Book.

So, anyone who has been to my deviantart site knows that I am sort of insane about drafting patterns. Specifically, sewing patterns and tablet-weaving patterns. I've had several suggestions that I should put my weaving patterns into a book, because it's apparently hard to find good tablet weaving patterns. I don't know how true that is, because I don't look for tablet weaving patterns very much; I just make my own. But it seems to me that the tablet-weaving SCAdians have been doing just fine with their patterns before I came along. I know there are already books out there with historically-documented tablet weaving patterns (which mine are not).

Nevertheless, I've gotten the suggestion often enough that I'm starting to actually consider it. The problem is that I have serious clinical depression, and every step I have to take in anything (large projects, finding a job, or basically anything that requires effort and that I'm not committed to with my whole soul, which is pretty much everything) is not just a little step, it's the emotional equivalent of climbing a mountain. A FREAKIN MOUNTAIN. Plus it seems like every time I do try something, it gets screwed up horribly right at the start and I have to try even harder. So it's pretty easy to convince myself that it's just not worth the effort.

So, yeah, I have PSD files of all my tablet weaving patterns (er, I hope I do). But that's not enough for a real book. People don't want to go to several different sources for all the information that they need, so I'd also have to teach how to tablet weave in the book. Since I've taught people how to weave in real life, that should be easy, right? Lol. It's easy in real life because you just say "put that thing in the other thing" and physically show them how to do it. Teaching physical stuff with just words and pictures is hard...

So I guess the trick here, is to do it at a slow, casual pace so I don't feel overwhelmed (because seriously, making breakfast is overwhelming for me), but also keep it present in my mind somehow so I can keep coming back to it, and I don't feel guilty for abandoning it (like that comic I drew 2 1/2 pages of, then it got buried under papers on my desk when I was doing taxes, and then got buried under even more papers, which were all job leads, and now I feel guilty and overwhelmed whenever I think of that large stack of papers sitting right in front of me because I know it's full of jobs I never applied for and a comic I never finished drawing).

So here's what I'm thinking it would have:

♠Miniscule introduction to tablet weaving regarding the history and uses. No need to waste time here because people who really want to know about the history can do their own research with the aforementioned books.
♠Overview of materials: how to make/get cards, types of yarn and thread to use, loom, anchoring points
♠Explanation of how patterns are created when weaving
♠Tutorial of reading patterns and doing the weaving (including cutting thread and threading the cards)
♠Pages upon pages of patterns, with pretty photos of finished pieces, organized by the number of cards in the pattern
♠Small epilogue about how to design your own patterns

Lots of photos and illustrations throughout.

Okay, I've got a skeleton here. Now lets see if I'll actually do it. On top of the script I'm revising. And looking for a job. And upkeeping my Etsy store. And all those other hellish details that life forces me to contend with.