Making History

This is not, strictly speaking, a teaching or technology post.  But I have just finished reading Matthew Crawford’s Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work, which has me thinking about education and craft work, and all the hands on learning that happens at Peninsula School.  

When I was at Peninsula I spent a lot of time in all the activities, especially clay, woodshop, and most of all weaving.  Billie Shaw was the weaving teacher, and she probably taught me more than any other teacher over the years, without me ever realizing it.  

After I graduated from Peninsula, my father bought one of the looms Billie had made redundant in the weaving room because someone had donated a better one.  The loom was supposed to be for me, my sister, and our friends Holly and Sidney. And all of us used it at one time or another, and we all warped it.  But I kept up with it longer, and when I had the chance in graduate school (space in a garage and as a bit of a reward for myself when I passed my qualifying exams), I moved the loom, Minerva, to Davis.  But when I moved to Chicago it went back into my parent’s basement, and one of the things I have been thinking about doing it setting it up again.  Yesterday I went over to my parent’s house and picked up all the dusty parts, and today I set out to put it together.  Here is the log I kept as I went:

Today is the day I am trying to put together my loom, Minerva, and go back to weaving.

It is 9:30am, and all the parts are on the floor.  At least I hope this is all the parts.

This is what I brought over yesterday.

Here are the bolts.

9:50, it is feeling like there are some bits missing.  And I have some really basic questions, like which way does the warp come off the roll.  That is the sort of thing I need to get right now, I am not going to be able to change it once I get this together.

9:55 — I love being able to find things!  I went to the photo albums and found a picture of Minerva set up in my garage in Davis.  I definately do not have all the parts.  Back to Melville I go.

How could I have thought I had everything without these?

11:10  Back from Melville with the missing pieces — they are huge, I can’t imagine how I did not notice they were not there.  But in my defense, they were stored in a totally different part of my parent’s basement.  (and it did not take me that long to go and come back, I did some other errends on the trip).

11:30 finished cleaning all the parts with wood oil.

12:10  two steps forward, one step back.  Looking at the photo I can see I put something on backwards.  But only one step ago, so not too hard to put right.

12:20 lunch break, and some ice for  back.

1:00 back to work, after reading weaving books with my lunch, and reminding myself about how things work.  It is starting to look like a loom.

1:55: Zack always said “if you can’t find a weaver look under the loom”  Too true.

2:24  It is done!  Well, except for the missing nut that I lost while undoing one last thing to get it right!  I will have to go to the hardware store and get a new one, since I simply can’t find it.  Grrrr.  But at least I have everything together, and the best part is that pushing treadle #1 actually raises headle #1, etc.  

Now to warping.  No, wait, now to pick up children and take them to swim club.