Yesterday my friend Jyoti and I took Sarah Harste's Intro to Weaving Class and it was AWESOME!!! Jyoti called me a couple months ago asking if I wanted to take some sort of weaving class. At first I was resistant. Not because I didn't want to do it (because I love weaving), but the usual busy life and reluctance to commit to something far off in the future. Jyoti sent me Sarah's website and I was amazed by all her class offerings and wanted to take them all! We narrowed it down to her Intro to Weaving class at Baker-Hunt in October and signed up.
I had never heard of Baker-Hunt Art and Cultural Center before. It is in Covington, Kentucky and is not even 20 minutes from my house. They offer a variety of classes that include painting, scultpure, photography, weaving, and yoga. If you live nearby definitely visit their website. I was also so impressed with the beautiful old building where our class was held. The classroom was in a ballroom with detailed parquet flooring. Below you can see a few interior shots of the building.
When we first entered the ballroom Sarah and a lovely array of yarn greeted us. She showed us the sample of what we were going to make and told us we could pick out a few different colors. I was in heaven! There is not much I enjoy more than thinking about colors and how they might look together. Oh, the joy of it. The class was only five minutes in and I was loving it!
Also awaiting us was an empty threaded loom at each of our seats. Sarah had very kindly threaded the warp for us so that we would be able to finish our project in the allotted 4 hours.
Soon, under Sarah's skillful and patient instructions we were off and weaving.
Above you can see Jyoti weaving about halfway through her project. Below is a photo of my weaving when I had just finished the sumac weave section.
And here you can see the finished weaving before I took it off the loom.
I wish I had taken more photos of Sarah helping us. Below you can see her demonstrating how to take our weavings off the loom. Sarah is a gifted teacher with an incredible knack for clear instruction and setting people at ease. She also just has a lovely presence and is someone you immediately want to be friends with. Thank you Sarah for a wonderful experience!
I also want to thank Jyoti for pushing me to get out of my house and try something new. I have been a bit hermitish lately and it was such a lovely way to spend a misty, fall day.
There is something ancient and magical about a bunch of women weaving together. Words, stories, and yarns are shared as needles go up and down, under and over. As we slowly weave our creations into being we are strengthening friendships and building community. We are learning of each others sorrows and joys. I wish we could experience this more often.
"Women are spinners and weavers; we are the ones who spin the threads and weave them into meaning and pattern. Like silkworms, we create those threads out of our own hearts and wombs. It's time to make some new threads; time to strengthen the frayed wild edges of our own being and then weave ourselves back into the fabric of our culture. Once we knew the patterns for weaving the world; we can piece them together again. Women can heal the Wasteland. We can remake the world. This is what women do. This is our work." - Sharon Blackie, If Women Rose Rooted
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