Making Friday: Proceeding with weaving

As you can see by these ratty attempts laid out like a barn cat’s trophies, I’ve been fiddling around with weaving on little looms at home for a while now. I’ve learned a bit on my own, but after visiting the Cape Guild of Weavers’ show a couple of weeks ago, I realised it was time to up my game.

So this Saturday, I went for my first ever weaving lesson with Cape Town’s weaving doyenne, Norma Ordman – whose textile- and loom-filled house is utterly breathtaking – to make a start.

I have nothing to show for my efforts yet, but what I already have developed, just through my hack-handed attempts to learn the rudiments, is a massively enhanced appreciation of all kinds of woven textiles. The ingenuity of the machines! The hours of work! The sheer devotion of effort! My life has already been enhanced enormously, and I’ve hardly made a start.

I do hope to have something half-baked to share on this blog sometime, but in the meantime, keep an eye on the Cape Guild of Weavers instagram site to see evidence of their weavers’ extraordinary skill, and visit the Guild’s website to join up.