Wednesday, July 21, 2021

Spinning a Yarn, Weaving a Tale by Dana Cameron

Jenn McKinlay: I am absolutely thrilled to have long time Jungle Red Writers' friend Dana Cameron with us today and not just because she is talking about a craft I have been wanting to take up for years -- weaving -- but also because she's an amazing author. Still, how cool is that? Serendipity, no? Take it away, Dana...

Dana Cameron

I’m a big fan of having something that you love to do, while giving 

yourself permission to be absolutely awful at it. Right now, it’s 

weaving and spinning. I’ve been weaving for almost three years now, 

and I’m improving. Three months ago, when a dear friend was looking 

to rehome her grandmother’s spinning wheel, she kindly thought of 

me. I’m still learning how to spin a consistent yarn. But! Going 

through these imperfect processes is invaluable when I’m working on 

writing too.


       Part of the reason was that I learned to sew at a young age and I love textiles. Part of it was curiosity about the historical side of things, and how women (especially) spent part of their working days. Spinning can take you as far back as 40-50,000 years ago, and weaving, almost that far back into Neanderthal technology. I also was curious about the places in which spinning and weaving show up in many cultural traditions: Athene’s contest with Arachne; Penelope weaving her stole to keep her home-invading suitors at bay; Spider Woman, who gave the Navajo people textile crafts and agriculture; the Nornir, who ordained everyone’s fate by spinning, weaving, then severing the threads of a life at the foot of Yggdrasil.

       So, good stuff for an archaeologist. And good stuff for a writer, too: after a day spent spinning one's wheels in the writing mines, sitting at the loom or spinning wheel can produce something solid. It’s incredibly soothing to have moved along in one project, if not another, and it gives you perspective. 

       For example, when I began weaving, my goal was to make some napkins. I’d fume over incorrect warping, skipped threads, or the wrong color change, but learned to ask: is it still something I could use to wipe spaghetti sauce off my face? If so, cool! I’ve made a thing and I can either fix it now or do better next time. If I’m left with a tangled pile of threads, I can ask myself: Do I need to learn more, can I improve—will this give into study and practice? Or: Is this really what I want to be doing with these threads—would I be better using them for macrame? 




       It also reminds me that if I have a pile of words that refuse to form a story, I need to ask myself: Am I taking this project in the right direction? Or maybe it’s a mess, but some of the words are still calling me: Does this need to be a poem? Does it indicate something that needs more research, first? Do I want to write, or am I trying to create but need another medium? Am I writing with passion but about the wrong thing? 

       Getting into a rhythm of weaving or spinning is a good distraction at the end of the day, an opportunity for random ideas to bob to the surface, while you’re focusing on something else. And if it’s not so calming—say, you’ve got your warping sheds all wrong, or you can’t get the right speed in your treadling and the spinning wheel’s orifice keeps swallowing your broken yarn—well, you feel that much better about writing afterwards. Learning something new can remind you how far you’ve come in your other skills. Doing research into the history and folklore of these crafts has provided inspiration for my Fangborn novels and stories: in Hellbender, Zoe Miller perceives time and space as intersecting warp and weft threads. 


       Although having these activities is useful for both letting your brain rest and inspiring other ideas, there is one major drawback. You have to be on constant guard against cats attempting to ensnare themselves in your warp, chew on your yarn, or attack a bag of unspun wool that still smells ever-so-faintly of sheep. 


How about you, Reds and Readers, what activities do you do to let your brain rest and recharge? 



Dana Cameron writes across many genres, but especially crime and speculative fiction. Her work, inspired by her career in archaeology, has won multiple Anthony, Agatha, and Macavity Awards, and has been nominated for the Edgar Award. Dana's Emma Fielding archaeology mysteries were optioned by Muse Entertainment and appear on the Hallmark Movie & Mystery Channel. Pandora’s Orphans: A Fangborn Collection drops on July 13, 2021, and is available for pre-order everywhere. For more information, check out www.dcle-publishing.com/pandoras-orphans.  

61 comments:

  1. Goodness, Dana . . . so much that I did not know about spinning and weaving . . . but the weaving is beautiful.
    I see that grey cat staring at your yarn; just how do you keep the cats out of your weaving?

    I fear that I do nothing so creative or industrious when my poor brain needs rest . . . I putter in the garden and fuss with the plants in the sunroom. They probably don’t need me fussing with them, but it makes me feel useful . . . .

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    1. Joan, the cat in the picture had just been rebuked for attempting to pull down my warp! That's why she's glaring at me. They are fascinated and I've had to develop a certain level of...juggling to keep them at bay. And oh, my goodness, plants? I wish I had a green thumb! I do *not*, so my hat's off to you!

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  2. I want to salute the idea of letting yourself do something you are bad at--this is a "skill" I'm still working on. The best I've done recently is knit a very simple scarf (first knitting I've done since I was a teenager): just knit-knit-knit, not even a purl. The work-in-progress had quite a few holes and weird bumps, but I kept going until it was four feet long, and I'm going to wear it this winter with pleasure, if not exactly pride. Knitting is very relaxing for the brain, especially when you have a no-brainer pattern (ie no pattern at all!). I also find deadheading the flowers on my balcony perfect for breaks when I'm stuck in my writing.

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    1. Ah, Kim, perfect! I tried knitting and crocheting, and I ended up with weaving because I could not get the hang of either. Good for you!

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  3. Quilting calms me - picking out the fabric, figuring out what pattern to use and then the piecing together of what will be a quilt.

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    1. Dru, your quilts are so lovely! I am always eager to see your fabric choices.

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  4. Dana, I love this, especially the cat staring down the warp: talk about a harbinger of Doom! I used to do needlepoint while watching TV; I gave it up decades ago, but your argument for the satisfaction of the handwork after struggling with words maks me I feel I ought to take up the needle again.

    Incidentally, my dad took up weaving as a hobby for a number of years after several of us had cleared out enough to turn a bedroom into "the loom room." He had a full size standing loom he used to weave tartan cloth - every member of the family had a hand-loomed scarf, with enough left over for the next generation. I remember the pleasure of sitting at the dining room table with my mom, enjoying a glass of wine after dinner, and hearing the creak and clunk as the shuttle and batten went back and forth.

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    1. Thank you, Julia! Yes, I'm fascinated by any kind of needlework, the art and the patience it takes. And those scarves--how marvelous an heirloom! The rhythm of the rattle and clunk of that process is hypnotic.

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  5. Love the cat photo. I nit pick a plot or practice dialogue while I weed, the intensive after-weeks-of-rain waist-high weeds. Congratulations on your new release!

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    1. Thank you, Margaret! Weeding is very therapeutic for a writer, with just the right amount of violence... ;-)

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  6. Dana, welcome to JRW and congratulations on your new book. I confess that you will be a new author for me and I'll be searching your website to find where to begin reading your books later this morning.

    Kudos on your persistence with weaving and spinning. My dog sheds enough fine hair to make a Kenai sweater but it's more of a joke than a serious idea. Still, he's getting old and, well...

    I did knit once upon a time but stopped and never succeeded in starting it again. I did crewelwork and sewed clothes, too. It seems like a different lifetime now. The material in your photo is lovely. I think you've passed the "awful" stage by far!

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    1. Judy, I've considered dog hair as quilt batting. It's warm, but lighter than wool, and won't shrink in the dryer. I'd probably have to quilt it pretty tightly, though.

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    2. Thank you so much, Judy! I hope you will enjoy the traditional Emma Fielding archaeology mysteries and the Fangborn urban fantasy adventures. Judy and Gigi, people can use all kinds of small animal hair (cats, dogs, rabbits, etc.) in textiles. I often get teased about when I'll get a sheep. Of COURSE I would never do that (a goat would be better suited to our rocky, uneven backyard!).

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  7. Hi Dana! I love this idea. I too am persistent in my knitting and crocheting (scarves only with whatever pattern of stitches or stripes I feel the urge to try) and I also quilt (I like to pick fabrics and put them together in ways that please me--no complicated patterns). And I quilt by hand because it leaves my mind free to wander. Your weaving is amazing! And the cats take any yarn as a challenge and feel that a quilt on the frames is the perfect place for a nap.

    I'll be looking out for your books--can't figure out how I missed them or how I didn't know that you're an archaeologist. What were your research interests?

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    1. Quilting frames are perfect for cats. I use a lap hoop, so my cat has a small, well-defined space, the hammocky sag of the quilt inside the frame, and moving string! What's not to love, if you're a cat?

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    2. Hey Flora! You're absolutely right: it's the idea of distracting the brain while looking at pleasing things that make any pastime so relaxing.

      My research focused on historical archaeology (especially New England colonial archaeology), same as Emma Fielding, my archaeology-professor amateur sleuth. Though it's been ages since I've been in the field, I still feel the urge to visit sites and nose around.

      Gigi, I can see that. Once, the larger of my two tabbies attempted to jump onto the work on my loom, and well...she very nearly managed to become part of the weft.

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  8. I call myself a knitter although I haven't picked up the needles in months. I'm sure the spirit will move me again and then I'll get on. I don't knit with different colored yarns but I do like to do a lot of different stitches - love making fisherman sweaters.

    So for now my mindless activity is working a jigsaw puzzle. Just the ticket.

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    1. Judi, I know there'll be a beautifully textured yarn that calls out to you, from a shop or from your stash. Jigsaw puzzles were a big help during our lockdown, and I love them (almost as much fun reconstructing pottery sherds!). I am told, however, that because of my previous career, I can become...competitive? emphatic? about how to do them. ;-)

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  9. I've seen you post about weaving on Facebook, Dana, and I'm always impressed! The craft I do anymore is quilting, but it's not daily by any means. I am now overdue to make a baby quilt for tiny Luca, who showed up three weeks early on Sunday, so it will be daily for a while. And maybe I'll get back into a more regular practice. Napkins - now that's a great idea!

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    1. Thank you, and best of luck with your quilt for Luca, Edith! Napkins, place mats, runners, and scarves are very satisfying, because they are relatively easy and short-term projects. One day, I hope I'll be able to make larger textiles for couch throws and table cloths (using two heddles, to get a forty-inch wide panel from a twenty-inch wide loom).

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    2. I once had to rush an apple baby hat when a colleague's baby was early. I finished before the going-home day, and showed it to students before school. A beautiful, smart, athletic student told us that she had been as small as this one when she was born. I sent her to deliver the hat and her story, a personification of hope. <3

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  10. Dana, I see your spinning and weaving posts on Instagram. Very pretty.

    I've pulled out all my counted cross-stitch materials again. But I need a new needle. I've been procrastinating on going to the store.

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    1. Hi Liz, and thank you! In my experience, it can be very dangerous going into a fabric or crafting store: You go in for one thing, and two baskets-full later... ;-)

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  11. Dana, your books sound fascinating. Like Judy, I'll be checking into them!

    I did a little research into spinning and weaving a while back, but my primary crafts are quilting, crocheting, and knitting. I find that having something relatively mindless to do with my hands frees my brain up to listen more closely, or wander more freely. Quilting can be very meditative, if I can get into a rhythm. And, like you say, at the end of the day you have a physical thing: a new quilt block, five more inches on the scarf, or a placemat.

    A couple of my friends have done deep dives into spinning and weaving. One dyes beautiful yarns, and another raises silkworms and spins/weaves from there. It's all fascinating stuff and, as you say, has ancient roots. I like being in touch with the old stuff.

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    1. Thank you very much, Gigi! I hope you'll enjoy them. At first, five inches doesn't sound like a lot, until you realize that steady increments of five inches or a quilt block will eventually get you a scarf or a quilt. Isn't it fun to go to a museum and see the card looms or drop spindles?

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  12. Lovely work, Dana - your weaving and writing!

    Weaving has always piqued my interest. I remember reading about it as a child in either a Sue Barton or a Cherry Ames book. The craft was used in the book as occupational therapy. Never had the opportunity to learn, but I did learn to spin when we were brought to the children's history museum. All of the girls in my class were given an opportunity to try the wheel. I was lucky enough to be offered a place as a child reenactor. I had the softest hands from all that lanolin! Now I crochet after a hard day at my desk. All those knots sometimes help work out knotty problems in my stories.

    Is that a cat I see at the back of your yarn? Very brave, Dana!

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    1. Thank you very much, Kait! It took me ages to realize that the big wheel of a spinner was only driving the whorl, not actually the thing the yarn went on!

      I sometimes have to enlist my husband to be on-deck when I'm starting a project, so if I need to leave the room, he can defend the yarn. :-)

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    2. Yes, the kitties! An entire blog unto themselves.

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  13. "...a pile of words that refuse to form a story..." That says it all in a nutshell.

    Quilting helps. Especially when I'm assembling a block from a small intricate pattern. (Dear Jane, anyone?) I don't have to think, just do.

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    1. Susan, that's it, isn't it? So frustrating to have filled pages with words that aren't...doing anything!

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  14. Doing something because we enjoy it even if we're not good at it -- now, that's an excellent ability to have. I'm not sure I'm evolved enough yet for singing loudly with a group of people: I love to sing but cannot hold a tune to save my life. Maybe something to work on in the coming year?

    I'm off to explore your books, Dana. Thanks for this post.

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    1. Amanda, thank you. I hear you: I would love to sing, but have *no* talent. I've had friends confess that they use their birthday cake "wish" to wish I never sing "Happy Birthday" to them again!

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    2. HA HA!! Same here. Horrific singer. :-)

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  15. Dana welcome! I love this post. My aunt was a master weaver and could spin yarn out of anything, including their old English sheepdog's fur. She gave classes all over the country and I so wish I learned from her! My uncle sold all her looms, though I wish I had laid claim to one. Kudos to you for trying something new! My pets would destroy your projects:)

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  16. You are a brave soul, weaving with a cat in residence! I love your attitude of do it for fun. I used to needlepoint and cross stitch but it has been many years since my last project. Occasionally I'll get the creative bug and go crafty on something but it's been a while. I do make valentines every year for my husband. I find I totally enjoy going outside and trimming the hell out of some poor bush or tree, for its own good of course. Takes my mind off of everything.

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    1. Pat, one learns all about "impermanence" with cats in one's life! I have a forsythia that I try to keep tidy and regular, so it's learned to fear the pruning shears. :-)

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  17. Thank you, Lucy! I'm so sorry you didn't get to learn from your aunt, who sounds amazing. Yeah, I've become used to looking at a cat-chewed yarn and thinking "well, now it has more texture." ;-)

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  18. DANA,

    Welcome to Jungle Reds! I'm a fangirl. I loved the Emma Fielding series on Hallmark Channel and it was a treat to meet you at my first Bourchercon in 2017.

    Baking and knitting helps me recharge my brain. I remember learning how to knit in college. When I was a kid, I used to skate at the ice rink and I always did well in school. Ironically, once I stopped iceskating, I did not do as well in school. Perhaps there is a connection?

    Baking is wonderful. It is fun for me to modify recipes since I cannot have dairy nor wheat. Last endeavour was a Donut Cake from Ellie's Bakeshop series.

    Diana

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    1. Thanks, Diana! I'm glad you've enjoyed the Emma Fielding series! I bet you're right about the ice skating, giving your brain a rest. A Donut Cake? That sounds perfect, immediate crafting payoff!

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  19. Love this post. That's why "weaving a yarn" refers to both fiber and a story. My Danish grandmother wove and we had placemats and napkins and small rugs. She also knitted fabulous sweaters. i do needlepoint and it's been soothing this year especially.

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    1. You're right, Atlanta, I've been grateful for any diversion during the past year. The Danish patterns I've seen are so lovely--how lucky you are to have some of her handiwork!

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  20. I only ever made small decorative weavings, but I've seen the weavers in Guatemala, and spinning is St. Augustine. Skills! I can knit and crochet, and all these give a feeling of how much more precious textiles were before mass production. Of course people darned, mended, and remade clothing when it took so many hours to make them.
    A friend gave me angora yarn she spun herself, with a warning that it wouldn't be safe in a household with dogs or cats. I plan to knit a bunny, a very soft one.

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    1. Mary, there's no "only" in small decorative weavings--good for you! The Guatemalan weaving is SO stunning, so beautiful! And yes, textiles were crazy-expensive before the Industrial Revolution. Remember, a hope chest contained the work of a young woman started years before she started her own household. The angora sounds lovely, have fun!

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  21. Wait wait, you are fabulous. But--um, spinning WHAT into yarn? I just realized I have no idea how that works.

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    1. My blushes, Hank! And good question: I've been spinning (sheep) wool that's been processed (cleaned, combed, carded). You can buy it by the bag/or by the pound in a lot of places. The next step, which I'm almost certain I won't be taking would be to buy the wool straight from the shepherd and clean it and prepare it myself.

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    2. SO late. But what does it look like? Oh, I will look it up....

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  22. It smells like sheep? How do you get it to un-smell? I think I need to come over and see this in person. Some...dayyyyyy...

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    1. You wash it! You don't want to do too much washing before you're finished, because that will alter the fibers and textiles. (So this smells...pleasantly...of sheep, and less of barnyard.) And yes, some day!

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  23. Dana, I love this post!! The archeologist view of weaving is fascinating. I made a feeble attempt at weaving, years ago, and I have made an equally feeble attempt at quilting, but I think I may have to come to terms with the fact that I am just not crafty. In my defense, my garden is lovely, and I get in my brain-wandering time when I'm watering and deadheading and pulling weeds.

    Congrats on the new book--off to check it out! And to follow your Instagram posts!

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    1. Thanks, Deb! See, you have the gardening gene, and I...well, I was the only one in my neighborhood who couldn't get *tomatoes* to grow. Deadheading is so satisfying.

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  24. Oh Dana, this was a wonderful reminder that our brains need to rest from work and chores and life in general by doing something we truly enjoy. I paint. I am a terrible painter but I enjoy it and that is what matters. I am sure I will be quoting your brilliant sentence quite often. "Learning something new can remind you how far you’ve come in your other skills."

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    1. Right on, Terrie, and good for you! And thank you--I was watching a show where a student became frustrated with what she was learning, and the instructor had her explain the skill to someone who knew nothing at all about it. It reinforced to the student how far she'd come. I just switched it around to encourage myself about writing!

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  25. Dana, once your cats get used to your weaving and spinning, which can take years, they will only watch with lazy fascination. I've always had cats and dogs while spinning and weaving, but it takes longer to get the cats adjusted than the dogs.

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    1. Hmmm, for some reason this keeps eating my answer (so I hope this isn't a duplicate or triplicate). Linda, you give me hope! The larger cat only goes after the odd yarn now and then, and will sit, fascinated by all. the. strings. The little one (in the picture) is more active, and I definitely have to keep an eye on her.

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  26. Dana, I think it's wonderful that you weave. I have a spinning wheel just like the one in your picture, but it's for decoration as a family piece. Whenever I see the question of what did you want to be as a child when you grew up, my answer is always an archaeologist. I sometimes wonder if I would have pursued it if I'd had role models involved in it or any connection or encouragement. I did write a play with a friend while in elementary school of archaeologists discovering a mummy's tomb, and our class put it on for the whole school.

    Here's a lovely connection for you to your theme of doing something you love even if you're awful at it and archaeology. Many of you may already be familiar with a piece circulating on FB by Kurt Vonnegut in which his month as a teenager working on an archeological dig and the important lesson he learned from it. It's a short piece in which one of the archeologists tells him, "I don't think being good at things is the point in doing them." So many of us have given up on doing something we like or even love because we're not accomplished in it, and we should have never been striving for accomplishment in the first place.

    Here's a link to the short piece by Vonnegut on an important life lesson. It's embedded in a longer piece by another writer who also has some thoughts on doing what you love. https://medium.com/writers-blokke/a-life-lesson-from-kurt-vonnegut-of-all-people-4cbd3284c740

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    1. Thank you for this, Kathy! I like to tell people, if you weren't able to explore archaeology as a job, maybe you can volunteer on a dig, or working in an archaeological lab. Established digs often look for volunteers and will train them!

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  27. This is such a wonderful post, Dana. I've been fascinated by weaving forever and you've given me so much history. Simply, delightful.

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  28. Thank you so much, Jenn, and thank you again for hosting me! What I've especially loved about these new-to-me pastimes is that you can go to YouTube right now and find out how to make a drop spindle or loom from materials around the house. Everything from a cardboard swatch loom (or even a four-shaft loom from cardboard, string, and chopsticks!) to a spinning wheel made from PVC pipe lengths and fittings. And there are terrific websites to teach any technique.

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