I have been weaving scarves, shawls and blankets for many years now – but it still seems like almost yesterday. I have always loved cloth, textiles, color, decoration. I am fortunate to have been able to travel a great deal (every continent! Achieved that status after our trip to Antarctica in February, 2015!) The colors, textures, plants, and people I see inform my work. (To see more about my travels see my husband’s website, stevenjervis.com). I am also fortunate – I think – to live in New York City where I can visit museums and galleries frequently for more ideas and stimulation. From the window of my weaving studio in Brooklyn I can see the Statue of Liberty, the new World Trade Center, the Empire State Building, the East River – and yes, even some trees and flowers!

A retired family therapist, I “lost my self” to textiles long before I began weaving. I grew up at a time, and in a family, where many women sewed their own clothes; my grandmother and mother both sewed beautiful clothing for my sister and me. One of my first purchases in college was a sewing machine (seems unbelievable now!). So the idea of being able to dress and adorn myself to my own taste (and not that of a store or fashion maven) has always been important to me.

I have an 8-harness, 48” wide floor loom (without any computer assist, unlike many other weavers these days.) And lots of yarn – silk, wool, cotton, linen, Tencel. I prefer to work with silk or wool, or a combination of the two. I am beginning to work with natural dyes, finding as many dye plants as I can at Brooklyn Bridge Park, in my neighborhood.

The process of weaving – for me – begins with waking up in the morning and thinking “Green silk!) (Or could be blue wool, or ?) Then I have to decide – twill, plain weave, h, many choices. With 8 harnesses (and some weavers have up to 24!) the choices of pattern are extraordinary! The next step is winding the warp on a warping mill (you can find photos of this contraption online). Since I usually weave no more than two or three similar scarves (the warp will be the same but the weft – going across – will usually be different so no scarf is exactly the same) I will wind on 8 yards of fiber. This – as I hope you can imagine – can take a long time! And it’s boring.

After the warp is wound comes “dressing” the loom, winding the warp on the back of the loom. This is even more boring than winding the warp! Then the yarn/warp must be placed in heddles and put through the reed. If I am working with silk it is usually 24 ends per inch. So if the scarf is 10” wide, 240 threads must be placed in heddles, which have little tiny holes, and then the same 240 threads must be placed in the holes of the reed.

Then, I can relax (?), tie the warp onto the front of the loom – and finally weave! And dream of the finished project which will be photographed, put up on the website and worn by people who appreciate beauty and fine textiles!