weaving Archives - Nikita Sheth

I am officially obsessed.

I am officially addicted.

I find myself thinking about it….all the time.

In the shower. In the pool. In the elevator.

Weaving. It has woven itself (tightly) into my life (I guess there could be a lot worse things to be addicted to).

It is meditative. It is immersive. It has an element of ‘boho-ethnic-chic’. It is my ‘thang’.

The perfect hybrid of colour, texture and pattern. I find the act of weaving quite performative. Exaggerated movements, help my mind connect with my hands. It allows my fingers to dance. It allows my mind to quieten. When I am weaving, I am truly in my ‘happy place’. I feel so blessed to have stumbled across this ancient technique. It has come into my life at such a perfect time.

Thanks to social media, I have found myself a little weaving ‘instagram community’. Living (and weaving) in all different parts of the world, we are are connected with our shared love of the loom. We share videos of different techniques and genuinely share our love for each other’s creative endeavours. Inspiration, motivation and a sense of belonging…instagram facilities it all!

Last night, I attended Maryanne Moodie’s weaving class at the fabulous Megan Morton’s ‘The School’. Maryanne’s work is what inspired me to begin exploring weaving in the first place. So you can imagine my uncontainable excitement at even the thought of translating our insta interactions to real life. Admittedly, I was completely star-struck. Awkwardly, I introduced myself…”Hi Maryanne…umm…I am @nikita_sheth”. At once I felt at ease. Maryanne’s enthusiasm, passion and energy was contagious. I was to embarrassed to reveal the fact that one of her ‘weaves’ was set as the background to my phone.

Maryanne playfully taught us various techniques, tricks and tips. It was such a lovely evening and the Megan Morton school was the perfect setting. Sitting in a room with fellow weavers and my weaving idol….it was something out of my (weaving) dreams.

The class has left me completely inspired. Experimentation with new materials and application of the ‘soumak’ knot are first on my ‘to-do’ list. I am keen to develop my own weaving style….so that one day I can hopefully be an inspirational weaver…like Maryanne.

After years of experimenting with watercolour, collage, ceramics, drawing…I think I have finally… found the one. Weaving….it’s a long-term thing.

For the last couple of weeks I have been conducting my own ‘social experiment’.

I have been asking my friends, family, acquaintances and strangers … “What are your hobbies?”. The responses have been varied:

Avoidance; “Nix, why do you ask these random questions? It’s too weird, I’m not going to answer.”
Confusion; “Does online shopping count as a hobby?”
Defensive; “Nix…not everybody needs a hobby”

And it is true. Not everybody needs a hobby. But, admittedly I do find it a little odd when someone has absolutely no hobbies…

Conducting this ‘social experiment’ has made me realise how much I love learning and hearing about other peoples’ hobbies. By asking such a simple question, it immediately provided me with such insight into their personalities and characters.

My barista whose hobby for 20 years has been making puppets, a guy I met at a party whose hobby is competitively riding ‘Penny Farthings’ (no joke, he learnt how to ride one in Tasmania), the taxi driver who told me she loves playing the harmonica…then proceeded to whip one out of the glovebox (again, I promise you this happened).

Hobbies are highly personal. They are essentially are a form of self-pleasure. And can be so satisfying. Whether it is making things, collecting things, learning things…they offer an opportunity to develop yourself and knowledge base.

A common misconception is that hobbies are reserved for retirees. This is not true. Hobbies have SO much to offer. Instead of depending on external sources of pleasure and entertainment, a hobby is something you can do from within and it allows you to have dedicated time by yourself…you can switch of and unwind. Experimenting and trying different hobbies also acts as a means to discover a talent that may have lied dormant…you never know where it could lead you – think of all the artists, chefs, music and etc who have transformed a hobby into a career!

However, I believe that the best part of having a hobby is it can connect you to like-minded people with similar interests. It can then offer you a sense of belonging or a community. With our lives at such a crazy fast pace, I wonder if the importance placed on having hobbies is getting diluted…

Whilst I have a few hobbies…I believe that about a month ago I found ‘the one’…

WEAVING.

Inspired by New Friends, Brook & Lyn and Mary-Ann Moodie, I purchased a small hand loom and have not looked back. It is the perfect hobby for me; tactile, colourful, patterned and aligned with my ‘global boho-chic’ design style! I weave during my lunch breaks at work, I weave whilst listening to Frank Ocean, I weave on Saturday nights whilst drinking peppermint tea (yes, it has become a bit of a social-life killer). I find the process highly meditative, it allows me to calm my mind and focus on the ‘now’.

I am determined to continue this hobby, so that when I am ‘Grandma Nix’…I will dominate all the other grandmas in the arts and crafts group.

I can’t wait until I get a little better at weaving and can make my own loom. Oh god, I sound like such a nerd!

See a roundup of some beautiful weaving , it is what I aspire to…