Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Some Weaving Family History

I don't have much to say. I've started the finishing process on the baby sweater, which is to say, I've laid into the poor thing with scissors. Totally planned, but still. I am not taking pictures of the process because. Well, I'll just say it: I'm terrified and I don't want pictures to remind me, in case it all falls apart. I've done this before, on a much bigger sweater, but I can't help but feel that was beginner's luck and sticky yarn.*

While I was at my parent's house on Saturday, my dad gave me some slides to scan. I'm not sure if I've said this before, but when my grandparents retired, they moved back to Stevensville, Montana (where grandpa was born) and took up weaving. My grandpa wove Navajo-style (it was an important distinction to him that since he was not Navajo, he did not weave Navajo rugs, but Navajo style rugs). When I was at their house on Saturday, my dad received a box of my grandparents' stuff from one of his sisters, in it was a set of slides mostly of my grandpa's weaving.
The quality of the slides isn't great, they're from 1982 and who knows where they've been stored, but you get the idea. This seems to have been for some kind of show: the orange bit at the top left corner has his name and town on it. The clip board on the bottom left has his pattern notes, which is only a little more visible when the picture is larger.
I love this piece. I'm having trouble deciding which of my grandparents wove this. It looks like something my grandma could have done on her loom, but there is one tiny clue that it may have been done on the tapestry loom. In the upper left corner there is a little bit of thread, which looks like the way my grandpa's rugs were tied off. I don't know.
And here is my grandma, looking none too excited to have her picture taken. I've said this before, but I wish very much I could convey to them how grateful I am for this legacy they have left me. My grandma, especially, didn't believe in an afterlife, so I really don't think she's looking down and watching me. If there is an afterlife, I hope she has better things to do. Pinochle, maybe.

*Update: Since writing the above, I have both sleeves sewn in and the collar started. Nothing has fallen apart. Yet.

3 comments:

Valerie said...

Nice post! You go, girl...on that baby sweater!

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful find those slides are! You definitely have weaving in your blood. Have you gotten the tapestry bug yet?

Anonymous said...

The gifts your grandparents (and father) have given you, and you have nurtured, are tremendous. I loved seeing the pictures. Your writing never fails to make me laugh, and cry.