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So many of the items in our daily lives are sew-able. A simple needle and thread changes the way you think. When an item breaks, you no longer think, "I guess I must buy a new one..." Instead, you think, "I guess I must fix it..."

How many of these everyday items rest for eternity in a landfill, because of a simple break that a needle and thread could have fixed? How many excess items were manufactured to make up for the forgetting of the humble needle and thread...?

It’s not “people who contour are themselves automatically racist” but that the desired face shape created by contouring is one that, at the end of the day, pretty much reflects existing white standards of beauty. A thinner, pointier nose, smaller chin, high angled cheekbones and (on occasion) smaller lips. Also if you’re darker skinned you have to use a much lighter shade of foundation  thus ending up with an overall lighter face.

When i started i was going off of diagrams from old websites, and struggled a good bit. I hope this post will help you get started! Feel free to ask questions!

This video shows the very basics (not in english, but quite clear). This video explains how to read patterns before you start doing it backwards, mirrored and upside down (which is what i did!).

Basic tools; the beauty of tablet weaving is that you need minimal supplies to get started.

Cotton yarn (I use 8/4)

Cards (thin cardboard and a hole punch will do)

A chair or door handle, to tie the threads to

A belt, to tie the threads to yourself

A shuttle (you can start with a pencil, old credit card, ruler, your fingers,... i use a bone folder)

Variables to understand before trying to use a pattern

S/Z card slant or threading

The direction the cards face

Forward or backward turns

ABCD or DCBA

This video (mentioned above as well) explains these variables and how to read different patterns you will find. There is no universal way to write a tablet weaving pattern, resulting in different patterns directly opposing one another (& lots of frustration on my end </3).

General tips from me, a novice

Start with a thin band

Start with a simple pattern, where the cards all turn forward for the whole band, like this one

Then move to a pattern that alternates forward and backward turns, this one is simple but very pretty

After that, try a pattern that has you divide the cards into groups, like a ramshorn or dublin dragons

Be sure to use contrasting colours (in hue and/or tone). A black and white filter can help you here

Get some bag clips to prevent tangles (ikea!)

Always turn the edge cards in the same direction. This gives a neater end result. The edges can be the outer two cards, or a group that forms a decorative trim

Personally, i like looping the thread around a door handle instead of tying it, which makes untwisting threads very easy

You can eventually omit the written ABCD on the cards, but it is a good crutch to lean on when learning

I use some scrap wood with bolts that i tie to my belt, making it a little easier to manage tension and move the woven band along as i go

Finding patterns

I use pinterest for the most part. Twisted threads has many patterns, with a built-in program, but the search function is not great.

I made you four pinterest boards; for the sake of simplicity, the patterns are all GTT which means tablets face RIGHT, S/Z refers to the THREADING direction, use ABCD, forward turns the tablets AWAY from yourself (forwards = D over A)

Level one: all forward turns

Level two: alternating forward and backward

Level three: groups of tablets that turn differently

Level four: a fuckton of tablets with complex patterns

This video made me understand double-face weaving, this one is shorter and easier to follow. Double-face is a fun technique but i would reccommend getting good at following a regular pattern first.

My main mistake when i was starting out:

Whether the slant is S or Z, the cards should all face the same way. For some reason, I made the S-cards all face right and the Z-cards left. Simple, repetitive patterns will turn out fine but anything slightly more complex will be distorted, and you will be frustrated:

Your first few projects will likely be messy! Don't be too discouraged. Here's a couple of my firsts:

The Amur Leopard and Clouded Leopard (which recently celebrated its 50th cub born at the zoo!)

The Sumatran Tiger

The Red Ruffed Lemur and Ring-Tailed Lemur

The Cotton-Top Tamarin and White-Cheeked Gibbon

The Colobus Monkey and De Brazza’s Monkey

And the Mexican Spider Monkey!

Marjane Satrapi, cartoonist and film director, best known for Persepolis

This one hurt, her work had such a profound effect on my life, thoughts, and politics.

May her memory be a blessing

we're looking to create an AI policy, and when we were talking about this, my boss (older millennial) was genuinely shocked to hear that younger people do not (seem) to view AI positively (a la the recent commencement speakers being booed)

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