Weaving in Beauty

Our weaving class is winding down this evening.  Two of the students, Diane Woods and Vickie Norrid, had to leave this afternoon and the rest of us are packing projects and thinking about leaving Window Rock tomorrow.  We ended the week by going to the Gallup Flea Market, an incredible venue for regional arts, crafts, and food.  Many of the students worked all day on their weaving here in Window Rock.

Loom builder Mark Deschinny stopped by and delivered looms for two of the students.  We immediately transferred Tammy Denhard’s warps to her new loom and got a picture of her with it, as you’ll see below.  Mark’s looms feature a built-in warping board and can hold two warps.  The feet detach and can be attached to the loom body for flat transportation or storage.

Tammy Denhard with her new Mark Deschinny Yazhi loom.

One of our participants, Bob Rosen, completed his rug this evening, which is a phenomenal feat for a person without prior weaving experience.  Bob had a plan for completion of his piece, and stuck to a schedule and to a simple design, all factors which helped to ensure success.  You can see Bob with instructor Jennie Slick and the completed rug in the picture below.

Bob Rosen and instructor Jennie Slick with Bob's completed rug. What a great job!

I’ll close tonight with a group picture of our class at the Window Rock.  We have had wonderful weather and a wonderful time for weaving here in the Navajo homeland and we’ve experienced generous support and encouragement from the Navajo community.  Ahé’hee (thank you from the bottom of our hearts).

Standing from left, Marsha Herr, Diane Woods, Arlene Anderson, Jennifer Thistel, Bob Rosen, Jennie Slick, Tammy Denhard. Seated from left are Laurie Rosen and Vickie Norrid.