Last weekend and the weekend before I team-taught two weaving classes - the first weekend was a Novice intensive class in Overshot (think colonial coverlets) and the second was an intro weekend for beginners. I really enjoy teaching these types of classes, the people who take them are generally very interesting and and we usually have a lot of fun. I teach them with Elaine, the woman who taught me how to weave 6 years ago.

I frequently find myself saying that I want to be Elaine when I grow up. She retired after 20+ years with the same company and now teaches weaving classes at the Chattahoochee Handweavers Guild in the Atlanta area, the John C Campbell Folk School in Asheville, NC, and other places. This is how she supports herself in her retirement.

So anyways, as a result of our conversations over the last two weekends, I have decided to work on the Certificate of Excellence in Weaving, which is a program that is sponsored by the Handweavers Guild of America. There are two levels of certificates. Level 1 shows mastery of a set of pre-defined weaving skills. It includes 3 sections, two of which are written and the third is a set of 40 woven samples a minimum of 7 inches by 15 inches. The instructions specify exactly what the samples are supposed to be. The samples show mastery of a number of different weaving techniques, some of which, like tapestry, I'm not really interested in. But all of the samples have to be done in order to get the certificate. And you have to complete level 1 before working on level 2, which is what I'm really interested in.

Level 2 is an in-depth study of a topic in weaving. It includes a research paper that is similar to a Master's thesis along with woven samples and a "major" woven work. I know what I want to do and I'm really excited about it. But I have to get through the level 1 requirements first.

The certificate evaluations occur every two years. The next one is in the fall of 2012. I don't know whether that's enough time for me to learn the techniques that I don't know and finish all of the weaving samples. The registration deadline is 2/1/2012, so I have a few months to get started and figure out whether I'm going to have it all ready for next year or whether I'll take my time with it and have it ready for fall 2014. Then I can put together the outline that has to be approved to start the Level 2 work.

I'm going to try to get my act together and blog about about this experience over the course of the next couple of years. I figure it will be a good way to document this journey.