Claiming My Identity as a Black Weaver in 21st Century America

It is only recently that I have come to identify myself as a weaver. It has been much more culturally relevant to call myself a retail manager, a human resources coordinator, or a primary school teacher. I met my first loom weaver, a professor and active artist, back in 2005 at college in the Apparel,…

A Handspun Spring

I've been spinning a lot of mostly wool and manufactured fibers these days. Despite the season change I'm still in the mood to spin. I also made garments from the woven cotton fabrics I wove a few months ago. Finished objects include a shirt from the colored cotton fabric and a skirt from the sari silk w/ dishcloth cotton yarn.…

A Spinners Milestone: Weaving with Handspun Yarn

I have been spinning yarn since 2005. My first experience with the luxury of working with natural fibers was after winning a gift certificate to Evelise's Yarn Shop at the Berrien County Youth Fair . An Afghan that I had crocheted with acrylic yarn won Reserved Grand Champion.  With the gift certificate I bought my…

I Just Kept On..another DragonFly shawl

The crochet enthusiasm hasn't worn off just yet. I finished my second (first dragonfly) dragonfly shawl about 2 weeks ago. I thought I would actually follow directions and make the pretty border according to the pattern but found that I did not have enough yarn. I improvised with double crochet clusters for the edging on this version.…

Getting My crochet On

I had an itch to get some crocheting done. It began this summer and I ended up making some hats from one of my favorite books Get Your Crochet on by Afya Ibomu. They work up really quickly and the design possibilities are endless. My hats are a variation of her pattern since I decided…

More Rag Rugs Please

Last year I purchased a rag rug to use in my kitchen. I spent about $40 dollars on a colorful 5ftX4ft rug I'm guessing made in India with all the bright polyester fabrics. I love it. Now make it? Dream on sister. My fabric scraps aren't nearly so colorful and I'm not about to go buy fabric…