Weaver prepares for annual fall celebration

Keith Bryant/The Weekly Vista A trio of blankets Margaret Taylor has made.
Keith Bryant/The Weekly Vista A trio of blankets Margaret Taylor has made.

Margaret Taylor knows what she's doing with her manually-actuated wooden loom, which is unsurprising considering she's been weaving with it for 35 years.

Taylor said she had a master's degree in education when she went to Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia to learn to weave. Weaving allowed her to work from home, make a living and still care for her children.

And decades later she's still at it. Today, she said, she can work and still enjoy a movie.

She's been building up a bit of a supply, she said, and getting everything else ready to sell her blankets, shawls and scarves at this fall's Bella Vista Arts and Crafts Festival.

"If someone wanted a blanket, they could go to a store," she said. "But my stuff stands apart. The soft things are worth having if you want something nice."

The quality in her woven goods, she said, comes largely from the soft, natural fibers she uses -- including angora, alpaca, mohair and cashmere. It's important to note, she said, that nothing she uses is killed for its fur, all the animals in question are sheared.

The loom her blankets and shawls are woven on is entirely human powered. Foot pedals operate the mechanical portions of it, while her hands work to line up the fibers.

"It's not mechanical, it's all me," she said.

The loom cost around $3,500, she said, but with 35 years of use on it, that was money well spent.

Her loom is very large, roughly the size of a desk, to accommodate blankets and other large products, she said. But many people start with smaller looms to weave things like shawls, which can give someone a taste of weaving with a smaller investment.

"There are lots of different kinds of weaving," she said. "I do texture and color."

While other weavers may focus on patterns and designs, she said, she focuses almost entirely on creating a pleasant texture.

The actual process is somewhat complex, she said, but the end result can be rewarding.

"It requires basic math," Taylor said. "That's why I went to college for it. You can learn it from a guild, but this way I could just immerse myself in it."

The pursuit of weaving may seem a little unconventional, but for Taylor, it's a passion.

"It just appeals to me," she said. "You're either totally bored with it or you love it."

General News on 10/12/2016