Episode 131: Letters from Our Community

Weave Podcast Transcript Episode 131: Episode 131: Letters from Our Community    

Sarah Resnick:  I’m Sarah Resnick.   

LaChaun Moore: And I’m LaChaun Moore.  

Sarah Resnick:  And we are the hosts of the Weave Podcast, a project of the weaving yarn shop, GIST Yarn & Fiber.   

Hi everyone, Sarah here. I can’t quite believe we’re recording the last episode of 2020 today. What a year it’s been — filled with both heaviness and comfort, fear and trust, isolation and connection. Pantone recently picked two colors of the year (a soft gray and a bright yellow) and I feel like that really illustrates how so many of us are feeling right now, and definitely how I’m feeling — hope mixed with sorrow, dreaming of a time on the other side of this pandemic while grieving for the lives that were lost or forever changed during this awful time.  At Gist Yarn, we are looking towards the new year with optimism and excitement, and have lots on the horizon to share with you. We are thrilled to be launching two new subscription boxes in 2021 - Låda, for multi-shaft weavers, will be led by Arianna Funk, and Twofold, for rigid heddle weavers, will be led by Christine Jablonski - we’ll have podcast episodes with both of them next year! We are also hard at work on new lines of yarn, including a wool tapestry yarn that is currently in production with 70 colors. And as LaChaun mentioned on an earlier episode, she has moved into a new role focused on building collaborations with artists and pattern designers, and we will be opening up an Open Call for Pattern Designs in early 2021.  We have also been hard at work building a new website that will launch with a refreshed brand identity, and new features that will be more accessible, and make it easier for you to find what you’re looking for, including an easier way to search for and share podcast episodes. This project has been a big undertaking for our small team, and we’re all feeling really proud of how it has developed, and excited to share it with our community in early 2021. As part of that launch, we will be sharing a podcast episode conversation with the amazing designer we worked with, Maggie Putnam, where she will give a peek behind the curtain at what went into developing our new brand, and why we decided to take on this project at this time. Wow, saying all of that at once is making me both excited and nervous — it’s a lot to pull off for this small biz! In some ways, this business is hardly recognizable to me as the one I launched in a 400 square foot studio in 2017, and is beyond the biggest dreams I could have imagined at that point. The financial and logistical challenges of managing this business in 2020 made for some sleepless nights, but we made it through entirely thanks to the team of 5 women who bring their creativity, flexibility, and passion to our work every day, to the mills and dye houses we are lucky to partner with, and to our community of customers and podcast listeners who have supported us every step of the way.  Our team put together a really special episode for you to ring out this year, sharing some of our favorite customer stories that came into our email inbox this year. I’ll pass the mic over to LaChaun to share about it!  

LaChaun Moore: Thanks for that introduction Sarah, hi everyone. Before we get into this weeks episode, I just want to give a special shoot out to Christine. She is Gist Yarn's Director of Operations, Wholesale and Customer Service. All of the letters with the exception of one come from correspondence between Christine and our customers and we are so grateful for how well she communicates and represents us as a team. So thank you Christine. We were granted permission by each customer to share their letters on this podcast episode so thank you for tuning in, and on with the first letter. The first letter comes from Diana Taylor. I like to weave for a purpose. My favorite weaving philosophies are Zati (Zoti) Weaving a Life by Susan Barrett Merrill, and Saori weaving by Misao Jo. Yarn texture, embellishment and color that mimic nature interest me.  I weave on rigid heddle looms, all Schacht, though I also have a small table loom that sits. I once had a Saori loom I never used. I was daunted by warping and metal heddles.  I am currently weaving hats and other items for donation to our local food bank and animal shelters. This sounds far grander than it is as I weave slowly-lol! But it’s a nice way to make things for a good cause. My thought is to expand this idea of charity weaving to a ‘Weaving or [Crafting) Away Hunger FB page, where people can ‘sell’ their items online for direct donation to food banks or pet shelters. I’ve thought about setting up a drop off location for local pickups, or a ‘hat’ library. Just ideas. Signed- Diana Taylor Thanks Diana! 

Susie: Hey y’all, I'm Susie I am the E-commerce Strategist at Gist Yarn. Thank you so much for writing and for your all of your support. This letter comes from Joyce Besser I have done weaving since the early 80’s. Bought a Schacht 4 harness floor loom to do rag rugs.  Wanting to do more and not carrying over much from a one time a week sessions locally, I spent a week at Sievers School of Fiber Arts on Washington Island, WI.  It was great!  Did some weaving of placemats, runners, shawls, etc.  Experimented with more weaving patterns.  Then a move;  greater job responsibilities; going back to school for a second Masters; and then grand-parenting all got in the way and I wove less and less.  Finally got rid of all my looms — had bought a 28” along the way; an Australian model. We now live in a Senior Cooperative.  Between winter and COVID I got pretty down.  A friend in the building who is a very good weaver, making clothing out of most of her weaving, heard me mutter one day about “I should have a loom." She jumped on that, checked with a supply source she knew and before you know I had ordered a Saori loom.  Just finished weaving the warp that came on it.  Laughed at my first piece — they got better.  Goal was to produce one piece that reflected the ups and downs of winter 2020.   Working on ideas for next warp.  I’ll do mostly gifts! Signed- Joyce Thanks Joyce, I'm so glad you were able to come back to weaving after all these years. 

Christine: Hi Everyone, I’m Christine Jablonski, Gist's Director of Operations. Your letters make our day please keep them coming. This one comes from Susie Kay. Hi Christine, thanks for reaching out, I enjoy both knitting and weaving. My weaving journey has been longer than most warps you have ever wound. I bought a 1966 Leclerc Fanny in 1988 for $120 from a woman who had “lovingly” stored it on her screened back porch for 20 years. Did I mention she lived 1/2 mile from the ocean in Ft. Lauderdale?  Every piece of metal was completely rusted? But that Canadian Maple was perfect? I spent the next 2 years and about $200 in parts bringing it back to life. I became a pro with naval jelly and a wire brush. Metal that I could not clean was replaced along with all the cords, heddles, and aprons. The previous owner bought it from a local community college studio that was dismantled and had a ton of accessories and shuttles that came with it. So then life got in the way for the next 10 years and I just did knitting for a designer since I could take it with me when traveling. I finally decided I needed to open up the loom and use it so I purchased a tote bag kit I fell in love with from a Handwoven magazine ad in 2000.  I managed to get as far as dressing the loom with the first warp. And life got in the way again — my first husband developed ALS and died in 2004. Fast forward and I remarried in 2013 and insisted the loom was coming with me, warp and all. Long story short — it has taken a pandemic to get me to open the loom and tackle a 20 year old project on a 35 year old loom. I’m working from home right now and have time to weave instead of commuting. My final child has moved onto college and I have claimed an extra bedroom to be my craft room. Needs painting still and then the loom gets out of the dining room.  I am now researching my next project which I believe will probably be a bench cushion. The piano bench I use with the loom gets a little hard after a while. I tend to be practical.  Now you know my story. I am enjoying getting back into the knitting and — finally — weaving mode. Take care, Susie Kay Wellington, Florida. Thanks Susie! I hope the painting is done and your loom has left the dinning room. Thanks so much for your letter.

Emma:  Hey everyone, I'm Emma, Gist Yarn's Creative Director. Thank you for writing in to us and for your continued support. This letter comes from an anonymous writer: I’m a complete and utter beginner. I’ve been a crafts dilettante my entire life (I’m approaching 60) and have variously and thoroughly enjoyed bookbinding, pottery, graphic design, knitting amongst other creative outlets over the years. Primarily, I’m a color junkie, and while I run my own very time consuming business, with the cancellation of all shows all of my creative outlets have vanished. (I sell vintage jewelry and decorative arts and setting my showcases and setting up our booths at shows is enormously gratifying, and I miss it enormously at the moment.) I’ve always been a great fan of the design of the Bauhaus, and lately Bauhaus weavings have been grabbing my attention. I started working on a few designs of my own and then began researching simple looms, watching weaving videos online and eventually searching good yarns (the cherry on top). As I said, I’m a color junkie, and the Gist website is so beautifully photographed and presented, and the yarns are in such delectable palettes, I decided to jump in, feet first, whole hog. I’m hoping to receive my loom this week (a simple frame loom with a rotating heddle bar). I did a preliminary weaving using bookbinding cover board as a ‘loom’ and bits of ugly yarn from a local thrift shop to see if I’d enjoy the process as much as I thought I would, and I did. I can’t wait to work with colors that make me happy. Happy to make the acquaintance of an actual weaver! Cheers, and be well. Thanks for writing in Anonymous!  

Sarah Resnick: Hi Everyone, this is Sarah the Founder of Gist Yarn and I am going to be reading a letter that comes from Nikki Shults.   I've been weaving sporadically for a number of years - I was a Registered Nurse for 30 of those years.  When I retired about 3 years ago, I turned my son's old bedroom into a studio, and started weaving natural fiber clothing for larger people.  I have a modest little shop on Etsy, and was "doing" two shows a year in Northern Wisconsin until the pandemic. I have my original Loomcraft loom, and a Baby Wolf I used to drag around to demos.  Both are 8 shaft jack looms, though I only used 4 shafts for years.  I've always loved "ethnic"  and Medieval clothing, and have fun showing newbies on Facebook groups the variety of clothing that can be fashioned from simple rectangles and squares.  I think weavers are often intimidated when the desire to weave their own clothing hits.  I also very much like what Saori weavers are doing, though I haven't dabbled in that yet. I've sewn clothing since my early teens, the only way I could get the styles and colors I wanted as a Miss size 14 in 9th grade.  I'm now an 18/20, and was mightily disgusted with the clothing choices I have now.  Everything on the store racks is polyester.  EVERYTHING.  "Plus" people REALLY do NOT need to be wearing plastic!  It's hot in the summer, and cold in the winter. So, now I weave summer tops in bigger sizes in cotton, linen, ramie and other natural fibers.  I just styled my own design of a cocoon jacket, and have plans for a similar vest with pockets.  I'm not much of a planner, really -- usually I just put 17 to 20 yards of perle cotton warp on my loom, and have at it.  I bore easily, so each top is a bit different.  There are lots of fun, (mostly) natural novelty yarns out there, these days.  I often use a standard 2/2 twill threading and tie up, because it's quite versatile.  I also like overshot, and hand-manipulated techniques like Brooks Bouquet. My Grandmother taught me to crochet when I was about 6 or so, and I crocheted a great deal before I started weaving.  Now I often use crochet as a finish and seams for my handwoven.  I crocheted a large-ish removable brooch for the cocoon jacket I mentioned, and lightly beaded it.  That was fun! I have a few other looms, too--a beautiful tapestry loom that I really haven't used much, and then much smaller ones, like cards for card weaving--not very successful, I keep losing my place!  And a  Norwegian backstrap rigid heddle for making tapes, but I haven't quite figured that one out, yet.  Two old Beka looms hang on my wall: one is mine, it was my introduction to weaving, and the other was my mother-in-law's, that she bought after seeing what I was doing on it.  And I have a "harp" loom that can be used several different ways, which is much easier to tote than my Baby Wolf--though not quite as "fun" for people to try.  I've also taught some "weave yourself a small bag" classes of the cardboard-and-toothpicks variety.  Kids love that.  Lastly, I have a "Weaving Sanity" board that's basically for weaving bracelets.  I would also like to try combining weaving and beads for statement-piece necklaces, but haven't gotten around to it yet. I suppose I should hurry up--I expect I only have about 20 or 30 years left, max.   So, now that I've talked your ear off, what sorts of things do YOU enjoy?  I wouldn't be able to run a yarn store, I'd be pilfering the shelves all the time!  Do you have favorite yarns?  Do you stop and pet some of your favorites when nobody's looking?  I'm certainly guilty of that, with my stash. Thanks for your interest!  I hope you get replies from LOTS of folks!  Be well, and stay safe in these crazy times! Regards, Nikki Schultz. Nikki also has a blog on Facebook called FrabjousFindsNFibers where she documents some of the highs and lows she’s run into with weaving. So check it out!  And thanks so much for writing in Nikki! 

LaChaun Moore: This next letter comes from Sue. I'm a returning weaver.  I learned to weave while I was finishing seminary in the very late 90's.  I had always been intrigued with weaving and was gifted with lessons with a local teacher for a birthday gift.  My teacher was wonderful!  She knew how to introduce weaving in a non-overwhelming way and she had a real gift for helping me learn something new with each project.  I continued weaving at her studio for a few years, but then I got a job at a church that was just too far away to commute even once weekly.  As my responsibilities at the church grew (the senior pastor left and I was in charge my last year there), my weaving time diminished.  I tried weaving at home on a 2nd hand loom, but it wasn't the same kind (counterbalance instead of countermarche) and I was pretty lost. The happy ending to that sad story is that I sold that loom, retired in 2015, moved from the Bay Area to the very upper edge of Washington State, and settled in to learning about being retired.  I filled in as an interim priest and during that tenure, I was gifted with a lovely 4-shaft jack loom by a member of the congregation who could no longer use it.  I also have acquired an 8-shaft table loom, a 4-shaft table loom, and a very old rigid heddle loom from assorted sources. At the moment, I'm quite entranced with the rigid heddle loom and its capabilities.  I'm learning that there is much more that I can do on that loom than I had imagined!  I'm also working to organize my stash of yarn which has to live in clear plastic boxes in my garage; I'm afraid it has become rather a jumble of cones, balls, and skeins. So that is probably much more than you wanted to know and I apologize for running on.  I feel very much like a beginner again, and I'm continually surprised by what I remember.  I am enjoying all the emails GIST has sent with projects and patterns and information about weaving in other locales.  I expect I will eventually order some of your gorgeous yarn, but an investment of that magnitude is still a ways off.  My budget and I need to be content for the moment with practice projects sourced by my stash. Happy weaving Thanks Sue! Its so great to hear about your journey with weaving, Sue, thank you for writing in and I hope you try some of our yarns this year.  

Susie: This letter comes from Paula Landry. Hello Christine, so nice to receive your message. I am new to weaving and am working on an Ashford 16" Rigid Heddle loom. I purchased the loom anticipating a major life change and ,wow, how little I knew about what that would entail. I am a Septuagenarian now living small in a Ft 34 RV on a working cattle ranch in the desert southwest. As a life long Textile Artist and collector of all manner of items for potential use in my work, downsizing was traumatic! From large shop owner to small studio I had done my share of downsizing, and relocating through the years, donating and liquidating several times. Each change had its challenges but the terrain was mostly familiar. This was and is the Big One! I packed up my favorite yarns from my knitting and fabric manipulation endeavors, bought the loom and hit the highway, Massachusetts to New Mexico.  So...my wee studio is a kit built shed by my husband, Chip and I. From the Ranch Refuse Garden we purged and built tables and stools. A collection of Kantha quilts yielded curtains and a draped ceiling. Ahh , my sanctuary!   Now to the reality...there is a dearth of opportunities for yarn, fabric or ANY weaving studios sitting here in God's country. I managed to have one lesson at the only yarn shop within 60 miles. Warp and weave something, no solid basic instruction. It would appear that You Tube will be my BFF. Happy though to be using my stash and learning a new skill.  I am inspired by your passions and mission and YARN, the reason I am connecting with you. As soon as I can figure out some basics of weaving and better understand what I need, warp and weft, I will be making a purchase. I would like to weave small small rugs and am considering Navaho Churro. There is a farm in Northern New Mexico near Taos, organiclamb.com, which sells Churro in blanket and rug weights. Any and all advice you can offer is greatly appreciated. Also an extremely helpful site, Yarnworker.com by Liz Gipson is one you may wish to read about.  Well, Thanks for listening.    Signed, Paula aka. The Geriatric Gypsy, Hidden Valley Ranch. Thanks for sharing Paula! Its so nice to hear about your adventures.  

Christine: This Letter comes from Charlotte Carr. Hi Christine: I just purchased an Ashford 32” Rigid Heddle table top loom. I have never woven anything in my life, except perhaps a tall tale.  I am very excited to get started, but this is a Christmas gift and I have vowed not to even stain and assemble it until after all the gifts are open in Christmas Day.  I am 77 years old, and my friends jokingly call me the Energizer Bunny.  I have, and still do Rug Hooking, needle punching, Russian punch, knitting, sewing, crocheting ( yuck) machine embroidering, hand embroidering just about every kind of fiber arts there is.  Last month I made a 3’ x 5’ loom and have started a rag rug.  I have done stained glass, lamp working (making glass beads with a bench burner) but don’t do that anymore because I’m not as strong as I used to be, and I got tired on going around with band aids on my fingers.  A am sure once I get started I will have a ton of questions for you.  I look forward to speaking to you in the future and I’m sure I will find many supplies at Gist.  Thank you for reaching out to me.  Have a wonderful safe and sane Holiday season?   Regards, Charlotte. Thanks for sharing such a sweet note, Charlotte! But of course now we’re all wondering if you really did hold out on assembling your loom until Christmas Day?

Emma: This letter comes from Anne Ginders. I live in New Zealand and have been listening to your podcasts on my hour long commute to work most days.  I am a new weaver, sort of. When I was a little girl in the 1960s I was given a Spears toy loom and loved it, but Mother was not supportive and my little loom disappeared. But I never forgot how much I had enjoyed weaving.  Fast forward to two years ago. I met Louise Cook who teaches Saori, I was so happy in her class that I decided I would get a loom for myself. Fate sent me a rigid heddle which I used until last year, but it was too big for my little room and I really wanted to go next level — four shaft. I saved enough to buy a new Louet Erica 50 cm and am loving teaching myself. This is the right loom for me for the duration of time it will take me to save enough for a "spring". So much I can learn on it.  I am a Visual arts graduate working at Auckland War Memorial Museum in Collection Care. All my weekends are filled with as much fibre craft as I can pack in. I am a sewer and plan to use my handwoven cloth for garments. Inspiration comes from studying historical garments and styles. I plan to use felt, slowstitching, and knitting in the same tunic and as much hand-spun as possible.  I was a costume designer working from home for twenty years but was squeezed out of the market because of cheep off-shore manufacturing in the late 1990s. I just couldn't complete so gave up sewing, sold my costume hire and got a 'real' job to make ends meet financially. It's my plan to go back to working from home with my weaving and fibre as soon as I can afford to. Meanwhile I am learning, experimenting and practicing.  And listening to your podcasts. Signed, Anne. Thanks, Anne!  

Sarah Resnick: This next letter comes from Kat Holoch. I taught myself to weave many years ago (late 1970s), when I was an 18 year old art student at a community college. I was very into weaving at a time that there was a resurgence in hand crafts, including weaving and spinning, and you could still find domestic yarns and weaving products. I was able to do a lot of weaving for about 4 years and then sold my loom to finance a big move. I didn’t have room or time to weave for over 30 years. Then a few years ago my husband encouraged me to get back into weaving as a way to relieve stress from the grind of my work.  I have a pre-1940 Gilmore 48-inch wide, 4-shaft floor loom. I bought it 9 years ago from a man (Mr. Goodman) in my area whose wife had been a weaver for many years. I found the ad on a local guild site. After buying the loom,  I went to the Gilmore Loom factory in Stockton, CA as it is only about an hour from my house and saw where they currently produce looms on Mr. Gilmore’s original woodworking machines. The folks at Gilmore still have Mr. Gilmore’s handwritten ledgers of looms that he made and who the looms were sold too. Apparently, Mr. Goodman’s wife had bought a different loom from Gilmore Looms in 1972, not the loom I had. As far as we could tell from the character of my loom (width, number of shafts, distinctive construction techniques, and lack of serial number), my loom appears to be a 1938 loom sold to someone in Berkeley, CA (not far from my house).  Mrs. Goodman must have bought the loom used from the weaver in Berkeley—Mr. Goodman couldn’t remember when she got the loom but thought she had it when they moved into their home in 1951.    Mr. Goodman gave me all of his late wife’s weaving tools, including a couple shuttles that had labels on them (those old plastic labels you could punch out letters and numbers, cut the strip off, and stick on to anything as they had some kind of adhesive on them). The labels had a woman’s name and address on them for a house in my neighborhood. I guess this woman was the president of the Diablo Weaver’s Guild in the late 1970s. I go past the house nearly every day! It appears that there was quite an active weaving community here in western Contra Costa County (California).  And many of the tools I have are from the 1970s—some still in production and some from defunct companies. I feel like I have a living museum as I use most of the items I got with the loom.   I joined a guild for a while (Loom and Shuttle in San Francisco) but haven’t been active in a few years. I may go back soon to see what is going on with the Guild. I kind of got tired of traveling to SF for the meetings and it was hard to convince many of the older members of the value to share photos and information online. I think this is probably a not uncommon problem with other guilds due to the spread of ages and comfort with technology. I found that I was more interested in sharing photos online (Instagram, etc.) then sitting in a meeting hearing about it. Several of the older weavers were really into technology and had computer-controlled Toika looms, but others were not comfortable.  I did like seeing items in person but decided to stop going to meetings.    One fantastic thing about the Guild is their extensive library. The library is housed at one of the member’s house and contains so many books that are now rare. It is such a resource! At one point the Guild decided to winnow out some old copies of Shuttle, Spindle, & Dye-pot so I picked out a few from the years I had been weaving in the 1970s. I was amazed to read the old magazines and see the stories and ads I remember. This was back in the day when all you had were the printed materials that would come in your mailbox. They were so special and you waited anxiously for your copy to arrive. It made me realize how much the internet has changed the spread of information (and for the most part, for good).   Of late, I’ve been weaving linen and cottolin dish, hand, and bath towels. I am a practical person and always need to make something functional. I’ve woven rugs for my home, as well as wool blankets and throws, and cotton blankets.    So, that is a little bit about me. I just saw your email this morning about the Beam organic cotton. I am excited that you care enough about producing a product in the US to work on bringing more products on the market. I also read about all the folks part of GIST and found it very inspiring and exciting that a younger generation realizes the value of hand made things, local production, and the health of the planet. I’m really just an old hippie (I’m 62) and so happy that there has been a growing cohort of younger people that recognize the value of craft, and reviving what has been lost over the years. It gives me hope! I see the value of all the (technological) changes over the last 40 years, but feel that the planet does need a course correction if we are going keep it alive. We need to be more thoughtful about our consumption and less disposable. It sounds like your community at GIST feels the same. Have a great day! Kat Holoch Thanks you so much Kat I loved hearing about your journey, and I'm so happy that glad what we're doing at Gist Yarn gives you hope. We're glad that you are a part of it. 

Susie: This next letter comes from Anne Stone. I am a fairly new weaver.  I started on a rigid heddle loom and am being mentored by an 80 year old who has been weaving for almost 50 years. I asked her what I needed in order to learn to weave and her response was "money".  She had three floor looms in her apartment at the time.  She was able to hook me up with someone who had a Leclerc "M" loom stored in an open barn.  I spent a few weeks lovingly restoring that 4 shaft loom to her former beauty ( but I did leave her character marks).  About a month ago I purchased a Union 36 2 shaft floor loom at a garage sale.  She is now cleaned up and is sporting new heddles, and my husband is learning to weave rag rugs.  Shortly after purchasing the Union, I bought a 10 shaft Macomber floor loom from my mentor.  Macomber thinks it was built around 1958.  I think I have maxed out now.  Probably more info than you wanted.  At this time,  I am weaving mostly tea towels, but will be expanding to scarves in the future.   Signed- Anne Awe. Thanks Anne and congratulations on your two new looms, that's exciting.  I also just bought a loom used, and I am also weaving tea towels and hope to start weaving scarves in the future.

LaChaun Moore: As you all know this past year as a society we dealt with many changes, from a pandemic that has changed how we live our lives in ways that we weren’t prepared for as well a really necessary conversations about race, and politics, and what we can do as people living in this cozy weaving community to advocate for change. I got a lot of emails and letters in response to our deep reckoning episodes but this one in particular struck me deeply. This letter does briefly dive into a traumatic experience that Lori has so openly shared with us so if you think you may be trigged, I appreciated the time you’ve spent with us thus far in the episode and I hope you will join us next year.  This letter comes from Lori in the Netherlands. Dear Sarah, I do not know if you remember me. My name is Lori van Echtelt (Hendricks). I am the Jew of Color who reached out to you early last year. I sell vintage weaving looms and spinning wheels globally. I am also a weaver. My heart is filled with love for you and LaChaun for addressing the murder of George Floyd. I knew this day would come in the States. I have had two police officers pull guns on me in Elizabeth, New Jersey after pulling into my driveway after work because I had my mouth covered in the winter due to asthma. I slowly came out of my car and had urinated on myself due to fear. The cops asked me to remove my scarf and they said, “Oh ok” and left. I moved shortly out of that area. Another time my girlfriend and I were going to a club when a police car with two police officers pulled alongside. The police officer threatened to rape my friend and I. He said, “No one would believe you.” I made it obvious that I was trying to see his badge number. The police officer noticed and screamed, “Drive!” to his partner. I have more but I stop here. All these memories came out in the past weeks and I cried a river. I cried for George Floyd and his family. I cried over the memories. I cried over the ugly comments made by people in my circle. I also cried tears of joy because this movement has gone global. I see people from all backgrounds speaking up and saying, “Enough is enough!”. There is hope for real change. Sarah and Lachaun I thank you so much for what you are doing. May you both be blessed beyond your imagination. Despite my challenges I see myself as a fighter. I am a hippie sort who loves self-sufficiency. It has been painful to ask for help. I learned from listening to “The Dave Ramsey show” that to get out of poverty you need help from the community.  It made me think...that’s it. We had tight knit communities before.  We cannot survive independently. We are all connected. This year made it very clear. If I did not raise money via my gogetfunding I would have sank into a deep financial hole and possibly lose my apartment. I could not make the numbers work.  I closed my gogetfunding on Dec 16.  I feel such a sense of gratitude to be alive. It is we the people. There are amazing people in this world.  I have changed my focus to love. To keep feeling love in my heart no matter how crazy this world gets. To be aware of negative thoughts and to address them. I am into metaphysics. Everything carries a frequency. The more I focus on what I don’t want, the more I get of things I don’t want.  Einstein, Lisa Nichols, Jack Canfield, Denzel Washington understand how frequency works with our thoughts.  I was thinking about you on Tuesday.  I want to live in peace. I want peace for this world. I have to first work on my own inner peace. I am getting there. I am working hard within my physical capacity.  Tomorrow night is the first night of Chanukah. I believe in miracles.  Hugs,  Lori With deep respect, My correspondence with Lori has been very valuable to me and I hope that if you have the means to inquire about some of Loris vintage looms or to donate to Lori’s gogetfunding you will do so.  For a full transcript of this weeks episode as well as any links mentioned in this episode you can also find links in the show notes at www.gistyarn.com/episode-131  Thank you all for tuning in, have a wonderful holiday season, see you all next year! And as always Happy WEAVING!