Navajo Indian weaving is actually a very fine art. The people of Navajo learned how to weave from their neighbors who were the Pueblo Indians, with some help from those who are not Indians as well. Without the help of those who were part of this discovery, this great art may not have been known as the great art it is known for today.
The teachers
According to the natives of Navajo, a deity they revered as the Spider Woman was the one responsible for teaching them how to weave. Moreover, they said that the first loom in their area was from the sky and that the tools used for the weaving process were crystal, sunlight, shells, and lightning. Actually, the truth was that the Pueblo Indians were the ones who taught the Navajo natives how to weave.
Cultivation of cotton
The Pueblo natives who lived in the Northern part of New Mexico were starting to cultivate even more cotton in 1300 AD after they realized that cotton was best for weaving. They skillfully practiced fingerweaving and even learned how to properly use the back strap loom which even originated from the tribes of Mexican India.
Weaving
Back then, weaving was regarded as one of man’s common activities in most pueblos. They proceeded with the weaving processes in the kiva, which is a ceremonial room. Actually, this ceremonial room is merely a cramped space that further inspired the invention of the upright loom.
From cotton to wool
When the Spaniards arrived with their Churro sheep back in the sixteenth century made them decide to use wool as their weaving material instead of the usual cotton. The Pueblo Indians were one of the first ones to ever start weaving wool instead of cotton. In only a short time, the natives of Navajo learned this from their neighbors and started to practice this new method of weaving as well.
The Pueblo rebellion
There was a rebellion back in 1680, and it intensely had great influences on how the local Indians lived their lives. However, weaving still continued to evolve with a lot more designs.
It was around this time that the plain tapestry technique started to be quite famous. Other patterns that were popularly used were diagonal twills, herringbone, and diamond. With wool, seamstresses could now come up with shoulder blankets, dresses, shirts, belts, door hangings, saddle blankets, hair ties, blankets, and kilts.
From men to women
When weaving was first practiced, many looked at it like it was a man’s work. In fact, back then, the men were the ones who could be found weaving. Now, however, weaving is something a woman does.
Lazy lines
Moreover, the women of Navajo even discovered a certain “pause” in their techniques which somehow came up with what they referred to as “lazy lines”. These lazy lines are merely diagonal lines that are made across the horizontal wefts.
After some time, a lot of weavers were already doing this particular add-on to their certain technique in order to produce terraced lines and some other design elements. With the lazy lines, more colors can also be used.
Having a lot of sheep = advantage
Many of those who have a lot of sheep as their livestock just recently found out that there is more than one benefit from having a single one. There are a lot of things that people can earn from with sheep. For instance, they only have to harvest the wool from the sheep’s body and then use it to knit scarves by spinning it. These scarves are usually used during winter.
Is it difficult?
People have oftentimes wondered if the ancient people who manually did some spinning, weaving and sewing found it difficult. They had to spin the clothes they had to wear by themselves from cotton, flax or wool.
At present, people do not have to spin or weave fabric just so they could have something to wear. They probably cannot even imagine having to knit their clothes or their socks from cotton and spin it into threads.
People have the freedom to decide if they want to learn how to spin yarns and knit them for beautiful scarves or sweaters that are made of wool. They do not have to spin or weave the clothes they put on their bodies, but they could have the luxury to learn how to spin or weave for fun.
Wool directly from sheep
If the wool comes directly from the sheep, they will have to wash the fleece first before anything else. Afterwards, the fleece should be checked for some short guard hairs because any fiber that is shorter than one inch will not look good after being spun. Thus, the best way is to remove these short and useless fibers and discard of them completely.
Getting started
Once the wool has been collected, they have to be placed into the electric carders, if electric carding machinery is convenient. Without an electric carder, only small clumps of wool should be used. Place the tiny clumps on the center of a paddle, making sure that the paddle’s hands are not pointing towards each other, and then brush the wool.
Once all knots have already been worked out, just peel out the wool that has already been carded so that the bristles are removed. After this is done, roll the whole thing like a sausage and it is now ready for the spinning process.
Time to spin
For those who have always dreamed of having their very own spinning wheels like in famous fairy tales they have to save hundreds of dollars. In order to save, they can always just buy some affordable drop spindles that can be found in most fiber sellers.
Also, a homemade drop spindle can also be used with the help of two old compact discs and a piece of a half inch dowel rod that measures around twelve inches. Leave just an inch and one half on one of the ends and place a screw-in hook at the shorter end of the rod. When this is done, the drop spindle is made.
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