weaving – ArgoKnot

Perugia 2.0

May 8, 2026 | 2 Comments

In October of 2024, I visited Perugia, Italy, for the first time as part of a workshop in Umbria on natural dyeing and using the wool to weave tapestry. I only had part of a day there, but it was one of the best days of that trip. You can read about it here, or maybe just look at the photos of this incredible place. Almost a year later I learned that through VAWAA you can book a week long workshop at Giuditta Brozzetti. A weaving acquaintance found the opportunity, and if she got three others to join her the cost for each of us would be reduced. I wasn’t sure where I’d be during the 3rd week of April this year, but I was certain I was going to get to Perugia for this workshop. As it turned out, Bob and I were in Almerimar, Spain, facing a record number of repairs needed on our sailboat Pandora. But I took a flight from Alicante, Spain, to Rome, and met my three weaving cohorts the following morning. We took a train to Perugia and saw a great deal of the countryside. It was a magical trip from the start.

We arrived on Saturday evening and spent Sunday touring the historic area of the city. Our lodging was not as charming as described on the website, and definitely ODD. It took us two hours to check with the owner’s ‘contactless check-in.’ I don’t recommend this. To get into the accommodation we had to go through a locked gate, then up two long fights of stone steps from the Middle Ages to a locked door. More time corresponding with the owner to get through that locked door, then another flight of modern stairs to the first room. My room required yet another flight of stairs. The rooms were not quite as advertised, but they had some antique charm and we made the best of it.

We were staying in a medieval part of the town which was very scenic. This is right outside the gate to the building where our rooms were.

At the bottom of this narrow street we turned into the large Piazza IV Novembre. It was great location for seeing much of historic Perugia.

The building behind the fountain is the National Gallery of Art that is housed in a medieval castle. The collection is focused on medieval religious art, with a wing devoted to Giotti and his students, and the effect they all had on portraying figures more realistically and emotionally. A hightlight for me was a small collection of highly figured woven altar cloths that Perugian women were so famous for making during the Middle Ages and Renaissance.

These beautiful altar cloths were woven on floor looms where the ornate designs had to be picked by hand. Looms that could weave these designs had not yet been developed, so all this work was done painstakingly by hand. The tradition in the Middle Ages was to make the warp out local white linen, also spun by hand in this period, and to use very precious cotton from Egypt, dyed locally with idigo, for the patterned weft designs.

These woven fabrics are from the 13th c. so they are around 700 years old and still look so beautiful. You cannot tell how highly figured the white background cloth is. It is woven in a series of different diamonds, some created with lace weaves, and some with twills.

As I mentioned in the post from 2024, Leoanardo da Vinci used these cloths for inspiration in painting his fresco of the Last Supper. The current owner of the Giuditta Brozzetti workshop, Marta Cucchio, studied high resolution images of the fresco to recreate these elaborate designs for weaving on 18th and 19th c. manual jacquard looms. Four generations of Brozzetti women have worked to keep this Perugian weaving tradition alive. Marta is the first in the family to weave hersefl; her mother, grandmother, and great grandmother ran the business rather than doing any of the weaving. In the Middle Ages and early Renaissance these cloths were highly valued and commissioned for churches all over Italy and throughout Europe, which is why Marta’s family wanted to see this tradition continue on modern looms. While most of these cloths are no longer extant, many of the painters from this time period have preserved them in religious paintings, such as da Vinci’s fresco. If you look closely at the enlarged image of the fresco, you can see the patterns on the digital image and compare them to the modern tablecloth. Marta has studied these designs and recorded them for punch cards to be woven on jacquard looms. My cohorts and I dubbed the large diamond design “da Vinci’s diamonds,” and we gave the smaller designs names as well–“da Vinci’s small birds and flowers,” and “da Vinci’s DNA chain.” In this photo you can also see how highly figured the background cloth is.

Here is Marta and I, back in 2024, looking at a high resolution detail of the fresco, along with a photo of the entire fresco and part of the woven reproduction of the cloth. Can you tell I am awestruck?

All four of us were smitten with these historic designs and used them in our own work during the week. Our first exercise was to study a simple medieval design and draw it on graph paper as if we would translate it to the punch cards used on jacquard looms. It was an excellent exercise in understanding the jacquard loom. The penciled-in squares on the graph paper represent the weft threads, and the uncolored spaces are the warp tie-downs. I used this flower in one of the pieces I wove during the workshop.

Marta and her assistant Alessia worked with us throughout the week to hone our skills in using the jacquard looms. There is a lever above the beater that controls whether you are throwing a pick of background or a pattern pick, That is the first thing you set with each pass of weft. Then you depress the one treadle which is quite heavy since it is controlling the lift of many warp threads, sometimes thousands. Next you pull the cord for the fly shuttle, which was set for either background weft or pattern weft when you set the binary lever at the center of the loom above the beater. The rhythm is binary lever, depress treadle, pull the fly shuttle cord, release treadle, beat. Each of the looms is a different width and has its own quirks in operation. One thing that was standard is that we needed to depress the treadle somewhat gently, but to release the treadle aggressively and quickly. By the end of the week I was struggling to release the treadle quickly enough. You only use one leg for treadling, your right, and the treadle is rather high. By the end of the week I was struggling to lift my leg high enough to release the treadle quickly. Not being quick at this maneuver causes small weft skips that will have to be corrected. I’ll have a number of corrections to make!

It’s surprising and thrilling to be able to weave so much in so little time. Here is some of our work

This is my first finished piece. Beyond the cloth beam I had practiced half the diamond design and some of the flowers. I was particularly smitten with these oldest designs that have been handed down through artwork, so my first piece is “da Vinci diamonds” and the ” da Vinci little flowers.”

The second piece I wove is from the London Liberty period during the Arts and Crafts period. It’s pomegranates, and I blended three colors of reds for each repeat of the design–light reds first, then medium reds, and finally dark reds. I then repeated that sequence backwards for light, medium, dark, medium, light. Each pattern weft requires three threads of 4/68 cotton held together, so all of us enjoyed creating our own color blends. The bottom border is a chain and then small trees, and the top border is several repeats of the chain. Alessia said she’d like to weave my color combination herself! Maybe she says that to everyone… She recorded all our color choices, and we did as well, not that I may ever have the opportunity to use a jacquard loom in the future. I have grandiose plans to make this fabric into a handbag, like the one I bought when I visited here in 2024.

pomegranate design from the Arts and Crafts period in England, woven using a blend of reds.

I also wanted to weave fabric of the interesting background designs. I chose several colors of cream to weave against the cream warp, and then a combination of wheat colors for the middle section. I want to do a rolled hem on this piece and little picots of bullion stitch to turn this into a table runner. At the end of this I wove a short section of little trees to cut into book marks.

In the middle of using the jacquard looms, I tried the 4-shaft floor loom when I had to wait for the next available jacquard loom. These cloths were simple twill designs that look more complicated than they actually are. There are paintings that depict the Madonna and Child with the baby Jesus wrapped in these type of woven cloths. This painting is by Pinturicchio from 1496.

I was quite intrigued by what the Perugian women wove with simple, 4-shaft twill designs in the Middle Ages on counter balance looms. There are plenty of examples at Giuditta Brozzetti. I spent some time weaving a sample to take home with me. There is a possible tablecloth in my weaving future.

Here is our wonderful teacher Alessia Galassi showing us some of the woven goods at the workshop. She has a master’s degree in historic jacquard weaving, and did research on the mistakes in woven jacquard fabrics. You can find info about here here.

And here is Marta Cucchio whose family started this venture in 1921, and who has been running the business since the 1990s. She is an enthusiastic champion of preserving this Perugian tradition. Thank heaven. Giuditta Brozzetti Museo e Laboratorio. I took this photo because I’d like to make a vest like she’s wearing. I want to weave the fabric in a fine wool plain weave and knit the interesting collar.

In 1995 Marta bought a 13th c. chapel that had originally been the first church of St. Francis of Assissi. It was later sold to the Benedictines and used as a convent. Over its long history it has also been a spinning mill. It’s a stunning setting for the jacquard looms and the fabrics made here that are for sale.

I am particularly interested in this woven phrase which is Perugia’s motto: Per Aspera ad Astra. In Latin this literally means “Through hope to the stars.” Marta says it means something more like through life’s challenges hope brings us to the stars. I wanted to weave this as one of my projects, but that jacquard chain only fits on the largest loom, which students do not use. Alessia got out the graph of this design, suggesting that I might use it for embroidery. Good idea. On the image of the woven pillow the phrase is surrounded by griffons, which are the emblem of Perugia. A griffon has the head of an eagle and the body of a lion, which is symbolic of being able to fly to heaven to talk to God and to be powerful on earth.

My biggest thrill was buying a tote bag! Several months ago I had seen that Marta had designed and made a tote bag for one of the hauture Italian fashion houses for an opening event they held. I asked if she planned to make more, and she responded that she wasn’t sure when she’d have them. When I arrived at the workshop I didn’t see any, and I was too disappointed to ask about them. Then, on the last day of our class Marta arrived late because she driven somewhere to pick up the first six tote bags! I was very lucky to get the first pick since I had asked for one. It is a treasure, along with the handbag I bought when I was last here.

During our stay we managed to see and do some memorable things in Perugia. We had a number of dinners in medieval spaces that were nicely renovated for modern living, such as this restaurant in a nice corner with Chris (L) and Shari (R).

It was a lush time of year in Perugia, and we were lucky to only have a short shower one day during our visit. Here are Bev (L) an Shari (R) standing under a large wisteria vine.

The views from the medieval wall were impressive. What a beautiful city!

I had hoped to buy a piece of Deruta pottery during this visit, but Marta warned me that Perugia is not the place for that, allthough Deruta is from Umbria. My friends all bought Perugian chocolate, but I missed that opportunity–not sure why! We did find a mother/daughter enterprise who paint tiny spheres of pottery in a technique called “fuseruola.” They make exquisite jewelry and other things in this technique, which is an ancient art that was originally used to decorate the whorls of drop spindles. How could I NOT buy one of these? I chose earrings, but I was seriously tempted by a larger sphere painted with sea shells that could sit on a shelf on Pandora. I do regret not getting that. You can see their work online.

The entrance sign to Giuditta Brozzetti draped in yellow roses in April

“Per Aspera ad Astra!” I hope to have a Perugia 3.0 someday. I never realized how much I would enjoy weaving on these looms in spite of the physical challenges involved. Naturally, I wish I’d discovered this when I was younger, but I’ll take what I can get, and however long I left to weave, I hope it includes more time on a jacquard loom.

Cartagena! I got there!

May 3, 2026 | 2 Comments

While I was in Perugia I thought that Bob and our friends would sail to Cartagena, but Bob was mired in so many repairs. Our friends were supposed to meet Bob in Cartagena, and I was supposed to fly there from Italy when I finished my workshop in Perugia. Nothing has gone as planned on this trip, except for the incredible time in Perugia. Thank heaven for that! At the end of the workshop I flew back to Almeria, our friends joined us a day later, and we all waited an additional two days to set sail for Cartagena. In our original plans I would have missed Cartagena all together, so in the long run, some bad events open up great opportunities.

I am so happy to be in Cartagena! The Roman museum and amphitheater are beyond my imagination. The museum has some terrific artifacts from the Roman period, and the work to excavate the theater is impressive. The theater held 7000 people. It was built during Augustus Caesur’s reign. The Roman empire was failing, and Augustus wanted a place to hold events honoring his reign as well as theatrical performances. Reminds me very much of our current situation in the US.

It was definitely as impressive as the amphitheater in Rome that I visited while doing studies in Roman history in college—50 years ago. It was a thrill to visit something Roman again after so many decades! — almost as thrilling as getting to Tarquinia when I visited Umbria the first time, in October of 2024. These moments returning to places so important to my past life are quite exciting.

A beautifully carved capital on a column

Other capital carvings in the museum. I often imagine weaving tapestries of images that were originally carved in stone.

Afterward we walked around the area where this excavation continues. The Roman forum is not open to the public because they are still working on it. Here is a beautiful garden and fresco in the area.

Some sights from the center of Cartgena

May 1 is Labor Day in Spain, and the Spanish know how to celebrate a holiday better than we do. The shops and museums are closed on May 1, instead of being open for big sales. Afterall, it’s a holiday to celebrate workers so they should have the day off! The entire city of Cartagena was turned into a giant festival with live music, including some famous bands and singers who performed on a big stage near the city’s promenade that runs along the edge of the Mediterranean. The festival lasts from Friday through Sunday.

There were many women and young girls dressed in flamenco costumes.

And here is a group of women ‘of a certain age’ dressed in Victorian costumes, enjoying cocktails together. Gloves and lace fans!!

On Saturday the Labor Day festivities continued, and another celebration took place as well. From what I understand the May 2nd celebration is specific to Cartagena. It is called “Gesta del 2 di May” and honors the soldiers who served in the war against Napolean, when in 1808 the Spanish succeeded in defeating Napolean’s forces and expelling them from Spain. But the parade and exercises seemed to honor more than that. There were speeches that seemed to cover the history of Spain, medals were given to soldiers from various branches of the military. The ceremony opened with the military band playing while a small corp gave a 21 gun salute on the four canons that had been placed on the parade grounds. Here are the canon guard before the ceremony started.

All the branches of the military paraded in to the site while the drum corp set the pace.

Trumpets and drums playing for entrance march.

The final event of this ceremony was another gun salute on canons and the placement of a wreath on the black obelisk that honors those who served in the Spanish American war that was fought in Cuba. This ceremony was well attended by locals who heartily sang the two songs the band played that had lyrics. I don’t know which song was their national anthem, but surely the anthem was part of the ceremony. I also don’t know why this event only takes place in Cartagena each year.

Before this festive weekend in Cartagena, we took our friends to the airport in Alicante to fly home. Boy! Do we wish they could have stayed with us longer to experience this weekend in Cartagena. We dropped them at the airport in mid-morning and then used the rental car to visit Alicante, which has a castle dating from the Moorish middle ages through the Catholic renaissance.

Here is Bob sitting at the highest point in the castle.

The Castille de Santa Barbara (surely the name given to it in the Catholic period) has an interesting exhibit on the pottery shards found on this site. The first item on display is an incredible assemblage of shards from the entire time the castle was in use.

While I love pottery, I can also imagine the beautiful imagery on these pots being used for a tapestry.

The info on these pieces date them to the 1st century BC, yet they are so timeless.

There was glitch to this visit to Cartagena and Alicante. While standing in line to pay my entrance fee to the Roman museum, I got pickpocketed! I had gotten out my very smal travel wallet, then put it away when my friends paid my entrance fee. The pickpocket probably saw where I returned it to the tote bag I was carrying, and I have to admit that I was not hugging the tote to my body as I should have done. Also, there was a cruise ship in port, which always brings out the skilled thieves. Within an hour there were charges on the two travel credit cards I carry, and also an attempted withdrawal on my debit card. The banks involved caught all the attempts right away and closed my accounts. While that is a burden, we are thankful that Bob has one credit card that was not affected, and I still have one card that does not have currency exchange exemptions. We’ll be fine for the next month on our continued travels.

I returned to the Roman museum yesterday to buy a silk screened silk scarf that I would have bought if not for the pickpocket situation. It is designed and silk screened by an artist named Ron Torres. I have not yet found him online, but I will. Here is the unboxing…forigve me, but I was so smitten by the scarf and the presentation.

Wasn’t I lucky to get to visit these two cities with such long histories? There are signs throughout the center of Cartagena noting its 3000 year history. I am thrilled to be here, especially since I thought our sailing plans would make me miss it. That’s one thing no one can predict about traveling by sail, and it worked out very well for me on this adventure.

How Hard Can It Be to Make Lemonade?

April 10, 2026 | 2 Comments

As of the end of this weekend, we will have been in Almerimar for three weeks! How did that happen? We planned to take 10 days to check repairs on Pandora and do some maintenance, like putting on the sails, checking the systems, etc. But the work that should have been over the fall/winter was mostly not done. Some of the work was not done well and had to be re-done. It hasn’t exactly been a nightmare, but as charming as Almerimar is, I’d love to move on.

We had plans to be in Cartagena by early April. Now I won’t see it all. I will miss seeing the Roman amphitheater and forum, along with the museum. I will miss seeing the local fine crafts—weaving, basketry, and pottery. A good friend was hoping to see fabrics that I might get for her. None of it happening. It’s a big disappointment for me.

And I haven’t mentioned the wind! Egads! It started yesterday, and on top of being fierce, yanking us all over in our slip, it is deafening. One of lines on the boat next to us has chafed our brand new paint job on our port stern quarter. The wind is screaming through the rigging on all the boats, and boat halyards are banging constantly. I am someone who comes unglued with too much noise, and boy! This is too much. It’s a bit quieter today, but I need a break from it.

Yesterday evening Bob began looking into what we might do for a few days while we wait for our new roller furler for the jib to arrive from Denmark. Tracking says it will arrive on Tuesday, so Bob and the rigger will spend all day Wednesday installing it and putting the sail back on. On Friday I fly to Rome to meet three weaving friends to travel together to Perugia to take a week long workshop on weaving on manual jacquard looms. My flight is from Alicante, and because of delays on Pandora, we can’t get there by boat in time for my flight, so we will be renting a car then as well as now.

But…lemonade! Bob noticed that Granada, which is closer to us than Cartagena or Alicante, has some very interesting textile possibilities. Finding a place to stay and a car to rent has been Herculean, and it’s not done yet. So perhaps writing about it now could be highly jinx-able. We have a room booked in the historic part of Granada, but no car yet for getting there! And of course we cannot get a car here in Almerimar on such short notice, so we will need to take a 2-hour bus ride to the airport in Almeria to get a car. We’ll spend the day in Almeria, so that will hopefully make up for the long bus ride.

The history of silk weaving in the area around Granada is fascinating. The Arabs brought these skills and materials with them when they overtook the area in the 8th c. They planted mulberry trees in the area and brought with them horizontal looms (like today’s floor looms) for producing silk fabric on a large scale. Granada became part of the Silk Road. The outlying area has a number of workshops known for tapestry, rug weaving, and finer textiles. I’m a little worried that what I’ve seen online looks a bit touristy, but it will be a much needed change of venue.

And this will fill the bill nicely. It’s the Casa del Aljarife, where we will stay from Sunday to Tuesday, and will certainly enjoy this terrace view of the Moorish castle

And here is the entrace to the current ‘silk market’ in Granada.

We will spend tomorrow in Almeria where I hope to find a knitting store so I can buy a crochet hook, which I forgot to bring, in order to start my next knitting project with a provisional cast on. It seems like I should be able to do a chain stitch with a knitting needle, especially since you can do it with nothing but your fingers (just too large a scale for what I need). I plan to look into that! But this shop should make a very nice distraction for me whether I need a crochet hook or not!

Puntexsa yarn shop in Granada–just one of numerous yarn possibilities in Granada

So the weekend should hold some interesting opportunities for me, not to mention a much needed change of scenery. Lemonade is now made, thanks to Bob who is very good at lemonade.

A Day of Textiles and Materials in the Açores

July 7, 2025 | 1 Comment

Late last week we sailed to São Jorge. It was a short sail, only 20 nm, but I did not do well. It’s been a long time since I’ve sailed anywhere and clearly I’ve lost my ‘sea legs.’ In another day or two we will sail to São Miguel, and that will be 150 nm, and will take about 20 hours. I am not looking forward to that. What I’d like to do is take something that would keep me asleep for the entire trip. Wishful thinking.

In Horta there was a fabric/knitting/embroidery shop called Retrosaria where I bought some cotton yarn for a vest pattern I got from Bare Naked Wools. After making a small knitted sample I realized that pattern really needs the softness and slight halo of wool. Oh well. The shop was small and did not have any fabrics that tempted me, but oh! The yarns! I’ve now learned that the Portuguese yarn company, Rosarios, sources all their wool and processes it all in Portugal. The wools are from Portuguese merino sheep and a few other breeds, all raised in Portugal. The combing, spinning, and dyeing is also done in Portugal, using eco-friendly processes. I think I bought a color card for this yarn about a decade ago in a little yarn shop in Coimbra. I regretted not buying any yarn that day. Now I will rectify that mistake!

Here is a quote from the Rosarios website: We like to create value, which is why we look to nature as an example and inspiration, and we focus on natural or naturally-derived fibers as a path towards greater sustainability. We like to create yarns because we believe that knitting, crochet and embroidery makes people happier. And we have been doing what we love since 1979. You can read about their history here.

The wall of sewing and embroidery threads!

I wanted to buy wool to make a vest pattern by Bare Naked Wools called Black Oak Vest. Sadly, Retrosaria did not have enough of any of the wool colors I liked. I could have made it in black or in a medium mauve, but these are not colors that excite me-or look good on me. I bought a medium gray cotton. After making a test swatch of the lace pattern I decided that this pattern needs wool yarn. The cotton was the right gauge, but it didn’t look the way I wanted it to look. All in all, I was sad not to get some Portuguese wool.

There are numberous Rosarios shops throughout the Açores, and I passed one yesterday on our drive around São Jorge. It was a weaving shop that also sold yarn. They are only open Monday-Friday, and yesterday was Saturday. There were woven items on display as well as several looms with works in progress. The reflections on the glass kept me from getting any photos of the temptations inside. There are several Rosarios shops on the island of São Miguel, so I know I’ll have another chance to buy some Portuguese wool to make that vest!

As luck would have it, I did meet a weaver yesterday! Her family has a coffee plantation in Faja dos Nimes (faja, pronounced ‘fazhah, is Portuguese for a flattened area that was created by lava flow. São Jorge is known for these volcanic flattened areas), and they have a small coffee plantation where they get about 400 kilos per year. They roast the beans and serve coffee at their Cafe Nunes (pronounced Nooneesh. They take visitors to see their coffee plants, right behind their house in terraced gardens. It’s small but they have the distinction of having the only coffee plantation in the Açores, and possibly in Europe (this may be old information now).

When we arrived I feared the only way up to the cafe was through this garden, climbing two ladders! It was a bit daunting. But down the street a short way was a driveway up to the cafe. Whew! The cafe was on the ground floor, and the weaving studio “De Artesanato” was upstairs. To the left, mostly outside the photo, is the family home. The coffee is growing behind these buildings, on terraces.

The mother of the family, about my age, is the weaver. She has a weaving studio, separate from the house and from the cafe, where she has four looms and an interesting spinning wheel. I think her name is Maria. Have you ever seen a spinning wheel like this? I could not ask Maria about it because she spoke no English. Her adult daughter who helps with the plantation and serves people in the cafe, was busy, and I know her mother relies on her to translate. Here is the wheel.

It’s not a great photo, but hopefully you can see that it is a parlor wheel, yet has a spindle rather than a bobbin. I’m guessing that you sit at the wheel and spin doing long draw, then wind on from the point, like a charka or a great wheel. She works with cotton, so maybe she spins some of it? I managed to tell her that I also spin, but I could not navigate that I spin on a different type of wheel.

Maria mostly does a type of weaving called “weft loop.” Many of you who are my age will remember bedspreads made of this type of weaving. Maria makes those bedspreads, as well as runners, in this technique. Our friend Linda, who lives on this island has bought a number of Maria’s weft loop designs. Linda has a bedspread as well as this runner.

I bought a simpler woven runner as well as this blue and white placemat. I only bought one placemat to use as a center on our table on Pandora. I hope you can see the ‘turkey track’ design between the larger blue stripes. I love it!

The weft loop runner is quite long, with the loop design at both ends of the runner. I think I will turn it into a long bolster pillow for our bed at home, which has a machine woven coverlet made at the American Textile Museum when they were still in operation. I think the runner is as wide as our bed.

This is Maria’s largest loom that requires two weavers and has two sets of treadles. The center of this project is solid wool loops with the large borders woven in plain weave. The wool loops designs are all hand manipulated since this loom has only two shafts that are counter balance.

This is a photograph of an image of Maria and the 2nd weaver using the loom together. Slow work
for sure! What I found puzzling about all of Maria’s looms is how high the warp beam sits above the shafts and the reed. I think they have to push the beater back in order to throw the weft shuttle.

During the visit to the coffee growing area behind the house, Bob got this photo of Peter (as in the current Peter of Peter’s Sport Cafe in Horta-what a surprise to see him here and to have him recognize us) and me looking at the coffee plants. Maria, the weaver is on the left in this photo. It’s the only photo we have of her.

The rest of our day included a drive to the northern most point on the island where there is a lighthouse no longer in operation as well as a whale lookout, also no longer in operation. The way the lookout worked was that a spotter stood up there watching for whales, and when he saw one he would set off a firework that could be seen from the port. I’m not sure how he indicated the location of the whale. Maybe I’ll learn that before I write the next post. Too bad this photo does not show how long and steep the path to this lookout is, and how high it is.

The drive out to the whale lookout was a long, straight dirt road that passed through corn fields and cow pastures. There were fields where the hay had been harvested, and the many bales were stacked in the fields.

On our way back to the harbor in Zelas (pronounced Zehlash), we passed the Forest Reserve which we knew was not to be missed! I’ll just post a few images of that magical place.

Tree ferns, the oldest of plants, growing with hydrangea in this forest.

There was a small chapel in this forest.

….and oddly, a large stone laundry. I have no idea how old this laundry is.

At least there is a beautiful tile depiction of how this laundry was used.

To come back to knitting with the cotton yarn I had set aside, as luck would have it I saw a tempting pattern in an email from an Australian dyer. She offers patterns to go with her locally sourced Australian yarns that she dyes. This is also a vest pattern, or a simple top to be worn on its own, designed by Elenor Mortensen. It’s called “Eowyn Tee.”

Amazingly, the yarn specified is the same gauge as my Portuguese yarn, and the same color. This was too good to be true, so I immediately cast on and am now almost ready to put the sleeve stitches on a holder and continue with the body. The top down shaping is unique and was fun to do! And didn’t I find a cute yarn holder when I bought this yarn.

We leave for São Miguel today, where I will spend a week before heading to Scotland. I know there will be yarn purchases during my time in Scotland, but I’m glad I discovered ecologically produced Portuguese yarn while I was here. There is a Rosarios shop in São Miguel, so I am not yet finished looking at yarn in the Açores.

Life and Weaving

February 25, 2025 | 1 Comment

An amazing thing happened to me on Saturday while Bob and I attended a huge party of several hundred people that was a celebration for sending off the crews of various large yachts, from mega yachts to large yachts, for the Caribbean 600 Race. That’s a race that starts and ends in Antigua, with a 600 mile course that circumnavigates a number of islands in this part of the Caribean. First of all, the music was amazing, but prevented conversation with anyone, yet I still met someone quite incredible!

Here is a short video of the steel drum band. I didn’t arrive in time to catch the beginning of one of my favorite songs from my youth—the Turtles “You and Me.”

The real excitement of the evening was that I met a woman living aboard her boat in English Harbour, where she has a Harrisville 22” folding loom onboard. When I asked how she set that up down below, she informed me that she weaves in the cockpit.

We met a couple of evenings later when we could actually talk. Her name is Helen, and she lives part of year the in Minnesota, and part of the year here in Antigua, on her boat.

Right now her loom is set up with an 10/2 Tercel warp. I’m not sure if she has decided what she’ll weave. She may have a plan by the time I see her again in a few days. Like me, she gathers her materials at home and brings them with her. Here is one of some photos she shared with me. I don’t know what she does when the tropical showers start with no warning. Her loom would definitely get wet because here doesn’t come without wind…usually lots of wind.

Sorry that the image is blurry. I couldn’t pass up using it because it’s such an incredible feat to meet a weaver while sailing, especially a weaver who manages to weave onboard. I have never attempted to bring any loom onboard except a copper pipe loom. In order to weave I put a table easel on a folding table and then set up my loom.

I have been considering table looms even though I don’t like them! Is that the voice of desperation? (yes) I was quite intrigued with Jane table looms, but wherever I might set it up I would have to stand to use it. If I bought a stand for it, or had Bob make one, it wouldn’t fit onboard. Oh, the hindrances of living in such a small space while trying to weave.

The only other weaver I’ve met who weaves aboard is Doris Florig, and we didn’t actually meet in person, just online. At the time, 2015, she was aboard her sailboat in Guatemala and had set up a large tapestry loom where her dining table is in the main saloon. I wrote about her here. Currently I believe Doris mostly weaves somewhere in the Rocky Mountains. Here is the photo of her loom she sent me back in 2015. Again, not a crystal clear photo, but impressive, yes?

So it goes to show that I should never say ‘never.’ I have spent 13 years lamenting that I have never met a weaver during our sailing adventures. I have now met Helen, in real life (IRL), who weaves on a pretty large loom on her boat. No, it’s not a large loom by weaving on land standards, but I doubt I’ll meet anyone else who has a floor loom on a mono-hull sailboat. (I refrain from saying never.) Bob would never agree to Doris’ solution, and I actually don’t blame him. I know I can’t get even the little Harrisville onboard Pandora. If you’ve got advice for me please get in touch!

Meanwhile, life goes on doesn’t it? And those of us with hurdles try to figure out how we can keep weaving.