Meet Yarnworker

Why Yarnworker?

Did you ever was up one day and say, he, I’m going to start __________ (fill in the blank). I wrote in Yarnworker. For years, I watched my knitting, crocheting, and seeing friend, colleagues, and heroes self-publish patterns and thought, one day.

Weaving has a long tradition of self-publising, along with supportive distribution systems. I think of the great Mary Meigs Atwater or the incomparable Russell Groff.  They both self-published their own work and the work of others. Perhaps more importantly, they provided a distribution network for others to get their work into the hands of weavers that wanted it.  Unicorn Books & Crafts carries on this tradition.

The internet both disrupted traditional channels and gives us a new way to publish. At Yarnwoker, I want there to be more options for those of us that weave on the rigid-heddle loom—we who are a niche, within a niche.

I love this loom. I love that it allows me to use almost any yarn I want.  I love that it allows me to be social and move about the house. I love that it is quick and easy to set up. I love the intimacy of scale, that likens to other handwork such as stitching and knitting.

I want to share the ingenious ways you can make cloth with this wonderful little loom, and we want to help you be a better weaver.  Yarnworker patterns are not just about making something cool, they are about deepening your knowledge about how good cloth is made.

Who Puts the Work in Yarnworker?

At first it was just me, then I talked my friend Janet into doing some tech editing. Then my friend Deborah and I were working on her Craftsy class together, and we thought it might be fun to work together more.  Then I talked my friend Liz Mrofka into designing a template, followed by tapping budding rigid-heddle weaver, Nancy, to do the copy editing. Pretty soon we had a happy little band of sisters. Soon, there will be a few more.

This is an adventure. Who knows where it will lead, but it sounds like fun. I look forward to hearing more from the rigid-heddle weaving community about what you need to weave the cloth of their dreams.

That’s the beginning of Yarnworker’s story.  We hope you will be part of it.

Liz

Liz Gipson
Chief Bottlewasher and Cheerleader