Handwoven

Each issue offers a stunning collection of enticing weaving projects. But the magazine is more than that: it's a pattern book, and weave structure textbook, it's a place to discover original designs, and find solutions to weaving challenges. For over 20 years Handwoven has been an indispensable resource for weavers.

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FROM THE EDITOR

FUTURE THEMES

Handwoven • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2023, Volume XLIV Number 1

Letters • Stories, tips, tricks, and questions from Handwoven readers

Favorite Finds • Worry less and have more fun creating with these goodies designed to make your life easier, on and off the loom.

Eight Shafts: Beyond the Beginning Personal Approaches to Design

Weaving: The Art of Sustainable Textile Creation

From Sheep to Shoulders • Fibershed Slow and Local: A Clothing Project

Abundant Earth Fiber • A friend recently shared with me the Campaign for Wool’s video “Why Wool Matters” (see Resources), which makes a strong argument for the importance of wool in fighting global climate change. Similarly, after doing research that showed that 80 percent of people don’t know that synthetic fibers come from fossil fuels, Woolmark launched a microsite describing the benefits of wool over synthetics. These events reaffirmed for me the importance of shopping locally and learning about fiber sources as they relate to clothing. Fortunately, I live in a country with many great local wool resources available, including one in my own backyard.

Can You Have It All? • Very long ago—I can remember like it was yesterday—a wise friend told me not to put all my weaving knowledge into the design of a single project. This happened before I’d heard of KISS, which stands for “Keep it simple, stupid,” or the even more popular idea of “less is more.”

The Whys and Hows of Sampling • As a beginning weaver, I rejected sampling as a waste of yarn, money, and time—but it didn’t take me long to discover that not sampling was even more wasteful! I credit a project I call “the incredible shrinking scarf” as the game changer. I bought just enough of a colorful, textured knitting yarn of mixed fiber content off the sale rack at my local knitting store to weave a scarf. It looked awesome on the loom, and I wove until I ran out of yarn. When I took the scarf off the loom, it measured 7½ by 58 inches.

Mango Tales • Motifs in textiles are innumerable, especially in India, but there, one motif seemingly reigns supreme with thousands of variations: the mango. Popularly called manga, ambi, or kairi, but probably best known outside of India as paisley, the mango-shaped leitmotif is a vital part of the Indian textile dictionary.

Healthy Weavers • Cynthia’s weaving joy: I enjoy weaving for others. Every end measured out and drawn through reed and heddle, every pass of the shuttle is an active expression of love and affection for the intended recipient. For me, a newborn baby wrapped in a handwoven blanket is a baby wrapped in love. Sometimes weaving can even become my therapy if some other aspect of my life is worrying me.

Blanket of Dreams

Fantasy Twill

Strawberry Tea Scarves

Sashiko-Ori Throw

Windowpane Wrap

Touch of Twill

Blueberry Fields Forever

Interplay Scarf

Peaceful Winter Cowl

Monk’s Belt for Texture

Heather and Rosepath

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PROJECT DIRECTORY

YARN SUPPLIERS

FINISHING TECHNIQUES

READING DRAFTS

Don’t Wait to Use Your Wool • If you’re like me, you have a basket of yarns “too special” to use, handwoven fabric ready to be cut, lists of patterns to weave, and many UFOs (unfinished objects)...