How did you learn to weave? Where did you learn to weave? Why did you learn to weave? All of these questions are important. Do you think you found weaving because you were looking for it, or did weaving find you because it saw you were missing something in your life? I’ve been thinking along these lines lately.
How weaving found me
I think weaving found me, although not without me giving it my address. I wove for a very short period of time when I was in junior high but then spent the next twenty-odd years walking close to the edge but never quite jumping back into weaving. By that, I mean I learned to knit, macramé, and sew, I read articles about weaving and weavers, and I admired handwoven rugs, scarves, and tapestries, but somehow all of that didn’t translate into learning to weave. It wasn’t until I found a local craft school twenty minutes from my home that was offering night classes in weaving that I decided to try it again. To be honest, I believe I took a class in jewelry making before I took the class in weaving.
Rep Play Pillows by Elisabeth Hill. Handwoven September/October 2017. Photo credit: George Boe
I wouldn’t have said then that I felt something was missing from my life even though today, I can’t imagine a life that doesn’t include weaving. At the time, my life was busy with work, a child, and a house to take care of. I’m pretty sure I wasn’t looking for anything else, and if there was a creative urge to fill, I was filling it with knitting, crafts, and sewing.
Diversified Plain Weave Scarf by Madelyn van der Hoogt, Handwoven January/February 2001. Photo credit: Joe Coca
Perhaps now the better question for all of us is why do we continue to weave? Clearly there are cheaper and easier ways to obtain scarves, napkins, and kitchen towels (although I still maintain that a handwoven towel is hands down the best towel for drying dishes). Here’s my answer and I’m sure you have your own: I weave because it satisfies both my creative and intellectual needs and produces unique and astounding pieces of cloth that could never be made by a machine (and towels that actually dry dishes instead of pushing water around on them).
Whether I found weaving or it found me, I’m glad.
Weave well, Susan