz Gipson!
Tell Us About Yourself.
Weaving is how I process the world around me. As someone who is not a particularly social creature, weaving connects me to all aspects of the human experience. This history of weaving is the history of the world in all its beauty and savagery.
I really don't know how to put into words all that weaving is to me. It is just what I do. I find a lot of joy in weaving for the space I live in, and simple garments such as wraps and scarves. I use some form of handwoven cloth every day, and when I go out in the world it is a talisman that I can take with me. I'm drawn to abstract forms and find power in minimal color interactions that highlight the shape of structure.
I find it absolutely astonishing that I morphed into this person who teaches weaving. When asked what I do, I say "I'm a weaver." The first question I get asked is where I sell my work. (I live in New Mexico where at least I have the luxury of people understanding this is a career path.) I've learned the short answer over the years is to say I don't sell weaving, but rather the experience of weaving. I make weavers. I do this by teaching one class a semester at our local University, New Mexico Tech, online via Yarnworker, and occasionally in person in workshops at other fiber venues around the country. This also means I write a lot. I come from a long line of writers. Writing about weaving takes both a technical and lyrical approach. You have to find the right (write?) mix in order to facilitate someone else's journey at the loom. To inspire and inform. Teaching the way I do also required me to get familiar with video production and photography. I've learned all of this by working with people who were much better at it than I was and taking a few classes until I absorbed enough to get by on my own.
How did you get started in weaving?
I first encountered weaving in childhood on the occupational therapy ward of the University of Virginia hospital's psychiatric ward where my mom was an aide. This first experience of weaving in this specific context led me to see the loom as a way of recuperating one's equilibrium and finding solid ground in this world. I sought looms and the weaving life everywhere I went. I tried on so many ways to be a weaver—production, art, various aspects of fiber production, as an economic development tool, publishing, manufacturing, and online and in-person education.
In these ways, weaving has been the way I've earned my living since I was in my thirties. Weaving for a paycheck has its constraints. You can't always follow your whims, but I would probably not weave as much as I do. I work well with constraints, and boundaries are healthy. I've also had the opportunity to meet a lot of weavers in my life from those who have mentored and inspired me, those I've learned alongside with, and those I have taught. We all weave for different reasons and respond to the craft in different ways, but for whatever reason we are drawn to it.
What Looms Do You Use?
Although I studied as a shaft-loom weaver—my first formal weaving experience was in the Fiber Arts program at Colorado State University—the rigid-heddle loom is my muse. I find it more tactical with less between me and the threads, but with enough mechanical assist. The portable aspect means that I'm not primarily stuck in the same place but can move about. With more than two dozen looms, I can work on multiple projects at a time.
Special Tools for Weaving?
I have dozens of 10-inch stick shuttles and the small threading hook that comes with the Cricket Loom made by Schacht (a former employer). They are in Mason jars all over my house, which used to be a private kindergarten and later a church. I am also quite partial to having multiple lengths of small metal rods about 1/8'' in diameter that I use to hold sheds and take up slack in slot layers. I'm never far from a tapestry needle, small pair of scissors, measuring tape, quilting clips, s-hooks, and painter's tape. All necessary tools of the trade. Many of which sit on small swatches that turn into catch alls for tools.
Favorite Weave Structure?
The one I'm going to weave next. My job forces me to weave a lot of variety. Whenever I'm working on a project, I'm always thinking about what I'm going to weave next and how grand it will be. Weaving in my mind means not one thing has gone wrong yet. I'm grateful for a career that forces me not to dwell on missteps. There is always another deadline, and you just have to get on with it and make the cloth you have work.
Favorite Lunatic Fringe Yarns Product?
I love the Tubular Spectrum™ mercerized cottons. I'm a big fan of tone-on-tone color combinations and these are simple the best. I use 3/2 and 5/2 sizes the most.
What Inspires You and Your Work?
The natural world and abstract art. Living in New Mexico, there are a lot of angular forms in nature and extraordinary art that takes advantage of the incredible light we have here. I'm less interested in work that reflects the world around me in recognizable forms and more interested in translations of those forms through the artist's inner lens. Weaving lends itself to this kind of interpretation.
Why Do You Weave?
It is just what I do. I can't imagine doing anything else. This medium gives me a vehicle to write every day and be entrepreneurial.
What Are You Up To?
I'm getting ready to host another weave-along in a new platform called YarnworkerU. I've been very fortunate to have a community of weavers who love the rigid-heddle loom as much as I do and have offered their financial support to create a space we can weave together virtually and offer that opportunity to anyone who wants to join us.
Weave-alongs started when a shipping accident led to the loss of about half my teaching samples. It was give up or get on. I used to say when life gives you lemons make lemonade, so we formed the lemonade crew and build ourselves a school. I was recently watching KungFu Panda 4 with my nephew, and Po took another tack on this trope. He said, "When life gives you lemons, freak them out and make pear juice." That made me laugh. It may not be original to Po, but it is a more accurate representation of how I have approached my life. Don't just make the best of things, take the unexpected as an opportunity to surprise yourself.
The weave-alongs tend to be aspirational projects where you may need a bit of extra support to give them a go for the first time. They are free and anyone can join in. The best way to learn what is coming up is to hop on my mailing list. You can find a link on my website www.yarnworker.com. I'm also striving to wrap up a three-year project to write a new Yarnworker guide on weave structures for the rigid-heddle weaver. This will build a bridge between information written for shaft looms and the rigid-heddle.
Anything Else?
I recently joined the board of Weave A Real Peace (WARP), an organization that values the cultural aspects of weaving and strives to be a catalyst for improving the quality of life of textile artisans worldwide. They have great programs. You can check them out at www.weavearealpeace.org.
Last Question...Cake or Pie?
Pie!
Thanks Liz!
Thank you for sharing your experiences with us!
You can find Liz on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube @yarnworker
Join one of Liz's Weave-Alongs at YarnworkerU.
Mailing List link: https://bit.ly/Yarnworker_newsletter_sign_up