Meet Gary

About 10 years ago I decided I had earned a Fireside loom. The loom is cherry wood (horse logged by Amish loggers in the Midwest) 48"wide 8 harness and a custom tilted commuter bench.

In the 10 years I have only used all 8 harnesses once. I finally had to see what the loom would do at full capacity. It was really cool, but I am a plain weaver at heart.

Why did I name my loom Gary, you might wonder? Well, Gary Swett is the maker/owner of Fireside looms, and he hand signed the loom.

Meet Grace

Let me introduce you to Grace, my 32" 4 harness Gilmore. I don't usually name my tools, but I found her at a college that was selling off all of their looms. At the time I had just one loom since my studio is rather small. Grace was so compact and perfect for weaving scarves. I noticed a small metal plaque at the base of harness mount: GIVEN IN MEMORY OF GRACE HOSSACK WEAVER. After some research, I discovered Grace had been Anita Mayer's mentor years ago. I am blessed to have a loom of spirit come to live with me. To make it even more wonderful, the loom came with reeds: 6, 8, 10, 12, 14,15, and 16. I had never seen a 14 or a 16 before. Interestingly enough, for my first 20 years of weaving I only had a 12 dent reed. I guess if a person only has one reed, a 12 would be the one.

Purpose and Goals

The purpose of Weaving Spirit is to bring you into my weaving studio to see my latest weaving. I plan to share my ideas, process and weaving philosophy on as regular a basis as I can manage. Think of this blog as an online workshop. I would love to re-connect with folks who have taken a workshop from me in the past.

I have been weaving for 47 years now. When I first learned to weave at Rhode Island School of Design, I was told there were 3 main elements to weaving: color; pattern; and texture. To have a successful textile, a weaver should emphasize only one of the three. If all 3 elements are operating at equal intensity, you will not create a pleasing cloth. There are times when I have broken this "rule" with varying degrees of success, but for the most part I am a color weaver. 99% of my weaving is plain weave. I am strongly influenced by ethnic textiles, color symbolism, and color codes of various sorts.

I used to weave primarily in wool, cotton, and silk. About 10 years ago, I fell into a pit of chenille. It has taken me several years to climb out only to stumble onto bamboo yarn. Who knows how long this kick will last, but I am having a great time with this versatile fiber.

I wove for about 20 years before I decided to try and make a living at it. Why did I wait so long to jump in? I think I always knew I didn't want to be or couldn't be a production weaver. I suspected I would burn out, wreck my back, get carpal tunnel, lose the passion, and move further away from the sheer magic of weaving. I feared one day I would no longer be able to hear the echoes of the ancient weavers. Although it is often questionable as to whether I actually make a living from weaving, (metaphorically speaking) the Weaving Goddess communicates with me on a regular basis.

It's getting late, so I think I will sign off for now. I am not sure how blogs work, but I'll get the hang of it eventually.

If you have arrived here from my website, then you know about me and the work I do. If you have come here via blogger, please visit my website to see my complete gallery.