S5 E8: Explore Weaving with Lisa Graves of Kawartha Weaving & WEFT Magazine

In this week’s episode, Felicia chats with Lisa Graves, co-founder and editor-in-chief of Weft Magazine. Together, they talk about how the magazine began, how it's structured, and what kinds of topics readers can look forward to. They also dive into the value of weaving education, both in-person and online, and what makes Kawartha Weaving studio such a special place to learn. Their discussion touches on the challenges and rewards of teaching weaving, the rich content featured in Weft Magazine, and the vibrant community that surrounds the craft.

Felicia and Lisa also explore how weaving education is evolving. They talk about the importance of mentorship and community, as well as the role technology and social media play in supporting the craft. From the benefits of online learning to the continued relevance of guilds, their conversation highlights the many ways weavers can learn, grow, and connect, always with an emphasis on sharing knowledge and building community along the way.

Please join us for this inspirational conversation around craft, learning and community.  

Takeaways

• Lisa Graves is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of Weft Magazine.
• Weft Magazine aims to provide accessible knowledge about weaving.
• The magazine is structured around specific themes each issue.
• Future issues will explore topics like warp, drape, and sustainability.
• Kawartha Weaving offers a unique retreat-like learning experience.
• Lisa emphasizes the importance of in-person learning for weaving.
• Online teaching has opened doors for students unable to attend in person.
• The community aspect of weaving is vital for education and support.
• Weaving education should empower students to work independently.
• Lisa's studio is designed to create a welcoming and inspiring environment. Ergonomics and technique are crucial in crafting.
• Online workshops can enhance learning experiences.
• Structured learning formats improve student retention.
• Guilds play a vital role in preserving weaving skills.
• Mentorship is essential for passing on knowledge.
• Social media can inspire new weavers.
• Sharing details about projects helps others learn.
• Community support is key to sustaining interest in weaving.
• Technology can bridge gaps in traditional learning.
• Encouraging others to teach fosters a vibrant craft community.

Transcript

Unknown: 0:00

,

Felicia Lo: 0:04

Welcome back to the Sweet Georgia Show, where we explore craft, creativity, and the passion that compels us to create. Today, I am absolutely thrilled to welcome a very special guest, someone whose work spans the breadth of contemporary hand weaving, and that is Lisa Graves. Lisa is a force in the weaving community. She is a co-founder and the editor-in-chief of an exciting new publication called Weft Magazine, and she's also the founder and instructor at Kawartha Weaving, where she guides students from beginners to advanced weavers in her beautiful lakeside studio in Ontario, which I think you are currently sitting at right now. Now beyond that, Lisa has also dedicated years to supporting the craft through her leadership roles, currently serving as the past president of the Ontario Handweavers and Spinners Guild after having served six years on the board as president. And she is a champion for weaving education. And on a personal note, Lisa was one of our group leaders during the time when I participated in the OHS weaving program. So it is very, very nice to be on a call with you again today. So welcome to the show, Lisa. Thank you. Thank

Lisa Graves: 1:14

you so much. I'm really, really excited to be here. And thanks for that introduction. Oh, my gosh.

Felicia Lo: 1:21

It's fantastic. So I recently received my copy of the first issue of WEFT magazine. It is huge. It is amazing. I am making my way through it. It's a lot to read. So congratulations on the launch, both to you and to JC. This is an incredible, incredible opportunity. thing that you have brought into the weaving community. So thank you so much for that.

Lisa Graves: 1:43

Thank you. Yeah, we're very, very proud of it.

Felicia Lo: 1:47

So can you tell me a little bit about like how this idea sort of got started and sort of where all of this came from? I read a little bit of, well, I actually read the whole thing of your letter, your letter at the beginning of the magazine. And for anybody who hasn't got a copy of the magazine, I would love for them to know sort of your story of how this all came to be.

Lisa Graves: 2:09

Well, it goes back like a long time. So you were a student in the OHS Master Weaver program. And do you remember the bibliography at the back, how many books they're recommending, and how those, we don't have access to those books anymore. They're not in print. They're very expensive. They're very hard to find. So this is sort of where it all started with me, where it was really sad that people don't have access to this anymore. And, you know, a part of our craft is maybe sort of dying away. So that's sort of where that came from. Then I became friends with JC. I was in her, she had a Patreon before she had the Ply Spinning Guild. And I was in a few meetings. And then she made a post about learning how to weave and being really excited about it. And like very enthusiastic. And I knew she was having a little bit of a challenge with it. So I reached out. And I offered to help her. And we did. We worked together for three days and we became friends. So we started meeting regularly on Zoom. And then I traveled with my husband on a work trip to San Francisco. And I said, gosh, it would be so nice to go visit JC. She's just in Oregon. And we rented a car and we drove up and we all got along well. Amazing. Levi and Barry got along and we were just talking and I literally really just said, I wish there was a ply for weaving. And she said, well, what would that look like? And we just kept talking. And by the end of the weekend, we were starting a magazine.

Felicia Lo: 3:53

That's incredible. That's an incredible story. Yeah. So for anybody who's not sort of familiar with Ply Magazine, Ply Magazine is a spinning focused magazine and every single issue tackles one very, very specific single topic. And I think that that's kind of the approach that you guys have taken with WEFT Magazine as well. Can you kind of describe like what is WEFT Magazine sort of look like? What is sort of, yeah, how is it structured?

Lisa Graves: 4:17

So we have four issues a year and they cycle through sort of different, I guess, categories. We do a structure. We do a design. We do a foundation. And now I'm totally blanking on the other one, so I'm sorry. So we cycle through these different things and then we pick a topic based on what category we're in. And well, there's so much to talk about in weaving. Like, oh my gosh, you need sort of a topic. But I found out so quick for our first issue, Plain Weave, I think we could have written five magazines. So we pick a topic and we make sure that everything in the magazine is Our companions, like all the articles, the projects, they all complement each other in a way. And we try to build out the issue so it's like round and full. And we work really hard behind the scenes to make sure that there's no gaps or holes, just to make sure that it's clear and everything makes sense.

Felicia Lo: 5:22

Yeah, I was mentioning this to somebody else because I just got back from H&H and there was somebody else who we were chatting about WEF magazine, how we just received our copies. We were reading them and surprised at how in-depth it was and how deep it went into each of these topics. Because at first when I heard, oh, you know, your first issue is going to be about plain weave. For some reason, I thought that that was like very much like, oh, maybe we're starting at the very beginning and we're doing like, yeah, just like a lot of maybe beginning weaving things. But in fact, if you get this issue and It goes from plain weave into all the different ways that plain weave can be expressed. And so I got the opportunity to write the issue, the article about double weave in plain weave. But there's another article about deflected double weave. And there's like lots of conversations about like tracking and different yarns. And there's just so much knowledge there. hacked into this one issue about Plainweave and looking at it from all different perspectives. I think that that's really, really interesting because then you get to explore one topic so thoroughly. Yeah.

Lisa Graves: 6:27

Yeah. We basically just sit down and we ask ourselves, what are all the things we want to know? What are the things that are There's things that we're told when we're learning how to weave. Always do this, never do that. But why? So we're asking the why. And when we go to authors and we ask them, do you want to find out this why? They're thrilled. Like Laura Fry is a great example. She's retired and she made her whole living weaving. And she never had time to ask these whys. So it is exciting for these authors to to see them sort of dive into these topics and explore and experiment with them.

Felicia Lo: 7:07

What are the other topics that you sort of have planned coming forward? Like what would people expect for issue two or three or four?

Lisa Graves: 7:14

It's already sort of gone out of my mind because I'm not working on it anymore. So it just like shuffled. Okay. So our next issue is Warp. where we're exploring every single thing that you can think of about a warp. And that one was so fun because the photo shoot was done here at my studio. And I think I got eight looms ready to do all that. We did all the process shots of showing how to do things or how to do things really wrong. So that a little part of me died every time we had to do that. So that's warp. It's very exciting. It's one of our foundation ones. After warp, oh, the other category we cycle through is end use. So the third issue is going to be table. So that is a whole bunch of projects that you can decorate your table with. Then we have twill. Then we have, oh, before twill, we have drape, which I'm so excited about because I think we're the first people ever to explore drape. from a weaving perspective. And then we have twill and then we have cotton. And then our newest one will be no waste. And I'm very excited about that because we're looking at what can we do to be less wasteful and be better to our earth, but also about wasting our time, wasting our money, wasting our bodies. How do we take care of all of that? So I'm really excited. Well, I'm excited for everything. I haven't noticed.

Felicia Lo: 8:51

That issue sounds amazing. Actually, I'm really excited about that. This whole idea of not wasting time and how to do things more efficiently. I feel like Laura Fry would have lots to say about that for sure. And she does. So, okay, you just brought up your studio and I can see it behind you. It is full. It is beautiful. There's windows and daylight and looms. Can you talk a little bit about your studio and Kawartha Weaving and what you're doing there?

Lisa Graves: 9:20

Yes, I'd love to. So we lived in... We lived north of Toronto about, I guess, about an hour and a half. And I had a city job in Toronto, so I commuted on the train. And this, where we live now, was our cottage. And we did... We decided that it would be better for me to be home with our kids. And the older they got, the more we realized that they needed me here. So we sold our house and we moved permanently to our cottage. And I was able to leave my city job. And we decided that I could start having a full-time career in hand weaving. And we did end up building this studio. So it's actually above my garage. So it's a loft and it's a great size. It's, I guess, 30 by 30 feet and windows all around. And yeah, so this is where my students come. And it's great because we are on the water. So we have a deck and a porch and that's where we can have our lunch and our coffee. And when people come to learn here, well, they're coming from all over, but they're also coming locally. like on vacation. So they're renting cottages or Airbnbs here. Sometimes their spouse will come and work remotely. So it's a getaway for them. So it really just, you know, encompasses that sort of cottage-like feeling.

Felicia Lo: 10:48

That's incredible. So people are coming for a retreat. How often, I mean, like, are you tailoring the teaching to each person who comes or do you host kind of like, we're doing a retreat over this many days, book your accommodations and then come to the studio? How do you sort of operate all that?

Lisa Graves: 11:05

I offer, well, it varies. I, right now I'm only working in the spring and the fall. Winters are really challenging here. And my heater doesn't come on if it's, older than minus 25. So that that is a problem. And then the summer, I just really just want to be with my kids. So I do it their week, their week long. So from Monday to Friday, all day. And sometimes I'll do depends, like if I get enough interest, sometimes I'll do a round robin for something like rep weave. And then and then you can go all the way from two blocks on four shafts all the way to eight blocks on eight shafts and everyone can get a chance to see. But mostly I do beginners and I can run beginner one and beginner two here at the same time. And I think it's neat for students to see someone who's just a little bit more experienced work alongside them. So I do try to keep them categorized.

Felicia Lo: 12:08

Amazing. I mean, that sounds like a wonderful place to spend a week weaving and a beginner one class and beginner two class. What do you sort of include in terms of skills in terms of like a beginner one class versus a beginner two class?

Lisa Graves: 12:22

Well, it's pretty in-depth and there's a lot of overlap between the two. So it's designed in a way that people can go home and weave independently. And I think that's such a problem with weaving that it is sort of a barrier to to learn it. It is same with spinning. It's very tricky to learn on your own. So it's in depth. So they leave here every, everything they need to know. So even down to, so they, we set up a warp, we dress a loom, we troubleshoot all that. And they weave a couple of different samplers, a little bit of color and weave in that. But we also, also know that it's hard to set up a loom in one day and weave everything. It's very physical, so we have breaks where we're sort of doing lessons and we're learning all about the count of cotton, types of fibers, how to calculate a project. And we even, we talk about reads and set, and we even do drafting, which is really, really great. I wasn't sure whether we include that or not, because sometimes it can be too much, but Yetta, my mentor, told me that it's really important that you start putting that seed in their head right away of understanding how drafts work. And so it's working out really good. Then level two, they're more on their own. So with level one, I'm with everyone for all the steps. For level two, they are going to set up a new warp, a gamp, a twill gamp. And I sort of just let them do it on their own and let them come to me if they have a problem or I'll step in if I think there's something that I can help with. And I just find that second week for some people, because the first week is so much of the second week coming back, you miss little things like how to tie that choke really tight, or maybe catching and throwing could be a little bit more efficient. So just things like that.

Felicia Lo: 14:20

That's amazing. I think it's so lucky to be able to learn weaving in person with someone. I know that you had mentioned also in your letter that you learned with Yetta and you went to her studio, I believe, to learn from her in person. I think that that is so, so important because there's certain things like, you know, oh, how much should I tension my warp and things like that. And like, you can't always communicate that really easily through just showing pictures and stuff like that. You just have to be there and kind of touch it. And then, you know, oh, that's what it's supposed to feel like. And then you can move from there. But I know that you also teach online and you're also teaching like OHS stuff happens at a distance. What are sort of the ways that you've gone about sort of teaching online to navigate some of those challenges?

Lisa Graves: 15:08

First of all, I love teaching online. And I didn't think I would just for some of the reasons that you just said. But COVID was terrible, but it taught us one thing. There are people that actually can't do things in person for a whole bunch of reasons, whether they have an anxiety disorder. Maybe they work on a farm and they can't leave their animals. Maybe they're looking after a spouse. So I met a whole bunch of people that I never would have had I not going online because we're able to serve those people that aren't able to get out. And I have a funny story. So I've taught beginners from my beginner one online. And I want to say I am hopping in the studio because here I have more control over what stage everyone's at. But in their own homes, we're all over the place. So jumping around with a camera where I'm actually demonstrating all the steps for them. But I had one student and she... just does everything very tight. And she was winding a warp and I couldn't, I can't tell how tight you're winding a warp. And she said, oh, Lisa, just a sec. It's like vibrating. I'm like, I said, what? She goes, my warp board's like vibrating. And she goes, oh no, oh no, it's going to just break. She had done it so tight that it was just doing, it

Felicia Lo: 16:37

was

Lisa Graves: 16:37

just doing

Felicia Lo: 16:38

this.

Lisa Graves: 16:39

I'm yelling, grab the cross.

Felicia Lo: 16:42

Oh no. Like all of the warping pegs were like bowing in.

Lisa Graves: 16:46

Yeah. And it was just, yeah. So, but you know, and I was so nervous that first class, I thought, how am I going to do stuff like that? And a few things happened like another student, actually, I think it was the same student. I, I, I have them put their cameras on themselves when they're weaving. And I told them that in the description, I said, if you don't, This might not be for you if you're not going to let me see, because I need to make sure you're not going to hurt your body. And her hip would come off a bit every time she chuttled. And I said, what's going on that? And Just from how she physically was moving, I knew something wasn't working right on her loom. And she had changed the cords on her counterbalance and she tightened the screws in too tight so they weren't rolling. So she was fighting against it. And after that happened, I went, I was like really confident. I'm like, I can do this. I can, I can teach people online.

Felicia Lo: 17:41

That's amazing. That's a great way to do it, to be able to like still, um, be connected, right? Like if you can see what's going on and you realize, Oh, Oh, like why is she stepping so heavy? Um, I recently done another podcast interview or conversation with Andrea Louie, who's a physical therapist. And she does these sessions where she will watch you over video to see how you're crafting, how you're crocheting or knitting or spinning to see like how your body position is and all that kind of stuff. And if she can make recommendations, but this is also like amazing to have somebody who, um, is watching you, not just for your ergonomics, but also for your technique. And are you throwing the shuttle correctly? Are you beating correctly? Like it's hard for, um, people to get that kind of feedback.

Lisa Graves: 18:23

Absolutely. And, and, um, salvages are like, I'm a, I'm, I'm on the camp of, we're not touching them and, and students want to. So even being able to help with that, like I promised you're going to, I promise, I promise you're going to leave here with really nice salvages. If we just follow, follow the methods of, Everything. Another thing I wanted to say about teaching online, another thing I didn't realize, but it's really great. When you go and teach a workshop for two or three days or you're there learning, it's so much information that you're not absorbing it. So if you did double weave and you did 18 different samplers, it's a blur. And then that sampler goes in your cupboard or whatever, and maybe you never do double weave again. But online, for MAFA... the Mid-Atlantic Fiber Association. I've been teaching with them, and they're fantastic. You can structure it in a way that it's easier for everyone. So meeting once a week for two hours, then giving homework. So we discuss the samples they're going to be doing. Everyone goes off on their own time. They can weave it, and then they send pictures, and then we talk about the challenges and successes we had with those. So I love that format a lot better. I find it's a better teaching delivery and I think the students are learning more.

Felicia Lo: 19:41

Yes, I've seen the classes up on MAFA on the website and we'll put a link to that as well in case anybody's interested in sort of like discovering all of that area as well. One of the ways that I sort of described learning weaving is kind of like going hiking and you're led down this path initially and it's very clear you're learning how to wind a warp you're learning how to dress your loom you thread your loom you learn how to do some throwing the shuttle and all that kind of stuff and then you get to this place where all of a sudden all of these avenues and paths become available to you you could just like do the next 20 years just weaving plain weave or you could explore twill or you're exploring all sorts of different weave structures and there's no necessary, there's not necessarily like a rhyme or reason to which one you should learn first, which one you should learn second. And you're just kind of like in this spot where all of a sudden there's these spokes going out to all different places. And what is your recommendation for people sort of learning to weave coming through all of sort of the beginning part and then trying to figure out, well, what do I learn next? What do I, I don't know what I don't know. And what, I don't know where to go from here and kind of being a little bit stuck where like you've learned your pain plainly. You learned well. Now what?

Lisa Graves: 20:59

And maybe they've even heard something like, oh, you can't do overshot yet. Things like that. Right. You're sort of stuck. I still feel like that. I've been weaving for over a decade and I still feel like I'm going to die. And there's so much I still have to learn. I'm not going to be able to do it all. Like, it's sad. Yeah. I think I really think something like following Jane Stafford. I find her progression is is is wonderful of working through her different seasons. I also just going back to the OHS, you don't have to join the program or become a student. But if you look at the outline, it it each each one builds on everything you've learned and learned. in the previous units. So I find that that progression really makes sense. And right away, you're going to be able to learn blocks and profiles and then apply them as you move on. So I think that's a nice way to do it too. Or you could just do what you feel. Yes.

Felicia Lo: 22:07

So this is going to be, Perhaps a little bit of a big question, but like at H&H, I was a member of a panel that was hosted by the Handweavers Guild of America. And the whole concept of that panel discussion was about the importance of guilds, supporting guilds, supporting these kinds of organizations that are providing, you know, educational programs, maybe like this Master Weaver program and things like that. I know that the Guild of Canadian Weavers also has a Master Weaver test and they were looking at ways to continue this on into the future. How do you sort of approach these certificate and Master Weaver kinds of programs and ensuring that they continue into the future and ensuring that People want to do them and participate in them. How important is it to preserving all of these skills for hand weaving as a craft?

Lisa Graves: 23:11

That's a big question. It's really hard. I think when these were started, I think there was more interest, more of a need for it. And they were offered in colleges. And community colleges. And that's where like a lot of the people I know, that's where they learned. And the thing is, they don't make money, those programs. They're there being subsidized because other programs are making money. So eventually, you know, they were canceled or they weren't popular anymore. And well, this is what happened with the OHS when it was in college. So all these people met for years bringing a little Dorothy table loom and they wove on weekends. And That was all shifted to go as a home study. And I mean, they're intense. Like you will learn a lot, but you don't have to do those either. And those programs, they're only as successful as the people that are working so hard in them. And it's volunteers and the unit leaders themselves. They're not paid a lot. They spend eight hours marking a unit. They're doing it because they love it. It is all a labor of love. And part of my role with the OHS was helping promote the program and make more interest in it. So I hope they don't go away. And I don't know what it's going to look like. I don't know if we... I don't want to say less than the requirements. I don't want to say that because I think there's always going to be some like those standards, but maybe offering a teacher program or, you know, a guild program, something like maybe offering different ways to have people learn that material.

Felicia Lo: 25:11

I was thinking it's like, it's almost like a distributed learning model, right? Where you have to have some people, you know, come up to the level where they're able to teach and encourage more people to teach. And then those people go out and teach more weavers. And then those weavers also then become teachers. So in order to continue hand weaving and preserve the skills and the knowledge and all of the things that we love and we do, and we want to pass on to people, we... all are a little bit responsible for becoming teachers in a way, right? Like whatever we've learned, if we can turn around and then spread that passion or spread that excitement, spread that enthusiasm with someone else and just teach somebody else a few skills, then get them hooked and then they'll come in and they'll learn some more things and then they turn around and they teach. I think it needs to be this constant mentoring and teaching model, right? Like you being able to go to Yeda's studio and then learn from her or like us having had Laura Fry come into our studio and then show us like this is how much tension you put on a warp, all these kinds of things. Like it's this mentoring and learning and teaching model that has to persist in order for the craft to persist at all.

Lisa Graves: 26:19

And sharing, sharing what you're learning, what you're doing. Definitely. And I know not everyone's meant to be a teacher, but if you came here and asked me anything about weaving, I would tell you, I would talk to you for hours and hours about it.

Felicia Lo: 26:39

Yeah, actually, I think that's a good point. I mean, maybe not everybody wants to stand up and teach classroom style and say, oh, this is how you do a draft and all that kind of stuff. Maybe not everybody wants to do that kind of teaching. But in terms of being excited about the thing that you've made and sharing that thing that you've made, spreading that enthusiasm, I think, goes a long, long way.

Lisa Graves: 26:59

It's huge. It's huge. Being a part of a group that shares, I think, is huge.

Felicia Lo: 27:10

Do you guys have an in-person guild that you go to and you meet at in Ontario then? Or is OHS online?

Lisa Graves: 27:18

OHS is Ontario-wide and more so. There's people from all over the world in it. It's a similar organization to the HGA. So it's an organization that umbrellas the guilds in Ontario. And I do think, I think we have a guild in Alberta as well. So we support those guilds. And we used to, we did used to have conferences. It's been a while. COVID kind of threw us off and then the costs are astronomical.

Unknown: 27:50

Yeah.

Lisa Graves: 27:51

to rent a venue right now. So hopefully we'll be able to have a conference soon. And at the conference, we always offered one of the units. So we'd pick one of the OHS units and we'd have the teacher come and teach it. We've had Jane Stafford and of course we offer our spinning instructors, they offer different spinning stuff too. So hopefully we'll be able to get back to that. But I do have a local guild here in Kawartha and we meet in the library.

Felicia Lo: 28:22

That's so nice. Yeah, we have a local weaving guild here close to Richmond as well. They meet at basically the library, but they have a room upstairs where they have a whole bunch of looms set up, which is amazing. And I know Greta goes to meet at that one on a regular basis. So that's very, very nice.

Lisa Graves: 28:42

You're very lucky to have a, have a space.

Felicia Lo: 28:45

That's wonderful. Yeah. They are very, very lucky to have that space. Now I want to shift gears just very slightly and talk a little bit about technology and about sort of the I guess. When I joined TikTok, the very first thing I did was search for weavers. And then your account was one of the very first and most prolific that came up on TikTok. And so I'm wondering about that. like how are you sort of navigating this world of technology and social media and trying to sort of spread the word about weaving and teaching weaving and all of this kind of stuff? Where are you finding people most excited and where are you, yeah, where are you sort of like directing your attention in that sort of social media kind of world?

Lisa Graves: 29:38

Yeah, I wasn't expecting this question. This is great. So I, I, I made a video that went viral. It's the one of me weaving on this loom. And I think the more effort I put into like a reel or a video, the worse it did. And the more just showing me weaving with the weaving click clack noises, they've been the most successful. But that, I think it was a 12 million views or something. It was for a week for me. I would tell other people and they'd go, for weaving? I'm like, yes. I had no idea. But I think it reached people that have never seen anything like that. And I think they found it really fascinating. Yeah. Yeah. And I just, I was ready to go to bed. I was tired and I thought, oh, I should just video me doing this. And then it just went like, it was, yeah, I felt like a real rock star for a few days while that happened. Um, I haven't been, unfortunately I can't, uh, haven't been posting too much, but my point was that I, I do find that the ones where you're just weaving are, are the most popular by far. Um, with just, just the natural original audio that's coming from your loom. Um, yeah, just my focus on weft right now. I sort of had to step back from that, but, but I missed it. I'd like to get back to it. Um, Yeah, really just capturing whatever I'm doing. And my big thing is I always share every single thing about. So if you look at any of my reels on any platform, if you scroll down to the bottom of the caption, there's a pair of nerdy glasses and it says, for those who want to know, and I give everything. So the loom, the set, the fiber, the structure, where I got the draft from. And I think that's really important so that there's so many things I look at. There's so many weaving things I look at, even just on Facebook. And I'm like, well, what is that? I don't want to ask. So I make sure it's all there.

Felicia Lo: 31:49

That's a really great idea because I know that like I have, when I was doing the Overshot stuff, I was posting Overshot and I don't know, I just assume that people who are like following your feed, they just see your stuff over and over again. And then they would know, oh, that I'm working on Overshot right now. But every single post had a question. What draft is that? what yarn is that? And I was like, but I've been posting about this for the past three days. Like, how come you don't know that? But then you don't because you don't see everything and not everything gets shown. And so people have no idea that you're working on Overshot right now. So yeah, I think that that's a great idea. Like with every single post to list all the yarn that you're using, every loom that you're using, whatever it is, and all the details because it's good to have it right there.

Lisa Graves: 32:32

And I've had people, I've had people send me a message saying, I'm putting this on. Like, That's it. I'm inspired. And they're not derailed by trying to figure out what it is. Like one of my last crackle ones, she said, Oh, I'm exactly doing this. I just bought the slub yarn. I found that draft.

Unknown: 32:50

Yeah.

Felicia Lo: 32:52

Perfect. Again, it's like sharing the enthusiasm and the excitement of all, right? Now, with 12 million people who watched your TikTok reel when it went viral, did you find, were there lots of comments about people or questions or like, where can I learn to do this? Or do you teach? Or how can I, you know, all of that? Like, does it bring people into work? actually wanting to weave?

Lisa Graves: 33:16

I actually really think it does because I did get a lot of really good questions. A lot of people didn't even know it existed. And they said, how do I even start? And I would mostly direct people to finding a guild in their area. For sure. To just even, you know, and mentioning that sometimes guilds have lessons or they have looms that you can rent. So it's, and they're so knowledgeable. It's sort of a good place to place to start. I have a lot of questions about what loom is that? Where can I get that loom? Then I got a lot of weird comments. Apparently there's a movie, I think with Angelina Jolie and it's called Wanted. And there's, everyone was commenting wanted or something. I don't know something about the movie over and over and over again. So I don't think those are the people that want to learn how to weave,

Felicia Lo: 34:07

but yeah. Yeah. There's a loom shot. It's there's like, yeah, there's a big loom in that movie, I think. And then, um, yeah, I think more recently I was watching Apple TV and I was watching this show called silo. It's a sci-fi show. And, um, and then there's a loom in that one too. And, uh, Yeah, it's based on a book and the first book is called Wool. And it's all very interesting. I love sci-fi and I love when sci-fi also adds weaving looms to it. It's just, it's the best.

Lisa Graves: 34:37

In Minecraft, there's a loom. Do your kids play Minecraft? Yes.

Unknown: 34:41

Yes.

Lisa Graves: 34:42

And then

Felicia Lo: 34:42

there's

Lisa Graves: 34:43

sheep. And then

Felicia Lo: 34:43

you can get the wool from the sheep. And then you can dye it. And then you can make fabric. It's cool. They're learning so many things from Minecraft. Fantastic. So when someone comes to you and asks, oh, I'm interested in weaving, the first place that you're recommending is to go to a local guild. What other recommendations can you make? If somebody doesn't have a local guild or can't get out to a guild, what is your advice for somebody who wants to start from the very beginning?

Lisa Graves: 35:12

If they can't find someone local, it's a shame. Like first thing is starting out with a guild. If their guild doesn't offer lessons, then maybe they can ask them if they can recommend someone locally that does teach. Then unfortunately, you're gonna have to probably go online instead of in person or go to a conference. But the problem with that is you don't even really know what conferences exists when you're not in that world. See, I would recommend going online uh, with your, with your school, Jane Stafford, um, or, and where they are too. And, and like, if people want to learn maybe rigid huddle, maybe I might point them to, to someone else or even, I don't know. I guess it just depends. I feel sorry for those people. Like I really, I really like, it's not fair.

Unknown: 36:07

Yeah.

Felicia Lo: 36:08

Yeah, I think there has to be something about like in the future trying to create like more space for people to connect about some of these crafts, you know, in person, online for sure, but also in person and to be able to see and touch and feel. I know like we have an event every year in Vancouver called Knit City and it mostly brings in knitters and there's yarn vendors and things like that. But we always take the opportunity to bring looms in. bring spinning wheels. And sometimes people are seeing them for the very first time. So to be able to touch and feel and just get exposed to some of these ideas and things like that. So yeah, that's something that we're hoping to do more in the community as well. Yeah. So what is the best place where people can sort of come find you and your work? Is your website, should they follow you on Instagram? Where's the best place to follow like all the things that Lisa is doing?

Lisa Graves: 36:59

Um, either Instagram or Facebook. I post mostly the same stuff to both of them. Um, and then my website, corethoweaving.ca. That's, that's where I am.

Felicia Lo: 37:10

Yeah. I am sort of like in the back of my mind, fantasizing a little bit about the idea of like going on a retreat to your lakeside cottage where you have just a massive room full of looms. How many looms are in the room right now? Uh,

Lisa Graves: 37:25

I think like 12.

Felicia Lo: 37:27

Amazing.

Lisa Graves: 37:27

This is my newest.

Felicia Lo: 37:31

Oh, yes. What is that? It's a draw loom. So my immediate thought is, with all of your roles and responsibilities, how do you have time to learn how to weave on a draw loom? I

Lisa Graves: 37:52

don't. Not right now. Her name's Moxie, and I give her a hug every once in a while. I ordered her. I ordered her. She came. on a boat to the port of Toronto and I had to get it shipped to my home. Um, we put her together and then I literally, um, left and met JC and we started the magazine. So taking a bit of a break, but that's okay. I, I, uh, I did Weevil Warp on it. I was very happy and she's going to be there ready for me, uh, when I get back to it. Well, plus I'd really like to go to Vavstuga and, uh, their draw loom, uh, DEF I think is, is two weeks. So, I want to make sure I have the time to commit to learn properly. But my other looms, my students learn on like cleric fannies. I know you're a really big fan of those. They're just so accessible here in Ontario. And it's probably going to be the loom that that student gets first because they're so common to find used or free. And they just work so well. You can't break them. They're still in business. I can still buy all the parts. Then I have a spring. And then I really like table looms. Really, I just love them because there's no tie-ups. You're just so free. And you learn so much more when you have to lift that lever yourself. It's like you're cheating with a treadle because it's tied to more than one. So you're missing a step of what's happening. So I think you'll learn a lot more on a table loom.

Felicia Lo: 39:28

Yeah, because when you lift on a table, you're being very intentional about which thread am I lifting up right now and what is it going to do? And you can see that direct effect. Yeah, absolutely. No, I was thinking about the fanny because I got my fanny from Ontario. I had it shipped across Canada to get to me because there weren't very many hanging out here on the West Coast, but they were all in Ontario. There's lots available. Mine was not free, unfortunately. But yeah, glad to have it and glad to be able to find parts for it and all that kind of thing. Fantastic. So you are leading this fantasy weaving life that I admire from the other coast of Canada. And I'm very, very happy to have had the chance to chat with you today, Lisa. Thank you so much. Very, very excited to direct people to your website, to your Instagram, to seeing what other things that you're creating. And then we will absolutely be following along with everything that WEFT is creating as well in the world. So thank you so much for everything that you're doing. Thank you.

Lisa Graves: 40:31

Thank you so much, Felicia. I love this so much. I really appreciate this. Yeah, thank you.