Schiffer Books is having its annual Author Picnic this weekend, and I’m flying out for the occasion. They’re offering a bunch of useful seminars tomorrow, and then Saturday is the picnic. So I’m in San Francisco International Airport right now, waiting for my plane to Philadelphia. From there I’ll drive to Atglen – where Schiffer is located. It’s a very rural area in the heart of Amish country – sounds like a neat place to visit. B., meanwhile, will be staying home to entertain the cats.
I confess that I am not particularly interested in the seminars, though they make a nice excuse to go. My main reason for going is to meet the Schiffer team that will be producing my book – editors, design and layout experts, and all the other folks who are needed to get a book from manuscript to published copy. It will be great to meet face to face with all the people I’ve been corresponding with for the last year.
I am, however, not neglecting Grace. I’ve brought the Arahweave manual and The Woven Pixel for study while I’m traveling, and hope to get a better understanding of jacquard design while I’m away. Once I get back, I’m going to put a 25-yard warp in black and cream-colored 10/2 cotton onto the loom. This will not be a project warp. I anticipate spending the next month and a half debugging the loom setup (some heddles are sticky and will need to be coaxed into full service) and developing an understanding of jacquard design, i.e. weaving samples.
After that, of course, it will be chocolate season, and I won’t have time for weaving during chocolate season. Rather than let Grace sit idle, though, I’ve invited a weaving buddy, Pat Stewart, to guest-weave on Grace while I’m preoccupied with chocolate. Pat is a weaving genius, so I expect she’ll be exploring some very interesting things while I’m away. She’ll likely be using the same warp.
Once chocolate season is over, I’ll put on a new warp and start weaving actual projects. My plan is to start simple and weave a rendition of the SkySat-1 launch, then a photo of Grace Hopper. Both are technically simple projects. After that, I want to weave my phoenix design – perhaps incorporating real gold threads and fiber optic cable into the design, or using retro-reflective yarns, which I’ve always wanted to experiment with.
And then? The sky’s the limit. I’m looking forward to finding out exactly what a jacquard loom can do.
I hear the boarding call for my flight now, so I’ll end here. More later!
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My husband got an invitation to the picnic too. He had a book (Modern Marine Salvage) published by Cornell Maritime Press, which was bought up by Schiffler, who continues to send royalty checks. We have not met the Schiffler people in person. Have a good time!
I’m a bookseller, and I’ve met at least one person from Schiffer. She was thoughtfu
l and responsive, so if she is indicative of the group, you’ll be in fine hands. (Also, looking forward to having your book in our store someday!)
That’s wonderful! And I very much look forward to having my book in your store! 🙂