The Ozarks Chronicle/The Ozarks Home & Garden

There must be an unwritten law someplace that where two or more women are gathered, creativity shall flow. Such was the case at Uniquely Yours, on Highway 72 in Rolla at the monthly gathering of the Little Piney Handweavers. They epitomized the phrase “from chaos comes creation.” It began with a kaleidoscope of twelve women, one 9 year-old girl, and a long table piled high with colorful fibers, and ended with a bounty of felted balls which can be used to hold knitting needles, or simply arranged in a basket for display. Last month they wove newspaper into baskets. Next month they’ll do straw weaving, with drinking straws and yarn or cording. “You can weave any material,” says Barb Johnson, who assigns monthly projects. “I like this group because there are no structures. We learn from each other. For me, weaving feeds the soul.”

Founding member Lynn Grannemann prefers to create artistic tapestries. For one framed piece she painted the warp (lengthwise strips) on the loom with fabric dye; for another, she etched a picture onto woven cloth using a press. She has also created a tapestry of birds in which none of the warp shows, just the weft (crosswise strips). Lynn says the group started in 1977 when a new acquaintance who had recently lost her husband needed something to help her get by. They originally met in people’s homes, but for the last five years or so they’ve been coming to Uniquely Yours, a fabric/yarn shop, on the third Wednesday of each month from 9:30 to 11:30.

Weaving has been around as long as humans. Some believe it originated 35,000 years ago, and satisfied two essential needs – shelter and clothing. Spindle whorls have been unearthed in Europe from 20,000 years ago where cotton and flax were spun before wool. People weaved with hemp, raffia, leaf fibers, strips of fur, sinew and even human hair. Spun linen dates back to 2,000 B.C. and cotton yarns from India to 3,500 B.C.

The earliest forms of weaving involved covering branches with animal skins, and then interweaving smaller branches and grasses to erect freestanding structures. Wattling/twining was used for linking rushes to snare fish. Plaiting was a precursor of the primitive harness loom of the American Indian, who later began trading designs among tribes. Plains Indians made bags and pouches from cornhusks, stems of rushes, fibers from trees, and buffalo yarn.

American settlers brought with them a tradition of home weaving from Europe. Also, traveling weavers, called “journeymen”, not only supplied colonists with goods, but also spent days in their homes weaving whatever they needed, i.e. clothing and blankets.

The Little Piney Handweavers are as diverse a group as they come. Lynn Saults loves working with fiber. “It’s an addiction. I need a 12-step program. Sometimes I think I could weave my dog.” She’s weaving a cropped sweater for grandbaby from angora rabbits she raises, and has also made purses with Nepalese handspun fiber and beads. This was Mary’s first meeting, and Sue doesn’t weave. “I just come for all the people.” Bonnie, from Waynesville, raises llamas and uses the fibers in her weaving. Sidonie, who moved from Florida two years ago, has her own studio, and is raising Merino sheep from Australia/New Zealand for future weaving. She’s also setting up a consignment website where folks can advertise their creations for sale. Her daughter, Kendra, has already made felted beads for a necklace.

And then there’s Louise, 95 years young, a native of Kansas - “I’m an old Jayhawker,”- who has woven necklaces out of braided leather, and made a colorful vest using strips of fabric and embroidery thread. USGS brought her to Rolla where her husband did maps in the field in 1947 for a whopping $125 a month. Kathy Primm attended the group 23 years ago, and has recently rejoined. “Weaving is not my thing. I just like to make stuff,” like the wool material for her husband’s vest. She has also been knitting sweaters for thirty years.

Donna’s been coming here forever. As a young military wife, her love affair with weaving began in Hawaii with lahala leaves. She makes baskets, placemats and chenille rugs, as well as shawls and ponchos, and sells her items at craft fairs. She describes weaving as “my get away from everybody time.” She learned how to work her first loom from a 70 year-old male weaver. Now her husband helps her load the loom, which usually takes two days. She is a member of the Marshfield Guild and a Basket Guild in Springfield.

Cathy, another military wife, utilizes overshot weaving to make coverlets. She also makes towels, placemats and transparencies to hang in windows. Her first experience was in college, in a clothing/textiles class. Many years later she discovered that her great aunt in Nebraska once weaved, and now she uses that loom. “The group is important for inspiration and support.” Cathy mostly weaves for pleasure and gift giving.

Barb Johnson makes everything there is to make, sells at craft fairs, and teaches as well. Every April you’ll find her at the Shannondale Craft Camp, where forty-seven weekend classes are offered at Timber Lodge. Also, in late summer the Christianson Native Craft Workshop takes place there. For more information on these events, call Barb at 573-435-6455, or check out the website at www.shannondalecraftcamp.com.

The Little Piney Handweavers comprise a deep well of talent and comradery. They may come together to weave a project, but in the end, they weave themselves.