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Donna Guyot Johnson

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When a Pause is Progress

By Donna Johnson

April 2020 This is how my three floor looms looked at the beginning of the year. Stark naked. After an intense flurry of holiday gift weaving, it was time for a bit of a break and my annual preventive maintenance on the looms. However, I can’t stand to be without weaving in my head so you can be sure my head was full of drafts, plans, and some actual progress with finishing my samples from […]

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The Family Farm in Sweden – A Textile Adventure

By Donna Johnson

Late January 2020 I’ve said it before, and I will say it many times more. I am a very lucky person! There are many reasons for me to say that but since this is being written for my fiber arts website, I will stick to some of the fiber related reasons for my gratitude and appreciation of what is: I have been warmly welcomed and embraced by my husband’s Swedish relatives who maintain the family […]

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Getting the Most Out of Your Yarn

By Donna Johnson

January 2020 I believe I have found a way to extract the most enjoyment out of a yarn purchase. Some years ago, probably at least five years ago, I was on a brief respite from the very hot and dry foothill summer. There is a place my fiber enabling husband and I like to visit on the Mendocino coast. We always take the cottage with the view of the ocean and we usually manage to […]

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Tools

By Donna Johnson

August 2019 Fiber enthusiasts often become tool enthusiasts. It doesn’t happen overnight, however. I had only one pair of knitting needles for decades. I still have them. Susan Bates straight needles in a US size 8. They are pink and were given to me by a neighbor who taught me to knit when I was in grade school. When I returned to knitting in the late 80s and early 90s, I complained about buying two […]

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A Meditation in Lace and Cables

By Donna Johnson

July 2019 I have often talked about how healing knitting can be. It is therapeutic. In fact, I have a project bag that says, “Cheaper than Therapy.” I’m not sure that is accurate, given the very low therapy reimbursement rates and the very high cost of good yarn, but knitting is good therapy.   Knitting builds community, reinforces efficacy and agency of an individual, distracts one from challenging issues, and there is absolutely NOTHING else […]

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Transitions and Following the Thread

By Donna Johnson

February 2019 Hard work was inculcated. My burning desire to learn piano resulted in being given a typewriter so I could earn a living. In order to earn a living, I’ve held many job titles over the decades since I was a young teenager. Life brought many transitions and the path has not been a straight line, but I wouldn’t say that it has been a twisted tangle, either. There has been a thread that […]

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Hello. My name is

By Donna Johnson

Hello. My name is Donna. I am a fiberholic, an addict.    Knitting was my gateway drug. Hallmarks of addiction were quick to be noted by loved ones. I was always thinking about ways to get more yarn or new needles and knitting was taking me away from domestic chores. Then there was knitting while I was supposed to be paying attention as a good soccer mom. Truth be told, I used knitting at work. […]

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