I have been a weaver for almost 30 years and the number of knots I have tied on the loom are definitely fewer than 1000. The narrator of this story, The Blood of Flowers could do 1000 knots in less than an afternoon. I love to weave, but I have never been interested in creating rugs. Knotting rugs is a tedious, but amazing process – one I now know more about, thanks to this incredible historical novel by Anita Amirrezvani.

It was the rug making that helped me choose this book for the BAM challenge for March. (See the blog for this at: http://bamchallenge.wordpress.com/.) We were to find a book for National Craft Month – using any meaning for the word craft.

However, it was the “yarn” that the author spun that kept me reading. Amirrezvani uses Iranian folk tales to seize the reader’s interest. The very first line caught me and held me – “First there wasn’t and then there was. Before God, no one was.” The narrative proceeds to tell us a folk tale that links directly with the heroine’s life.

Amirrezvani has created the story of a very unusual girl who is living in 17^th century Persia. This unnamed heroine has bad luck that exceeds any you could imagine -from having no dowry, to relatives from hell, to a best friend who might not be such a good friend after all. Then to top it off, she is headstrong and determined to make her way in a man’s world – weaving and knotting rugs. Once I got involved in this story, I had to know the ending. I had to know how this young woman was going to make it through life.

I read to discover new worlds, to meet new people and to feel like I have lived in those worlds with the characters. This book taught me about a period of time I knew nothing about. I was drawn into the life of a character I could not have imagined on my own. I did not want to leave 17^th century Persia. This place and the heroine caught a special place in my heart. The yarn told by Amirrezani will weave its way into your heart also.

I am almost caught up. That is what happens when you do three tasks in one afternoon. If you go to the very bottom of my blog, you will see my Rollyo list.

Eventually, I will stop hoping that hand weaving and computers have any links to each other. I know that there are looms that are operated by computers, but there are very few links on the web to actual weaving and weavers. So my first Rollyo was not very helpful.

However I made a Rollyo on RA. I am hoping I find that more useful.

Merry Christmas to one and all!

Well, I am trying to catch up with our 20 things. So I just spent time on My Space. It is not the place for me, unfortunately.

There are plenty of people with my name, but no real way for me to find my favorite hobby - weaving. I tried weaving, handweaving, looms and even yarn. I suspect that looms and handweaving are not something that many My Spacers lists.

I have many family members on Facebook. Some day maybe I will try there.

Although I can see the attraction of all these places, I will save my computer time for some other sites, blogs, wikis, etc.

So now I am supposed to tell you all which of the 71/2 habits of life long learners is the hardest and which is the easiest for me.

The easy one for me is creating a toolbox especially if it includes information. I love to gather facts and tidbits about a subject. (This is one of the reasons I am a librarian.)

Over the years, as I have taught myself various weaving techniques, I have gathered lots of books, magazines, websites, etc. that have been useful as I have learned double warps, overshot, and other things about weaving. Of course, besides lots of how-to information, I have gathered yarn (a closet full), two looms and lots of other tools. It would be better not to discuss all the stuff that I have accumulated with my family! They think my tool box is much too big.

The hardest life long learner skill for me is having confidence in myself as a learner. I am often second guessing my abilities and even though I have been weaving since 1978, I would hestiate and look up more information before I would offer to teach you to weave. Not that I would refuse, I just would want to brush up on those skills one more time before sitting down with a student.

Thanks for the opportunity to think this out. And thanks also to Pamunkey for the opportunity to play. This is fun.