The Joy of Weaving as an Art Form

By Veronica Warwick

Talents are given to us by our Lord. These talents are not necessarily just for ourselves.

What can you give to others? Spinners can give their talent of spun yarns to weavers. Weavers are able to give many gifts to others. What are you wearing? What is on your bed? Do you need a basket to carry things in? Does your floor need a rug for comfort? What about your walls? For example, a tapestry for beauty may be woven or just worn for warmth if you live in a cold environment. All of the above are woven by machinery but can be handwoven.

At the end of this book is a list of other books by weavers. They can be obtained in libraries, bookstores, online stores, etc. Possibly the best way would be an e-book.

This book is meant to inspire those who read it to want to learn how to make useful things.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Nov 11, 2022
• ISBN: 9781685170332

Book preview

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The Joy of Weaving as an Art Form

Veronica Warwick

ISBN 978-1-68517-032-5 (paperback)

ISBN 979-8-88943-378-1 (hardcover)

ISBN 978-1-68517-033-2 (digital)

Copyright © 2022 by Veronica Warwick

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Introduction

Picking the Right Equipment

Color and Design

Yarns Have an Interesting History

Materials That Can Be Spun and Woven

Raffia and Pine Needles

Garments for the Lord

Pictorial Use of Theo Moorman Technique

Bibliography

About the Author

I dedicate this book to my father, Desere DesCamps, and my daughter, Emily Ruiz, with love.

My father used to say to me, Never be ashamed of your work as long as it is honest. My parents were married during the Depression. Jobs were impossible to find and part-time work was infrequent. Educated men sold apples on street corners to make a living. My father pushed a car from Los Angeles to San Clemente for fifty cents. My mother made pies for a bakery and babysat during the day. I found myself down on my knees scrubbing a floor and had to remind myself not to be ashamed because it was honest work. When I received my paycheck, even though it was minimum wage, I knew my dad would be proud of me.

Introduction

A few years back, I went to a class reunion. The large room in the convention center was dark and full of strangers. I tried so hard to see someone that I could recognize in this large group. I wondered how many graduated in the same year as myself! I knew that two other years of graduate students were sharing our night of remembrances with us along with their spouses and friends, but it still didn't quite dawn on me that so many strangers would be present. Finally, across the room, I saw the girl that lived next door to me from the ages of five to eighteen years. We were always the exact opposites, yet we shared so many years of our youth—tree climbing, hopscotch, bikes, boys, church, and schools that all came flooding back into my memories. I rushed to her table, and leaning over her chair, I asked quietly in her ear, Is this little Janet? She jumped up and yelled my name. We embraced like sisters. While talking, she asked me what I was doing, and when I told her I was a weaver, to my surprise, she had never heard of weaving. What is weaving? she asked. I took a decorative scarf off my shoulder and put it on her shoulder and told her I had woven it and sent her home with it. I am now wondering how many people in this day and age have never even heard of weaving?

We are in a technical age where we turn on our computer and order what we want, taking for granted there would be a machine out there in the great unknown that can make exactly what we want or need not only for us but also for our families, our animals, and our homes. What will happen if we haven't access to electricity anymore? What will be more necessary than those people who can weave their own cloth and sew for their families?

When the industrial revolution occurred, looms were made into machinery. One place you can see this is at the Pendleton Mill Factory in Oregon. One or several machines spin yarn and other large machines weave material. Women with control levers at their feet or hands watch the cloth roll by them so they can inspect it for flaws. When a flaw is found, the machine is stopped, and the flaw is corrected. If the flaw cannot be corrected, it is marked to be cut out later. This has of course eliminated many jobs but I believe at the same time made handwoven articles most desirable. In the past, every home had a spinning wheel and a loom. The family members would sit in a line at the loom on the same bench (Can you imagine the closeness of such a family?) to produce yards of material necessary for the family. It could easily take a dozen spinners and carders and those who shear the sheep to produce enough for one weaver to be kept busy. Those who do not comprehend spinning or weaving will surely be at a disadvantage if access to electricity becomes a problem.

Age of a Weaver

How old should one be to begin to weave? I have a picture of Macie, my three-year-old granddaughter, sitting at my Oregon Trail loom with double shuttles in her hands. Her mother, my daughter, was about five years old when I took her picture at the same loom. She was helping me to weave an altar cloth for Saint Joachim's Catholic Church. There is another picture of Veronica Elena, my daughter, making a white warp for baby blankets: one was woven for her first baby, Macie; one blanket was woven for her next baby, Chloe; and another blanket was woven for my first great-grandson, Ethan. My son Charles wove himself a hammock when he was thirty years of age and made me a Navajo loom in the backyard next to the weaving room (our garage). This last year, I taught a neighbor's sister who wanted to learn to weave, and she is a retired schoolteacher. My teacher's mother was still weaving when she was close to one hundred years of age; she learned as a child. After I gave birth to my sixth child, Paula, at the age of thirty-six years (I have seven children), I went to our local college and took a weaving course. There is an old saying that writers write; well, weavers weave! Whenever you start to weave is just the right time and age for you.

The picture of Macie Angela Day was taken July 9, 2001, sitting at her grandmother's Oregon Trail loom. The Oregon Trail loom is a jack floor loom, which means