Rating the Year - Handwoven 2018 Collection Download

One of my son’s friends used to rate her summers by how many times she went swimming and put her head underwater. I used to rate my own summers by how many times we went on a picnic or ate dinner outside. It’s worthwhile to pick an activity that you love and then keep track of how often you do it, just to make sure you weren’t letting time slip by without noticing it. As a weaver, you could rate a year by how many times you picked up a shuttle or how many weaving projects you completed. I prefer the former because it is the activity of weaving that counts to me and not necessarily the product of that activity, although I’m sure many people won’t agree with me on that!

The A Scarf for a Man From Three Centuries by Allen Walck featured in Handwoven March/April 2018 was woven in 4-shaft bumberet.

In 2018, Handwoven associate editor Christina Garton and I worked together to complete five issues of the magazine. We didn’t, by any stretch of the imagination, do it alone. We did it with the help of designers, photographers, technical editors, copy editors, proofers, and assorted other support in the office. Most importantly, however, we did it with the support of our readers in the weaving community who shared with us their designs, weaving, ideas for articles and projects, and even their own writing.

Deborah Jarchow’s exquisite Travel Shawl from May/June was woven on a rigid-heddle loom.

If I were rating 2018, I would rate it based on the number of wonderful projects (60 in all!) that we published in Handwoven. I may never complete any of those projects at my loom, but the inspiration they gave me—as well as the joy I got from handling them during technical editing and the photo shoots—allows me to rate 2018 as a very good year. For me, 2018 was a year full of good weaving, whether the work was done on a 4-shaft loom, rigid-heddle loom, or dobby loom. It was also a year of learning about other weavers and the role that handweaving still plays in modern society, and I would like to thank the many article contributors for that.

September/October was our guild issue and included these 5 napkins woven by the Silver City Weavers.

The activity of putting together five issues of Handwoven is one of the ways I would rate 2018. They take a bit more time than putting your head underwater or picnicking, but the rating is solid.

Our last issue for 2018, November/December featured these beautiful napkins by Elisabeth Hill.

Weave well, Susan

---