The second workshop was Bonnie Inouye's in Murchison in May 2002. Now, big names like Bonnie (and even I knew her name from the various weaving lists and magazines) don't come to this neck of the woods often, so I was keen, and I contacted the organizer immediately. Because Bonnie's stuff is so advanced (multi-shaft, creating your own drafts, etc.), however, and I had only woven two or three twill warps on a 4-shaft, she recommended I look into Bonnie's Dunedin gig, (that's further south of Christchurch); I decided against Dunedin, because of the travel cost. Then, the Murchison workshop needed more headcount, and so I was allowed to join.
I read as much as I can of her book, downloaded a test version of a draft application, and started playing around. I found the concept intriguing and fascinating, in the same way I feel about watching a doco on, say, the bottom of the ocean or planets and stars. The fact is, I got as far as Chapter 3, and I'm still fascinated with the possibilities there that I hadn't moved on since.
I think the workshop lasted about four days, but by Day 3, I was in la-la land, just glad to be amidst weavers and listening in on their sophisticated conversation. I was terribly tempted to follow Bonnie to her other workshops in the North Island, but again, I decided against it because of the cost.
So what did I do after the workshop? I bought a 16-shaft monster instead. And page for page, Bonnie's book has been the best weaving book I've purchased for the amount of excitement and joy it continues to bring.
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