Navajo looms

I love the way the Navajo people approach weaving, the working of the wool, and a big part of their method of this beautiful craft is the tools they use, the way they learn to weave, the story behind the art of the weave and personal spirituality around the craft and the weaver itself.

It really is beautiful.

As legend goes once, during the month of October, black spiders came out of their dens and covered the ground before going into the world below.

The loom was built by spider man for spider woman with the cross poles made of sky and earth cords, warp sticks made of sun rays, a sun halo forming the batten and the comb made of white shell.

There were four spindles representing the four directions: North-stick zigzag lightening with a whorl of jade; South-flash lightning with a whorl of turquoise; West-sheet lightning with an abalone whorl; and East-a rain streamer with a whorl of white shell.

Before the weaver touched her spindle she uttered a prayer and offered a sacrifice of precious stone, eagle feather and or corn pollen so she could have good luck while weaving.

The Navajo weave on vertical looms. The weaver sits at the base on a pile of soft sheepskins. The tapestry and intricate patterns rises before the weaver.

This is the loom my husband and I constructed using various books and other resources on Navajo weaving. We also constructed small looms to use in classroom workshops.

There will also be Navajo weaving/demonstrations at the Fiber Fest.

My completed Navajo loom