Celebration time – January is National Hobby Month! Really, there’s a month for that? How cool, a month dedicated to exploring one’s hobby. My hobby (a.k.a. passion) and reason d’être for this blog, is inkle weaving. We met two years ago. It was love at first warp.

An awesomely talented weaver (B.L.) in my guild, Weavers of Orlando (WoO), offered to teach me and a fellow member how to weave on an inkle loom. During that lesson I knew I’d found my weaving calling. The creative bug that lives in me couldn’t stop smiling. Nor could I.  The process was almost instant gratification. Warping and weaving were fast. The fabric it produced was beautiful. Oh, this was for me.

Every year WoO holds a holiday sale of members’ lovely handcrafted items. Being a new weaver with little time I had never participated. That year I wanted in and wanted a not too time consuming, but quality, project to submit. I came up with watches using inkle weaving for the bands.

I recently turned the first band I wove into a belt for a friend. It only took me two years to do it, but she loved it.

Merrium-Webster’s dictionary defines a hobby as “a pursuit outside one’s regular occupation engaged in especially for relaxation”. Yes, inkle weaving is relaxing, but it also energizes me. I find so much joy in watching my inkle bands grow as I weave and coming up with ways to use them. While January is designated as National Hobby Month, I celebrate my hobby every month.

warp, weave, be happy!