Last weekend, I had the wonderful experience of teaching Western Sakiori Scarf at The Mannings for the first time. After having been a student in many of Tom Knisely’s classes over the years, it was a thrill and a challenge to be sitting in his chair this time! However, after having taught Tai Chi 4 Weavers at The Mannings several times, I was confident that it would be a great experience. Between the knowledgeable and helpful staff and the enthusiasm and inquisitiveness of my students, it definitely was!
Some sakiori students hard at work.
I was fortunate to have a lot of diversity in my class, both in terms of weaving experience and background. It was really interesting to hear everyone’s stories about what led them to sakiori, from a love of Japanese culture to a desire to be self-sufficient in clothing and outfitting a household and farm. And, as the weekend progressed and they began to see the possibilities in what they were doing, they began making plans to continue with sakiori after the workshop was over.
The first day everyone got their rags prepared and started weaving:
We had one very fast weaver who even finished a scarf length that evening! On Sunday everyone arrived ready to continue weaving, and by the end of the day nearly everyone had a scarf length, an impressive accomplishment for such a slow and painstaking craft.
It is impossible to teach anyone without learning something new–which is a sufficient reason to teach even if it wasn’t rewarding in other ways. I learned a lot from my students last weekend. For example, I thought I disliked animal-printed fabric:
See the cheetah print on the right?
Look at it now–subtle and beautiful!
Here are the finished objects (and some newly-minted sakiori weavers):
Mitchell with her two (!) scarves.
Mike, Mitchell’s husband, with his two scarves. What an industrious pair–but no wonder, they’re farmers!
Susan’s (left), and Rebecca’s (right) finished pieces. Susan liked to leave some bits of cloth hanging and some knots lying above the weaving for textural interest. Rebecca started with one color scheme but then started adding some green stripes for color interest.
Nancy managed to elude my camera at the end of the weekend (how did that happen, Nancy?), but here is her work in progress. She began with a very symmetrical striping pattern, but after the first day she gave up keeping track and just wove. The end result, with the asymmetrical patterning and occasional fuchsia band, was just beautiful.
I want to say thank you to my students for a truly excellent weekend, full of fun, curiosity, insights and all the excitement that comes from being around others who share my passion. I hope we meet again!