Dressing a Loom with Cait Throop – Barefoot Weaver
By Mary G. Holland
January 4, 201
Cait Throop, (pronounced “Troop”) of Potsdam, New York (USA) is an accomplished hand weaver, operating under the business name Barefoot Weaver. She uses a variety of yarns and ribbons, and sometimes dyes her own yarns.
If you get a chance to see hand weavers in action, usually what you see is them throwing the shuttle back and forth as they weave in the weft (sideways threads.) Rarely do you see how they “dress” a loom. This is where a weaver threads the warp (lengthwise yarns) onto the loom. I always wondered how weavers get the long thread wound neatly on the rollers, each thread sitting side by side, without it ending up in a pile of tangles.
Years ago Cait learned as many ways to dress a loom as she could find, from different experienced weavers. She eventually settled in on her present favorite method that uses “lease sticks” and a “rattle” to neatly separate the bundled long threads, as she wraps the warp onto the loom.
I met Cait some years ago through the St. Lawrence County Arts Council. New York State’s North Country is a large but sparsely populated tri-county region, so you get to know lots of folks if you live here long. We became friends after we kept meeting up at fine craft fairs, events, etc. Cait’s generous, warm and open, and has helped me over the phone when I was just learning to dye yarn and fabric, and ran into problems.
Weaving is one of those skills I’ve always admired, but never seriously tried. It’s a whole different skill set than sewing. As you can see on her past Etsy sales, Cait’s color and texture in her weaving is warm, playful, and sometimes quite striking. In the past she’s woven scarves, wraps, and even garments. Lately some of her most popular products are cotton towels.
Recently I visited Cait in her loving home environment, and had an opportunity to watch and record this fascinating process.
Making this video was so much fun I may continue doing these interviews with other accomplished artisans, musicians, and “North Country Living Treasures.” Stay tuned or join my mailing list for updates on new posts.
Please sit back and enjoy this 26 minute video, or bookmark it and come back. If you like it, there’s a place below where you can “Like”, add comments, or feel free to share it on Facebook or other social media.
