Peru

In November there was Tinkuy de Tejedores (a gathering of weavers) in Peru. I would love to have gone, but it was not in the cards. The pre-Columbian weaving that is still being done in the highlands of Peru is incredible. No one should ever underestimate the ancestors.

Trying to learn a little about this weaving, I found an article by Doramay Keasbey in a Handwoven magazine from January/February 2000 that explained how to do pick up weave on a floor loom (instead of the backstrap loom commonly used by Peruvian weavers). I put on a long
warp and started weaving bookmarks.

Intrigued by this complex pick-up weave, I contacted Laverne Waddington, who lives in Bolivia and has first-hand experience with weavers who live in the Andes. She has recently published an e-book through Weavezine on Andean Pebble Weave. Her comments can be seen on my website http://abovefault.net/ I have purchased her book and I think I see a backstrap loom in my future and further exploration of this and other pick up weaves.

I just received the most recent Handwoven magazine (January/February 2011) with articles by both Doramay and Laverne on pick up weaves. Thanks to both of them for giving me this new window into the weaving world and an admiration for what can and has been done. It is both exhilirating and humbling. Too much to do, too little time!

When I went to coastal Ecuador to spend three weeks with the weavers there who make cotton saddlebags, I took along my backstrap loom with a warp made up ready to weave pebble weave. I like to show weavers things from other countries. They taught me their weaving and spinning and I was able to show them something from Peru. When I finished the piece I had enough to be able to make this small bag and a matching coin purse (pictured above). I just had to weave the sides and strap. (with strap pictured above) The button is a tagua nut that I got in Ecuador.

I learned this pebble weave technique while traveling in Peru. In a city called Huancayo I met Silvia (pictured above) who became my teacher for the weeks that I spent there. Every morning we would have a class with our backstrap looms tied up to a rose bush in the garden. Her daughter would stand by to help out with translations as Silvia only spoke a little Spanish being a Quechua speaker. Unfortunately her daughter was not interested in learning to weave herself but such is the trend these days in Peru. At home I wove bands to practice my new skills and then decided to attempt a wider and more complex piece (in that it has more than two colors). This I decided to set up on my Navajo loom as I wasn't used to weaving this kind of width. You can see a photo above. The piece lived as  a wall hanging for many years until I finally decided that I would like to ''show it off'' a little more and so I turned it into a shoulder bag! Unfortunately the yarn I had used for the bag was no longer available and I had to use something else for the strap and sides. Since then I have woven increasingly wider pieces using my backstrap loom.. I have no choice as my Navajo loom couldn't go with me last time I moved!