Since moving to Arizona I have loved learning about the Native American culture and their unique connection to Mother Earth, her gifts and how she provides everything needed to live and prosper. The stories of Spider Woman and how she taught the Navajo to weave intrigued me. So when my sister-in-law , a fiber artist, saw I was natural dyeing yarn for my very simple Navajo style weaving, she gave me three table size looms (here after referred to as “the Beasts!”), to try and expand on my weaving experience.
These looms were way beyond anything I’d attempted before, so the first thing was to find a local “Beast” Whisperer, and some friends to join me on this adventure. I have a basic understanding of weaving terms and techniques, but Day 1 was overwhelming with new vocabulary and information about these looms, and some math.
On the large warping board, we wrapped about 17 yards of warping thread. These become the vertical threads, or yarns, on the loom. Then there is a lot of bundling the finished warp threads to avoid tangles later when securing them to the loom. The remainder of Day 1 (2 more hours) was “warping the loom”, the painstakingly tedious task of putting the individual threads through the slots (dents) in the reeds, onto the 4 rows of harnesses. Taming the Beast! A job well done.
