We are
dedicated to the art of weaving as practiced
by the Navajo people of what is now the Southwestern United
States.
This is also the home of the Weaving in
Beauty Textile Tour and we hope
you enjoy your visit. | Also visit with non Navajo weavers who use Navajo techniques | |
| Weaving News: | ||||||
| First Annual Natural Dye
Retreat A Success Ft. Defiance, AZ A group of six fiber enthusiasts joined Rose Dedman for four fun-filled days of work with natural dyes on August 18-21. The group met at R. B. Burnham Trading Company in Sanders, AZ. Traders Bruce and Virginia Burnham have been instrumental in a revival of vegetal dyed yarns and they carry a dazzling array of vegetally dyed yarns at their trading post. Our group bought armloads of natural colors (off white, grays and tans) to dye. This has been a relatively wet year on Diné Bikeyah (the Navajo homeland), and there was a bounty of plants to be harvested for natural dyes. Rose chose cliff rose, sage, chamizo, rabbitbrush, ground lichen, navajo tea and wild carrot. We set off to collect the plants under Rose's direction on Friday morning, and by early afternoon we had everything but the wild carrot harvested and ready for the dyepots. After lunch at the Window Rock swap meet, we took off in search of the wild carrot, which is a form of dock root, a member of the Rumex plant family. Dock root is found in sandy areas on the reservation, and is best harvested after the leaves of the plant have died back, but that means that you really have to know what you are looking for in order to find them. Rose could remember her mother harvesting the roots on the road to Crownpoint, NM (Navajo Route 9), so that was the area we chose to search. We couldn't spot any dock plants from the car, and inquiries of local residents brought a response of "Hola", which means "I don't know", and implies "and I couldn't care less", but Rose spotted a likely looking area, shinnied under a barbed wire fence and announced "There are some here". All we could see was a dark stain on the ground, but we squeezed under the fence and started digging. The roots are found about a foot below the surface, and can be used in either fresh or dried form, and after about an hour of digging, we had enough "carrots" for the next day's dye session. Sandi Van Winkle is holding a great specimen that we found in the picture at right. We were almost in Crownpoint, and there was a rug auction that night (was this a coincidence?). Rose had never been to the auction, and we had a great time there, with several rugs making their way back to Window Rock in the possession of our group. On Saturday morning, we met at Rose's home for the actual wool dyeing. Rose's family already had the pots filled with water, and we got the fire going after a little lesson in wood splitting from Rose's husband Henry. Mary Weinzirl of Tucson deserves most of the credit for her axe handling abilities. Most of the plants could go into the dyepot as they were, or with some cutting up, but the wild carrot had to be smashed with hammers before going into the water. This exposes the tannin rich plant interior and helps to release the dyestuff. Navajo dyeing techniques don't use any copper or iron metals for mordants. A naturally occuring alum may be used (or alum may be purchased at the grocery store) and a certain amount of color development occurs depending on what type of pot is used. We were thrilled with the colors that we achieved, and are planning more natural dye adventures for next summer! A big thank you to Rose Dedman and her family for all their support for this adventure.
 The finished yarn is set out to dry. (photo by Mary Walker)
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 Sandi Van Winkle (l) and Rose Dedman (r) gather cliff rose between Sawmill and Ft. Defiance, AZ. (photo by Mary Walker)
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Weaving in Beauty Class News Tempe, AZ The May, 2006 session of the Weaving in Beauty class and tour is full. If you would like to be on the wait list for the class, please drop us a line and we'll let you know if an opening occurs. There are still eight openings for the October class. Thanks to all of the students who have allowed us to grow our classes! We love doing them, and as you'll see below, we are expanding in a big way. Speaking of class growth, we will soon be offering monthly classes in Window Rock, AZ. We intend to start on January 21 with two three hour sessions, 9 AM to 12 PM and 1 PM to 4 PM at the Quality Inn Navajo Nation Capital (formerly Navajo Nation Inn).. Class fee will be $25 per session. Looms, tools and wool will be available for purchase. No weaving experience is necessary and the classes are open to anyone, but please let us know if you will be attending. . |
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New at Weaving in Beauty Tempe, AZ If you've been familiar with our site, you've seen that we've been growing in our class offerings and activities. In the past few months, we have moved the site to a new hosting service (which was pretty painless), and soon we'll be able to offer a fully stocked Navajo weaving supply store online. As we do that, the commercial aspects of the site will move to a separate home. We've also found a solution for those who would like a t-shirt, calendar or totebag that reflects their weaving passion. At http://www.cafepress.com/weavinginbeauty, you'll see our current designs. CafePress offers a 30 day money back guarantee, and we have been pleased with the quality of the items the we have ordered. That's right; we're our own best customer. Please let us know what you think if you order something! Our website move has also given the website a new email address: webmaster@weavinginbeauty.com. You'll also find other email links that allow you direct the mail based on your purpose for writing. We usually answer emails the same day we receive them. |
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Last modified 11/27/05
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