A Trip to the Textile Museum

As a huge fan of Brandy Agerbeck, the amazing graphic facilitator, she highly recommends the occasional whim day for a well-deserved boost of joy. Following her wise advice I took the GO train to Toronto for a jaunt.

A bit of shopping, hiking the city streets and having lunch with my friend Pat after a visit to the Toronto Textile Museum describes the perfect whim day for me.

The peaceful mid-morning GO train ride, knitting, drinking coffee and gazing out the window, all travel perfection. This hat in process is for our "Offer Of Winter Warmth" program. The free "Cactus" pattern is available on the Garnstudio website. The Broken rib stitch requires just enough attention.

The view of that great inland sea... Lake Ontario through Pickering and Rouge Hill is a longtime pleasure for me. At the age of 18, I traveled to work at an insurance office in the city and GO service had just begun and provided the opportunity to travel past the lake on a daily basis. The shoreline has changed, but not the lake itself, making timeless moments for me.

My friend, neighbour and fellow hand weaver Pat Neal, owner of the Naked Lamb Weaving Studio, in south Myrtle, is also the Director of Operations at the Textile Museum. She was absolutely spot on about this being a great time to visit.

The current exhibition "Diligence and Elegance", The nature of Japanese textiles" runs until January 21st, 2018. The title theme brilliantly captures the spirit of the exhibit and curatorial arrangements.

Being a textile enthusiast and longtime admirer of Japanese craft culture, the experience was pure joy for me. It is a mix of garments, videos, and photos of artists and craftspeople working their magic.

The colour combinations are so striking. Japanese live a completely different colour palette, which triggered a kind of happy awakening for me. I remember feeling the same way from my machine knitting days when the educators from Japan shared their work.

When our shop was in downtown Whitby, 

we carried several knitting machines brands from Japan. 

Part of our responsibility was to participate in educational workshops

 led by expert Japanese knitters, enabling us to offer solid customer learning.

Although machine operation is important, vision, material preparation, 

blocking and assembling are an equal, if not more important practice in the garment/art/craft result.

Spending a good chunk of the afternoon with this stunning work was an amazing opportunity, and helped me remember why I enjoy finishing knitwear is so much.

The kimono exhibit recalled those times of "vision to process to completion" 

vividly, especially watching the in-depth videos provided to help visitors understand

 in greater depth what is required to arrive at a completed kimono.

Having a vision, planning the steps, applying skill from years of practice, 

result in these works of art. I especially enjoyed the films showing how younger artists are mentored.

This fireman's jacket, for example, so looks simple from a distance. 

Close up inspection reveals depth given to all elements of production, superb dyeing, tailoring and element placement. Consideration for the practical end use in harmony with the aesthetics.

Then there is the luscious museum shop to explore. I settled on this lovely "whimsical" pin, similar to one Pat was sporting on her cardigan. It is made by Wanda Shum, incredible skill!

We want for lunch to a nearby Thai restaurant 

and enjoyed a lovely vegetarian meal.

A perfect whim day!