To “wrap” up 2020, a year that has had many bumps in it, I‘m writing to ask you to share a photograph of a scarf or shawl that you have woven that for you says something either overtly or covertly. If you read down to the bottom, you’ll see what I’m willing to give you in return. Gifts! And even better, notoriety. Let's see if we can wrap up this year on a high note.
Recently I wrote about the shawl I’m weaving using a hexagon loom to wear on November 3, Election Day. To celebrate the passing of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote 100 years ago, I used purple, gold, and white, which were the colors of the Suffragist movement in the United States. That is a covert message that most people besides me won’t get, but nevertheless it is important to me.
Deborah Heyman used stormy greys to indicate her worries about global warming and pops of bright colors to indicate hope in her Shadow of a Doubt Shawl (Handwoven September/October 2019).
Your message could simply be happiness that orange exists as a color, or it could be told through an overshot name draft that celebrates someone or something special in your life. You may want to show your love for your favorite sports team or teams in a tartan. Your wrap could be woven in a rainbow palette to show your support of the LGBTQ community—or red, white, and blue, the colors of the American flag (not to be confused with bleu, blanc, rouge, the colors of the French flag). Maybe you are good at doubleweave pick-up or some other type of figurative weaving and, to show your love of dancing bears, have woven a scarf with dancing bears on it.
Susan Du Bois and Robin Wilton collaborated on the 65 Roses Scarves (Handwoven September/October 2019) using a name draft based on the words “65 Roses,” the pronunciation that many children with cystic fibrosis use to describe their disease. Ten percent of proceeds from scarf kits were donated to help raise awareness of the disease.
Please steer clear of messages that are political. We’ll post pictures of as many scarves and shawls as we can in a photo gallery on our website, excluding those we deem inappropriate. Include a short write-up of the message you feel your piece conveys and a little bit about it, as in weave structure and the source of the pattern. And please tell us who the photographer is so that we can give them credit. You can do all of those things and send us your photographs through this form.
As I said above, we will be giving something away: Two 1-year subscriptions to Handwoven.
Here is the nitty gritty:
No purchase is necessary to enter. You must be a U.S. resident to win, and the winners will be selected randomly.
By sending us your photograph, you attest that you are the creator of the work, that you have the right to publish the photograph/image of your piece, and that you are providing us your permission to publish the image of your piece and use the photograph/image to publish in all media (both digital or physical) worldwide.
All submissions must be sent by November 10. We’ll announce the winners by year’s end.
I can’t wait to see what messages you have woven into your scarves and shawls. Join me as I close out 2020 on a high note!
Weave well,
Susan