10/03/2025
It's Friday!!! It's also the first Friday in October. Summer 2025 is behind us and as we prepare for the days of winter, some of you may be considering what to do on the loom. So . . . let's have a Freebie Friday!
I love flipping through older weaving publications . . . especially when I consider how much work went into formatting just a single page before the speed and efficiency of computers. These publications often become part of the legacies they leave to share with us. And I would like to share with you just such a publication . . . Florence House’s "Notes on Weaving Techniques."
Many years ago, I came across this publication through a member in a guild I was once a member. She was selling a copy of "Notes on Weaving Techniques" (sixth revision) . . . it was published in May 1949 and priced at $3.50. But, not long ago, I learned an edited version was available on-line . . . this is the ninth revision and published in 1964 . . . and the price had increased to $6.00. Boy, have the times (and prices) changed.
I don’t know very much about Florence House; however, according to the acknowledgments in the front of this edition, she worked out most of the weaves under Berta Frey, who’s studio was in Woodstock, NY . . . long before the likes of performers like Arlo Guthrie, Joan Baez, the Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, and Jimi Hendrix entertained the masses an hour away in Bethel, NY at the Woodstock Music Festival in August 1969. Her notes, designed for her students, presented weaving techniques using both modern and very old materials and were later revised by her student, Elizabeth H. Salisbury.
What’s in it? Well, a lot of things . . . I think that’s why I like it so much. There are a multitude of loom-controlled topics introduced . . . from twill to M’s & O’s . . . to Bronson lace and Crackle. In addition, there are weaver-manipulated techniques, such as open or lace weaves and tapestry techniques briefly covered. The information presented is not in tremendous detail, but it’s as though it’s a nice tasting menu. But what I find endearing are the pattern motifs that were painstakingly sketched on graph paper.
One of my favorite things near the of the back are 'Don'ts given by Mary Meigs Atwater at the National Conference of Hand Weavers, Walden Woods, Hartland, Michigan, Summer 1940' . . . There are some helpful tips . . . but, it makes me smile to read #3 . . . "Don't put on too long a wool warp for the yarn will lose its life. Weave it immediately." I had to read that a few times to make sure I read it correctly . . . the yarn will lose its life. Therefore, if your family and friends want to take you away from your loom, tell them that Mary Meigs Atwater clearly states that you cannot leave the loom..
I think many weavers would find more than a few things of interest . . . it’s certainly worthy of a small amount of time to check out. "Notes on Weaving Techniques" is available in two parts by clicking on the following links:
Part 1 -
http://www.cs.arizona.edu/patterns/weaving/books/hfe_weav_1.pdf
Part 2 -
https://www2.cs.arizona.edu/patterns/weaving/books/hfe_weav_2.pdf
Enjoy!
