Archive for August 2008
Natural Dye Retreat Samples and Weaving Class Begins
Our Natural Dye Retreat participants left Window Rock today and we put together a look at the samples that we dyed yesterday. The retreat is a time to reflect on knowledge that is slipping away today and to appreciate the bounty of the Navajo homeland. Today was also the beginning of the first August session…
Read MoreNatural Dyes Navajo Style
Today, we collected the plants that we’ll use in a few hours to dye wool. We met with Rose Dedman and then went to the Defiance Plateau to collect sage, rabbitbrush, cliffrose and ground lichen. Then we headed out to Navajo, NM to collect Navajo tea, which can be used as an herbal tea as…
Read MoreSpinning and Dyeing in the Shade House
Today, we concluded our advanced weaving seminar, which has been newly dubbed Camp Weave-A-Lot, and we started our Natural Dye Retreat. We met at Burnham’s Trading Post in Sanders, AZ and got a look at some of the vegetally dyed colors that Marie Begay is able to achieve. We were also treated to a weaving…
Read MoreA Visit from Gilbert Begay
WIndow Rock, AZ Master weaver Gilbert Begay stopped by to say hello today and we spent some time talking about the yarns used in weaving in this area. At least 95% of the rugs woven today are made with commercially spun yarns. About 80% of those are done with Brown Sheep Top of the Lamb…
Read MoreA Weaving Completed, A Weaving Begun
One of the participants in our seminar completed her first rug today. Barbara Spelman is an accomplished fiber artist and a partner in Crone Craft Studios in Tucson, Arizona, which makes her a busy person. Once a year, Barbara comes to Window Rock to study Navajo techniques and has applied many of them to her…
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