Article Info

Description: Plain weave is often, in twenty-first-century American handweaving circles, regarded as a stepping stone to other structures. A requisite structure for an introduction, if that, but seldom a structure to be dwelt on, let alone to build a career on. This should come as no surprise, considering the position that handweaving occupies in this particular time and place. No longer a generator of essential textiles, handweaving is more novelty than utility. We weave by hand because we want to. If every handloom ceased operations the world would not go unclothed. Born out of creative impulse and curiosity, our time at the loom is often spent exploring the infinite possibilities for interlacing yarns. I don’t have any hard data, but my hunch is that very few American handweavers spend their entire weaving lives producing plain cloth. It gets left behind like those first strips of construction paper in an elementary school classroom. Too basic, too boring. Kid stuff. Over one, under one, over one, under one. Next. This article is one that every weaver should read. It is stunning.