SHIP IT

Posted by Peg in South Carolina

WHAT DOES “SHIP IT” MEAN?

“Ship It” is a phrase used by Seth Godin in his latest book Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?*  Basically this means that with any project, time is going to run out, money is going to run out, it’s time to move it on.  Why?  Because, according to Godin, “…the projects we do are never really finished…….” (page 103)

Most of us weavers would probably interpret this to mean, send the piece, imperfect as it is, to the show, give it to the person.  It’s not perfect, but get it out of here to where it belongs.  Only then is it finished.

But I am interpreting Godin’s explanation of shipping as including something more than, say,  just getting a piece to a show.  Indeed, I find myself right now at what I would call a “ship it” moment in my own weaving.  And the warp isn’t even on the loom yet!

MY “SHIP IT” MOMENT(S)

I dyed the last of the warp yarn.  I clearly did not get the calculations correct because it does not match the warp yarn I was trying to match.  It is definitely brown, not a reddish brown.

Moment #1.  My first thought was to wind another 1600 yards of white 60/2 silk and dye it, this time, getting the right color.  But my next thought was, is this simply perfectionism for perfectionism’s sake?  Seriously, is this really going to matter in the final outcome?  I decided not.  I was done with the warp dyeing. I needed to move on.

A quote from Godin’s book:

Laugh at perfection.  It’s boring and keeps you from being done. (page 130)

I hadn’t read Linchpin at this point, but when I got to this quote, I smiled. 

Moment #2.  Still into perfection, however, I dreamed up the following plan.  I thought I would wind the rest of the warp with this incorrectly dyed yarn.  But I would put it on separate lease sticks and end rods.  Then I would insert these new brown warp bouts somewhere into the warp bouts I have already made.  I would insert them in a place where they would serve best as a design element.

This seemed a pretty good idea.  Doable.  And who knows, it might turn out to be better than actually having gotten the color right in the long run.

But this sort of thing could go on forever and I might never get the warp on the loom.  This warp will never be perfect;  the completed weaving will certainly not be perfect.  It is time to stop worrying about the warp and get on with it.  It has cost me too much in time as it is.

I close with one of my favorite quotation from the book:

Accept that everything is a draft.  It helps to get it
done.  (page 128)

*You can also find Seth Godin at his blog, here.

“A New Treadling” was written by Margaret Carpenter for Talking about Weaving and was originally posted on February 15, 2010. ©2010 Margaret Carpenter aka Peg in South Carolina.