Weaving is a complex task, although it looks deceptively simple.
The routine passing of a shuttle between sets of threads, packing it into place and then changing the sets to make patterns belies the amount of work, time and thought that goes into the process of a woven cloth. So it is no surprise that tools and equipment to make the processes easier and quicker have been invented. Nowadays we have looms with computers attached that can quickly alter patterns, and myriad ways to make the warps that go onto the looms. Yet weaving itself is much more complicated than simply putting threads onto a loom and passing yarns across that warp. It has a life of its own, weaving, and the act of working out problems, analysing and understanding can be extremely rewarding, not to mention challenging.
In this essay, an artist-educator explains how she looked at designing a class to teach complexity to STEM students using weaving and along the way came to the realisation that labouring by hand can be the most joy and wonder-filled occasion.