Glad That's Cleared Up

 Last week, a woman from the art gallery next to the library asked me if I'd be interested in teaching some classes/facilitating workshops there. The most immediate thing was workshops in the weeks before Christmas, starting Tuesday, November 25. I said I'd love to do this and we agreed to speak again soon. I left thinking about a class where some skill would be taught and a project would be made using what students learned. Students would go home with their creation completed. This is how things used to be at the yarn shop where I taught. Those were multiple week classes though and this would be just a couple of hours so I was thinking small. But then I started wondering about how people would get materials and whether they needed previous knowledge about, for example, crochet. She'd said the classes would be a couple of hours and would be capped at 10 students, I think. In that time and with that many students, I wouldn't be able to successfully teach them to crochet from scratch and help them complete a project, which I thought might be frustrating for them.

When we spoke on the phone the following day, I ended up being fairly confused about what was happening. I chuckled to myself because it seemed to me that this was another example of two people speaking the same language and meaning different things. It's also the case that I'm not sure how these things work here. It seems to be different than at the yarn shop, which makes sense, since it's a different sort of place (and in a different country). Anyway, I'd said that I would make some samples and send her pictures. I made the samples and when I was getting the email ready, I explained my confusion, asked some questions, and assumed I would speak to her again today (Tuesday). I was hoping to have a better idea about what's going on. And now I do. We spoke on the phone and then she read my email. She addressed my concerns. She views this less as a class and more as a social gathering with the projects being part of it. She's apparently done this in previous years. She isn't concerned about people finishing a project. Aa for materials, for one gathering I'll be making kits since I have enough of all the necessary supplies--except for tapestry needles, which she has ordered. People can finish at home that way. The following week, people will be making crocheted Christmas ornaments and she will have hooks and yarn for people to use. At some point, we'll be talking about a longer grant-funded class for the new year so I'm thinking about possibilities for that. I'm pleased that things have worked out and I'm more comfortable now that I understand what it is people are coming to these gatherings for (if any do). The project next week will be a huck embroidery/Swedish weaving gift tag. We'll use aida cloth and I'm using size 10 crochet cotton because it's the right size for the cloth and it doesn't require people to separate the strands as would be necessary with embroidery floss--much less hassle. So the materials are a bit unorthodox, but the technique remains the same.

I think this will be fun. I hope I'm right.

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