To go along with the main post about the adorable needle-felted gnomes, we thought it would be fun to have a gnome-themed BeWeave It if for no other reason than to pull out all our favorite gnome puns.

When most of us think of gnomes, I’m sure the image that comes to mind is one of a white bearded man wearing a red pointy cap and a blue shirt. This was not always the case. Paintings of gnomes from the 1800s show gnomes as wizened old men with long beards and a variety of clothing, including long brown cloaks. Sometimes they might appear more goblin or animal than the diminutive humanlike fellows we think of today. The images that we gnome (we warned you there would be puns) as gnomes were popularized in the mid-1800s when Phillip Griebel began creating terra cotta gnomes for gardens.

These garden gnomes wore pointed caps, simple tunics and trousers, and typically had a big, white beard. The colors of the hats and shirts spanned the rainbow. A quick glance at Victorian images of gnomes shows gnomes once had a much more colorful wardrobe. Not much is known why gnomes wear what they do now, but the book Gnomes by Wil Huygen featured this costume heavily and with both the popularity of this book, as well as the children’s series David the Gnome, this image of a red pointed cap and blue shirt have become synonymous with gnomes. 

	Out adorable  intern Lauren shows off the equally adorable  needle-felted gnomes.

When I was young I was obsessed with all fairies, elves, and gnomes. My mother had a wonderful book on gnomes, which was simply titled Gnomes, and long before I could read the cursive that filled each page, I would flip through this beautiful book and get lost in the illustrations. Unlike most children, I never grew out of fairy tales; instead, as a teen and college student I kept buying new translations of the Brothers Grimm and scouring thrift stores for books of folklore from around the world. Today as a bona fide Adult, I still love reading the old tales about the wee folk as well as new stories by Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett, and others that explore the old legends and traditions in new ways.  

I bring this up to explain why I was so excited when Anita mentioned casually mentioned one day that she was working on a needle-felted gnome project. I believe there may have been squealing involved. When I saw the initial prototype felted gnome I knew we had something special. He was absolutely adorable with his rosy cheeks and his bright red cone hat. Later came more gnomes and then the gnome ladies. Pretty soon there were enough for an entire happy village of gnomes and it seemed as if everyone in the office wanted to check out these adorable little ladies and gents.

While many people oohed and aahed over the gnomes, what happened next was something most of you weavers out there have probable experienced before. “Oh that’s wonderful,” people would exclaim. “I could never do something like that.” Weaver know that just because something looks complicated doesn’t mean it necessarily is hard to make. Take log cabin, for example. It’s just plain weave but because of the strategic use of color it looks complicated. Then of course there are the twills that appear endlessly complex but we all know it’s just a matter of setting up the loom correctly and treadling 1-2-3-4-3-2-1.

The same can be said for much of needle felting. While it is true that there are beautifully intricate needle felted sculptures that take great amounts of skill and talent, much of needle felting is fairly simple. It’s all about creating shapes and connecting the shapes. A gnome might look complicated, but once you realize it’s just a combination of spheres, cones, and cylinders it becomes far less intimidating. (It also helps that Anita filmed a how-to video that shows step-by-step how to make each bit of the gnome and how to combine them.)

In just a few weeks I’ll have several days off before guests arrive for Christmas. I’ll use that free time to clean, bake, and finish weaving any last-minute gifts. In the evenings, when it’s nice and quiet, I think I’ll also take the time to needle felt up some gnomes to give to my guests and to hang on my own Christmas tree. It will be a reminder of my first year in my new home and of a holiday spent with loved ones. It will also remind me of childhood winter days spent curled up in a blanket, paging through a book of gnomes that I may not have been able to read, but I certainly understood.

Happy Weaving and a Happy Thanksgiving to all you Americans!

We at Handwoven and Weaving Today love our wools from merino to alpaca and harder to find sheep breeds including Jacob and Navajo Churro. We're especially excited to get our hands on the latest issue of Spin-Off devoted to the wonders of natural fiber—it even has a very handsome sheep on the cover. Here's Spin-Off editor Anne Merrow to tell you a little bit more. —Christina

Do you count sheep while you’re trying to sleep? While working on the newest issue of Spin-Off, I counted sheep with my eyes wide open. I got to 19 different breeds in no time—not counting two articles on goats and one on alpacas. That’s right—it’s the Natural Fibers Issue!

Every year, Spin-Off dedicates one issue to the fiber bounty that nature provides. Well, with some help from humans. Today’s immense variety of sheep is largely due to the intervention of selective breeding to promote certain traits and suppress others. In Kate Larson’s article on three breeds of Leicester wool—Border Leicester, Bluefaced Leicester, and Leicester Longwool—she discusses how the efforts of one man in nineteenth-century England brought forward a class of sheep with great options for handspinners. And the effects of breeding aren’t just in the past; Kate interviewed a number of breeders for her piece and offered their insights into the current state of their favorite breeds.

Kate’s article overflowed with information, so the profile of one farm didn’t fit in our pages. So we’re delighted to introduce you to yet another Leicester breeder.

	A Ross Farm Leicester Longwool. Photo courtesy of Ross Farm.

Leicester Longwool

Amy and Scott Manko, Ross Farm

therossfarm.com

Eighty Four, Pennsylvania

Amy and Scott Manko purchased their first Leicester Longwool ram, Mr. Jefferson, from Colonial Williamsburg in 2008. The Ross Farm averages twenty-five to thirty Leicesters, including lambs and wethers. A few years ago, Amy was interested in introducing a heritage sheep breed to the farm. Having a strong attachment to Colonial Williamsburg made Leicesters an easy choice. 

"We really try to conform to the breed standard as much as possible with such limited genetics to work with in the breed. The ideal sheep in my flock would be Piccadilly and Camellia. They are both stout little ewes with an excellent fleece. Both raise a lamb each year unassisted, are easy to handle, and have excellent parasite resistance. They are not my friendliest ewes, but they make up for it in every other way."

When we first received the Friendship Towels with Tintes Naturales designed by Sarah H. Jackson to print in our September/October 2014 issue of Handwoven, we all oohed and aahed over the soft cotton and the bright colors of the beautifully designed towels. Once we learned the story behind the beautiful yarn, the towels became even more special. So for this newsletter we present an excerpt of the original article about the yarn by Deborah Chandler as we present our newest weaving kit for these very special towels. —Christina

Lifelong backstrap weavers, the Maya Achi women of San Rafael weave for the income it provides and because they love it. But they need more income than they have been able to earn with their looms, so when they were o­ffered the chance to learn natural dyeing, a tradition that existed for millennia in Guatemala but has been lost, they accepted. That was five years ago, and they are still accepting, learning more in the hope that it will soon yield additional income for their families.

In March, 2013, natural-dye pros Catharine Ellis and Donna Brown spent three days in this village outside of Rabinal, Baja Verapaz. In March of 2014, Donna returned for a 4-day workshop, along with dyers Diane de Souza and Rocío Mena Gutierrez. All four of the women have donated their tremendous expertise as well as their own plane fare, travel expenses, and dye materials to Tintes Naturales, the dye project backed by the fair-trade organization Mayan Hands, which has worked with the women of San Rafael since 1998. 

Left to right: Berta, Venancia, Donna, Elvira, Abelina, Diane, Gilberta, Rocío, Rosa María, Fulgencia

The teachers started each class by asking the women where they felt solid and what gaps they had in understanding the dye process. They also talked about the women’s goals, in general and for the week of the workshop. If the underlying goal was to create a product that would increase their income, what would it take to achieve that? That discussion determined the content and emphasis of the class. The fun part was always to create a beautiful rainbow of reproducible colors.

In the beginning, the idea was to use local dye plants, of which there are many. But with no local dyers left, no one even knew how to draw the dyes from the plants, let alone the di­fferences in color yielded by a newly budding leaf versus an old withering one. Until the women understood how to harvest and dry the plants to get consistent results any time of year, there could be no fixed color palette.

An ever-changing color o­ffering wouldn’t work since the majority of their sales are online where customers see colors and want what they see. For now, the group has shifted to using commercially available powdered natural dyestuff­s that produce consistent results. That allowed the women to drop the study of botany and focus on the dye processes. In time, they will learn how to work with what nature o­ffers around them.

The women worked as a team so smoothly that at times it looked like dance. All in their mid-40s, they have been friends since they went to elementary school together, and they have been in the same weaving group for at least fifteen years. Gilberta has been the group leader for more than a decade. Elvira was our host, as her patio became our dye space. Abelina was the clerk and recorder, keeping track of ingredients, quantities, times, etc. She helps Berta keep the atmosphere light with teasing and jokes, even when everyone is collapsing from the inescapable heat. Berta is one of the scale-masters, making sure that every thing is measured correctly. She’s assisted by Venancia, the quiet one who watches everything, stepping in to do whatever is needed. Finally, Fulgencia earned the name Firey Fulgencia, keeper of the flame, as she kept the fires hot or cool enough for each step.

At first, the women wove scarves, shawls, and other beautiful textiles with the 20/2 pearl cotton they had dyed. Now they are entering new territory, dyeing unmercerized 8/2 cotton to sell to weavers in the United States and beyond. Thanks to the design help of Sarah Jackson and the marketing help of Irene Schmoller of Cotton Clouds—also all donated—the women have created kitchen towel kits, allowing other weavers to try the yarn. If all goes well, the next step will be to make the yarns available individually. (Stay tuned to Mayan Hands.)

—Deborah Chandler

Weave a Real Peace (WARP) was founded in 1992 by Deborah Chandler as a way to connect friends in the United States with textile artisans in developing countries. She thought her friends could provide the artists with resources and networking, and that they all could learn from one another.

Since that time, WARP has grown from a few members to a robust organization that connects weavers, dyers, and other textile artisans and artists around the world. 

Recently, WARP has come out with the new and exciting guide Artisan Textile Resources, which you can view in PDF form here. This wonderful guide has information on a wide variety of companies affiliated with WARP and their offerings. The guide includes businesses that sell textiles, yarn, and other fiber supplies, as well as those that provide services such as tours, design and consulting services, and much more. 

If like us at BeWeave It you like to shop small and give gifts that help make the world a better place, make sure to check out this new resource guide and to look for Fair Trade products when you're shopping out and about. By supporting small, grassroots organizations you can help keep textile traditions alive and well around the world. 

If you want to join in on the fun and become a member of WARP, it's easy! Anyone can become a member of WARP. It doesn't require any special connections to the fiber industry or retailers. All you have to do is have a passion for textiles and believe in WARP's mission.

WARP has a quarterly newsletter, discussion boards, and an annual meeting where members can get together in person to discuss new initiatives and experiences. For more information on WARP, the organization's mission, and how to join, check out their website.

No matter how many book you read or videos you watch, nothing beats taking a real-live weaving class with an expert teacher, except perhaps being able to immerse yourself fully in weaving for days on end. Our friends at Vavstuga Weaving School offer a number of immersive Swedish weaving classes, run a weaving shop full of Swedish yarn and other goodies that you can visit in person or online. The following sponsored post gives you an inside look at what this unique school has to offer. —Christina

Vävstuga Weaving School offers an unforgettable experience for hand weaving enthusiasts

In Sweden, the name Vävstuga (“väv”, Swedish for weave and “stuga”, meaning cottage) is given to the community weaving centers that are prevalent throughout the country.

While the practice of hand weaving was largely lost in the United States during the industrial revolution, Sweden made a concerted effort to preserve centuries-old hand weaving techniques by creating schools where master weavers have handed down the tradition through generations.

Today, “vävstugas” are common in many Swedish communities as a gathering place for weavers of all levels to come together and practice their craft. And teaching weaving as a communal experience is exactly what Becky Ashenden strives to do at the Vävstuga Weaving School in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts.

Set in a quaint, historic village, the 18th century building overlooks the peaceful Deerfield River. The Vävstuga Weaving School provides an idyllic setting for beginning to experienced weavers to gather, learn new skills, and practice their craft.

An Immersive Experience in Swedish Hand Weaving

Students at the Vävstuga Weaving School enjoy a truly immersive experience. While the first floor of this historic building hosts Vävstuga’s store and classrooms, the second floor offers lodging for up to six students at a time to relax and socialize after class, surrounded by beautiful hand wovens. Students are also treated to delicious meals, complete with hand woven place settings, in a tranquil setting overlooking the river.

An experienced production weaver, trained at Sweden’s renowned Sätergläntan Hemslöjdens Gård, Becky has been teaching weaving at Vävstuga since 1993.

Vävstuga Weaving School offers classes for students of all levels in three- or five-day sessions, with additional flex-schedule classes available throughout the year.

Each class is structured to maximize the benefits of both group and individual instruction. Becky emphasizes Swedish weaving techniques, while creating a fun, welcoming classroom experience for her students.

“I find myself lucky to have learned from this unbroken tradition of hand weaving that has been handed down for centuries in Sweden. I sense, over my years of teaching, that I have something to offer that’s not so common here in the United States,” said Becky. “Experienced weavers come to my classes sometimes skeptical that they will learn anything new, and they still tell me that they learn so much.”

An Inspiring and Unique Way to Buy Your Weaving Products Online

For weavers in search of high quality yarns, fabrics and equipment, Vävstuga also offers a wide array of products through their online store.

“Swedish yarns are the best quality weaving yarns that I know of,” said Becky. “We offer a beautiful array of fine-quality linen, cotton and wool in a variety of color palettes.”

One of the new products Becky is excited to have recently added to her store is the affordable, compact, and beautifully made Öxabäck Lilla loom.

Also unique to Vävstuga’s online store is the Yarn Playground, Becky's own invention, which allows customers to shop for yarns as if they were pulling them off the shelf and playing with them on the counter until they find just the right combination of colors for their project.

Want to Visit Vävstuga?

Whether you are a beginning or experienced weaver, you will certainly find something to love at the Vävstuga Weaving School. Start by visiting the online shop, where Becky offers a wealth of information and inspiration on topics students frequently search for, such as “How to choose a shuttle.” In addition, weavers will find some of Becky's generous teaching tips in her online videos.

Vävstuga would like to announce a NEW Holiday Contest!

See details on the Vävstuga Facebook Page. (Contest ends 12/19/2014) 

Sign up for our eNewsletter to stay in touch with all that we have to offer.

When you’re ready to visit Shelburne Falls for your first class, Becky will be there to welcome you into the fold as the newest member of her weaving community. If you have a passion for weaving, a visit to Vävstuga promises to be an experience you won’t soon forget.

Have you ever wished you had a weaving genie in a bottle, ready to advise you in any weaving emergency? Well, this weekend, you have a rare opportunity to prospect for golden nuggets of master weaver wisdom from the comfort of your home or studio. From now through Sunday, December 7th, you can have free access to all the weaving videos on craftdaily.com, and I hope you'll take advantage of the hundreds of years of weaving experience represented there.

	Laura Fry's brain holds a key to perfect selvedges.

If you need a reason, here it is: Selvedges happen. I say this in the same fatalistic sense as the scatalogical saying that "You-know-what happens." My current scarf project has gone just beautifully for the better part of two yards, and suddenly the selvedges are developing a bit of a smile. So many times in my weaving career, I have wished I had a master weaver genie who would look over my shoulder with wise eyes and say "Here's your problem right here, and here's the easy fix."(If they were a real genie, I would have used up my three wishes long ago fixing threading errors.)

Fortunately, I carry a lot of great weavers in my head, thanks to the many weaving videos I've had the privilege of producing for Interweave. Thanks to Madelyn van der Hoogt, I know my selvedge issue is due to warp tension, and I know a trick or two for fixing the tension long enough to get those last inches woven and off the loom. This project was started before we filmed The Efficient Weaver with Laura Fry. Laura gave me a whole new way to think about selvedges (they're the hinge of your weaving) and I feel pretty confident that I'm going to reach a whole new level of selvedge nirvana in future projects.

Besides giving access to a master weaver's brain, video gives me access to a weaver's eye. The camera lets me see what they see, giving me a feel for the smooth motion of lifting a shuttle up and away as they beat, never fussing with their selvedges, or the beauty of sleying the reed fast, with effortless motions. I go back to them again and again, and every time I watch, I come away with new ways to improve my weaving and make it more enjoyable.

I know this is a busy time of year, but I tend to watch video while baking or wrapping or putting the finishing touches on holiday gifts. I hope you'll enjoy this gift of weaving inspiration for you while you're busy making holiday magic for others.

-Anita

Ask Madelyn HAVE A QUESTION? OUR EDITOR HAS THE ANSWER madelynv@interweave.com

Hi Madelyn!

I am having a problem with broken warp threads, quite a few of them.  Currently, I’m weaving with 30/2 silk at 36 epi, 3 ends per dent in a 12-dent reed. Is silk more prone to breaking than cotton, Tencel, etc.?  Do I have too many ends in each dent? Is it possible that there is something wrong with my loom? My jack loom has metal heddles, should I be using string?

—Kathy

Hi Kathy!

There are several factors to consider when when you are determining the cause for broken warp threads. First and foremost is to locate where the break actually occurs in the threads. If the selvedge threads are breaking near the fell, draw-in is the likely culprit. First, make sure you are allowing plenty of weft slack in the shed. I like to place the weft at an angle of about 30 degrees and beat on a closed shed (closing the shed prevents the weft from being pulled flat, out of that angle, as I beat). With sticky or fragile yarns, I do beat on a open shed, carefully watching that weft angle. If the piece is much wider than 12” and draw-in still occurs, using a temple can help (you still have to allow enough weft slack, but the temple allows you to turn the weft more firmly at the edge). 

If the threads are breaking right in front of or within the heddles, heddle wear is the problem. You don’t want to put string heddles on a jack loom since part of what makes the shaft stay down when it is not being raised is heddle weight. Also, it is not logical that string rubbing on a thread would be kinder to it than smooth metal. One way to minimize breakage caused by heddle abrasion is to advance the warp often, very often. This is especially important with inserted-eye heddles. With a sett as close as 36 ends per inch, it is possible that the adjacent heddle edges of the inserted-eye heddles are rubbing against their neighboring warp threads. For this reason, with fine yarns and close setts, I prefer flat steel heddles to inserted-eye heddles (inserted-eye heddles are round and take up much more space than flat steel).

Three ends per dent is not too many threads in one dent of a 12-dent reed. In fact, breakage is more likely to occur if the reed is very fine (such as 20 dents per inch). If the reed were a factor, your threads would be breaking between the beater and the fell.

Silk should not be more prone to breakage than cotton or Tencel unless it is very loosely spun. And, I don’t think there is anything wrong with your loom!

My best advice would be to advance the warp often, which is good advice anyway!

—Madelyn

I had a slight panic attack the day before Thanksgiving. Even though I was fairly certain I had unpacked or at least sorted every box related to my kitchen and dining room something very important to cooking Thanksgiving dinner was missing: my collection of handwoven towels. How would I pull the pans out of the oven without my towels? How would I cover my loaves of bread as they rose? What would I use to wipe my hands and dry off dishes?

My husband and mother watched in bewildered silence as I searched box after box, occasionally cheerfully suggesting that perhaps I might consider using one of the twenty store-bought towels to pull out pans, cover my loaves, and dry off my hands. I would just shake my head sadly and search through another box.

Luckily, I finally found my collection of towels in a box with the clean mismatched socks. I believe they had been packed with the socks so I would find them easily. (It is never smart to put anything in a certain place so you will remember. You will not remember; it is a rule of the universe. If you want to get rid of something consider putting it somewhere “that you will remember”—the more elaborate the reasoning the better. It will be gone forever.)

It is a known fact that bread turns out better when it is allowed to rise under a handwoven towel. It turns out even better if you remove it from the oven using the same towel.

The towels were found and Thanksgiving dinner was saved. I’m sure I probably could have used my other towels in my kitchen, but it would have felt wrong—like using a frying pan to heat up some soup. Sure, your soup will be hot, but you’ll probably go out and buy a sauce pan so you don’t have to do it again. For me, handwoven towels are more than pieces of cloth; they are important kitchen tools, and you simply cannot beat a handwoven towel for durability, absorbency, and beauty. My other towels are used for cleaning up epic messes, dusting, and washing windows.

I have precisely two scarves to weave before Christmas, and then I will be putting on a nice, long warp for dishtowels. I’ve recently gotten my hands on the new eBook Handwoven Special Pattern Collection: 5 Towels on 4-Shafts. All of the towels are 4-shaft, all of the towels use yarns I already have in my stash (although sometimes in slightly different colors), and all are (of course) a complete joy to weave.  

In fact, I’m thinking I might finally try overshot and weave up the beautiful Bertha’s Towels by Pattie Graver. I love the beautiful miniature overshot patterns and the modern color scheme. I have that same purple 10/2 yarn in my stash a lovely selection of 5/2 cottons for the pattern. The deep, beautiful colors would certainly add some much needed color to my very white kitchen. In fact, I wonder if I could get these woven in time for Christmas so I could use them to help me prepare Christmas dinner . . .

Happy Weaving!  

I'll be the first to admit that I'm a cat person. Not the kind who has at least 20 running rampant around her front yard and scaring off the neighbors, but let's just say that I've spent a fair amount of time putting off daily chores by wrestling or snuggling with a furry feline friend - and loving every second of it.

Of course, there are tons of other types of feline creatures out there aside from your typical (mostly) friendly domestic housecat. Tigers, jaguars, cheetahs and lions are just a few bigger cats that you probably don't want to mess with in fear of meeting an untimely and rather painful death. And then there are mythical cat-like creatures crafted from folklore, such as the sphinx.

One fabled feline predator I recently learned about just in time for the holidays is the Yule Cat. Known as the "Jólaköttur" in its country of origin, the Yule Cat is a giant monster cat derived from Icelandic folklore. Legend has it that this furry beast would lurk about snowy country towns during Christmastime in search of people who didn't have new clothes to wear in time for Christmas Eve. The clothed ones would be spared, but the unfortunate folks with outdated style would be devoured by the Yule Cat. Yikes!

Allegedly, the threat of being gobbled up by a very large and terrifying cat served as motivation for farm workers to finish processing their autumn wool before Christmas. It may seem a bit backwards that the ones who didn't have new clothes in time for the holiday would perish, but the idea was that those who worked hard to meet their deadlines would be rewarded, while those who were lazy would suffer the consequences.

Now if that's not motivation to get your weaving done before Christmas, I don't know what is.

Making effective color combinations is a skill that mysteriously involves both knowledge of what works, personal taste, and cultural trends at the time. We don’t all like the same colors or the same combinations. In spite of those towels, I remember going through a yarn store with Michele Wipplinger, a master colorist. We paused at a shelf of green silk, and I said: Well, I don’t really like green. She looked at me and said: Oh, you don’t like green! It was Spring at the time and everywhere outside all shades of green were a delight to see. I think my dislike of green came from my not ever wearing green, not looking good in green. My color choices before I became a weaver were mostly about what to wear (except for those towels). 

As a beginning weaver, when I shopped for yarn (this is still more true than it should be), I only bought yarns in colors I really liked (madder red and indigo blue). I probably have the largest collection of yarns in every fiber in shades and tones of those two colors. Only after many years of observing what worked for other weavers did I realize that pieces that knock your socks off are woven with colors that work well together even if you don’t love one of them alone. Not only that, but there are principles you can learn that help you determine which colors work well together. You can use colors that do not appeal to you individually and bring them together for an overall effect you really love.

It would have saved me many years of madder red and indigo blue if I had had this e-Book from the beginning. In it, Deb Menz and Karen Selk give all the principles of combining colors. You’ll learn the terms you need to know (value, hue, intensity, primary, secondary, warm, cool) but more than that, how to use them to create beautiful cloth. With the projects in this e-Book, you’ll see these principles applied along with explanations of the design process. See how Tracy Kaestner picks colors based on a musical score, how Bonnie Tarses uses a horoscope, Kim Bunke chooses the colors Nature combined in her spring garden, how Bobbie Irwin creates iridescence, and more. 

You’ll also learn the ways different interlacements combine colors to create new ones. With plain weave (especially in fine threads), combining two colors, one in the warp and one in the weft, is as close to mixing paints as a weaver can get. With twills, two colors can blend and contrast at the same time. Overshot and summer and winter allow blends of warp and tabby weft with a third effect created by a contrasting pattern weft. As you design your own pieces, you’ll refer to the articles on color theory again and again. This e-Book is truly a weaver’s complete handbook on color.

Scarf by Laura Fry		Scarf by Bonnie Tarses		Napkins by Beth Ross Johnson

Christina's variegated alpaca blend on the loom and ready for Little Miss to start weaving.

A selection of shimmery, glittery, beaded, and sequined yarns to go with the more "sensible" choices Christina set aside.

This year for Christmas instead of making our normal rounds in Kansas, we decided to take it easy and stay home. After moving at the end of November, the thought of travelling further than an hour or so still makes me feel queasy—and to be perfectly honest I have already adapted to the much warmer New Mexican winter and after four Colorado winters am happy to avoid snow.

We put out word that anyone who desired to spend time with us for Christmas would be more than welcome to come and visit us.  As a result, in a few days’ time my house will be filled with relatives and (hopefully) holiday cheer. Among the group visiting will be my wee young niece. She is the lone child in a sea of adults and small dogs, and as such sometimes gets bored. I usually welcome her with stickers, coloring books, and boxes of crayons, but this year I have something extra special planned.

I have some beautiful variegated alpaca blend in my stash that I thought Little Miss (as I call her) would love. Not only is it lovely, but it’s also quite soft and fun to work with. So I’ve warped up my rigid-heddle loom and I’ve selected a number of yarns from my stash that should work nicely with the warp. (And a few that are just plain glitzy fun.)

When Little Miss arrives she will get her usual batch of coloring books, plenty of crayons, and stickers galore. When she tires of those (which sometimes takes all of ten minutes) I will introduce her to the loom, show her how to use it, and tell her she can do whatever she wants. If an adult comes up to her and says, “Oh, wouldn’t you rather use this yarn? Doesn’t the color match better?” I will intervene because when you are young and have a Vision for your art, it’s never (ever) helpful to have an adult come in and say, “Oh wouldn’t you rather make the sky blue instead of purple?” If she needs help then I will guide her, but she will have full control over what colors and textures she puts on the loom.

Part of the beauty of weaving on a rigid-heddle loom is that it is so easy to jump into the land of spontaneity. It is fairly intuitive to use and it’s very set up make the warp easy to manipulate for lace and knotting and whatever else the heart desires, which is all good when your heart is all of seven years old. You need less warp and have less waste, so you can try out fun yarns that you wouldn’t think of putting on a multi-shaft loom. And if, like Little Miss, you are still quite short, you don’t have to worry about your feet not touching any peddles.

When she has woven however many feet she needs for a scarf, we’ll take it off the loom, tie the fringe, and gently wet-finish it. Little Miss will then have a new scarf to wear out and about. I know that this may not work out completely as planned, and I’m fully prepared for pouty frustration. (Goodness knows I still have pouty meltdowns every once in a great while, usually while warping, so I can’t judge too harshly.) I just hope that she has fun and is proud of what she makes—and isn’t that what weaving is really all about? 

The origin of Christmas stockings can't exactly be pinpointed to a specific spot in time. However, we can trace the tradition of hanging stockings by the fireplace back to at least 1823, thanks to the publication of Twas the Night Before Christmas. 

So, why do we hang socks by the fireplace for Santa? Legend has it that back in the day, he was traveling through a small village and heard of a family in need. A man had lost his wife and needed to provide for his three daughters, but was too proud to accept any charity. So, on Christmas night, Santa sneakily dropped some gold down the chimney, which landed in the girls' stockings that were hung up to dry. Other tales say he threw the gold through a window and it landed in the stockings, but you get the general idea.

While Santa may not be dropping cash into our stockings these days (I wish!), the core of the tradition has remained consistent throughout all these years: to bring joy and spread cheer for all. Unless you're bad, in which case you'll get coal!

	A selection of Christina's banner flags.

At my house, the Hannukah lights have already burned bright, and the light of Christmas is beginning. I will celebrate in cloth of joy, woven by myself or friends. May you find joy as well. In our loud and busy world, I wish you a time for quiet and peace, time to breathe and reflect on the trials and triumphs of the past year, on the love of family and friends, and all the other blessings that will see you through the year to come.

Blessed be,

While I think I’ve yet to experience a year that could be described as boring, I do feel like 2014 has been more exciting than most. There have been a lot of changes in my life in the past month, most of which were good, although many were bittersweet. While I am so very happy to keep on keeping on in the world of Handwoven and Weaving Today from my home office in New Mexico, I still miss my friends from the office back in Colorado. Before I left, many of them contributed to my pin loom bunting with all sorts of wonderful squares made in a variety of techniques. Each square is different and so clearly reflect the maker that I can’t help but smile when I take the time to really look at them. So while I may miss them all this holiday season, I am again reminded of the power of textiles. How an heirloom tablecloth can bring back memories of relatives long past, a handknit sweater can feel like a hug from grandma, and a scrap of a baby blanket can make the most serious of adults once again feel safe and loved. 2015 is very nearly here, and I hope to continue to have adventures both on the loom and in the wide world, and my wish for all of you is the same.

	In 2014 Christina explored deflected doubleweave when she wove her take on Madelyn's silk scarf from the Madelyn van der Hoogt Master Weaver Collection eBook.

The end of the year is in full swing, I have (most) of my holiday decorations put away, and I’ve started thinking about what I hope to accomplish in the New Year. At the top of my list is to dust off shafts 5–8 of my loom and try out some new weave structures. So far, after nearly two years with my 8-shaft loom, I have woven exactly one project using all eight shafts.

I also want to branch out a bit. So far everything I’ve woven has been twill. I can’t help it—I just love twills. They’re beautiful, work for every fiber and use, and if I get tired of the pattern, I just change the treadling. Lately, though, I’ve found myself eyeing overshots and laces.

Here's to pursuing new weaving adventures in 2015!

I love this time between the Christmas rush and the New Year's Eve parties, the one time during the year when I can just kick back and read a book, weave, knit, spin, or catch a movie with friends. It's also the time I try to get real about my New Year's resolutions. Yes, I will work out more, but I probably won't ever have a figure like a Victoria's Secret model. I will go through my closets and get rid of things, but know that my husband will probably manage to fill the space. ("Don't throw that away. You never know when you might need it!") I will not add to my yarn stash until I go through and "edit" it. (Unless I run across something really luscious.)

However, I am making some weaving resolutions that I think I can achieve because weaving resolutions are fun. I resolve to teach at least one person to weave this year. I have a loom to lend, and it's time to put it to work making new weavers. I resolve to weave an overshot piece, start to finish. I've woven overshot in classes, I'm armed with an eBook, and I love overshot patterns. It's time to just do it! I'm going to weave towels! I love handwoven towels but have never woven them myself. The yarn is on my shelf, I have patterns galore, and I even bought a kit for Suzie Liles' folk art towels, so the time has come. 

To help me get moving, I'll keep you posted on how my resolutions are going, and I hope you'll do the same for me.Together, we'll make a more weaverly world.

Happy New Year!