Ann Hartley
Last fall an elderly friend and I decided that we would learn to weave together this summer. He was losing his mobility and could not golf anymore, so he was looking for something interesting to learn that he could do sitting down that would keep him active and stimulate his mind. His hands were not steady enough to manage watercolor painting anymore and he was losing interest in his books as the fine print became harder for him to read. Weaving seemed like an activity that could hold his interest.
He had some ideas for gifts he was going to make for friends and family, so I bought a peg loom and some other weaving tools and supplies and packed them in the car in preparation for our annual trip to the north. Unfortunately my friend passed away just a week or so before we were scheduled to start the trip. He was 99 and went peacefully in his sleep. We buried him in April and after the funeral I came up here by myself. I donated some of his clothing, but the older clothes, especially the t-shirts, I kept to tear into strips to make tarn, which is a name for a twine made from Jersey. Continuing on my own with the weaving project helped me come to terms with his passing. Additionally, I have learned that I love weaving and will probably make it a part of me for the rest of my life.
What you see here is the making of a small rug in honor of my friend. It is the first rug I ever tried to make and it is woven from tarn on a peg loom, which we chose because we thought it would be the easiest type of loom for him to use and for us to work on together.
In posting the photo, it was not my intention to tell you the story behind this little rug, but somehow it just came out. In my next post I will show you the finished rug.
I used to knit before the time, now I can no longer be because of the whips in my hands
I learned some knitting, but never anjoyed it. I do enjoy crochet, but I don’t much care for the kind of fabric it produces…they look crocheted, lol. But weaving is fun! Sorry you had to give up the knitting.
Your are is practical where mine is frivolous…
No art is frivolous that pays the rent, figuratively speaking. I think Shakespeare’s widow made the claim that his plays were frivolous, too, when she used them to line pudding pans in the oven. He probably should have though about that when he wrote sonnets to other women. Of course then you have John Hudson arguing that Shakespeare was just a front man and that the real author of his plays was a woman, one Amelia Bassano Lanier.
I suppose you’re right, but it doesn’t have any practical purpose in and of itself
Practical is a subjective term…or should be. It has value. That is what counts.
I tend to equate it more with use, but I can see where you’d use value…
My late friend, whose pajamas I used to make that rug, liked blue.
I have tried weaving in the past but gave it up quickly as I was not familiar enough with it and the internet was not even up then. I knit, crochet, embroider a bit, cross-stitch, do some needlepoint and I just started tatting which I love very much to do. I remember my grandmother and my ex-mother in law with their huge weaving loom creating beautiful rugs etc. But I still was not sure about weaving. You gave me inspiration to, some day, try my hand at it again. Thank you very much for this wonderful post with all the trimmings.
Historygal, that is what happened with me and tatting. I think the only fabric art I never heard of before was the lucet which is making a comeback. I always wanted to weave, but didn’t realize there were so many different ways to go about it. The internet makes a big, big difference in our exposure.
I totally agree. So much information floating around and so little time to keep up with it. I will definitely look up “lucet”.