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I loved carpet-weaving time. It all began with a flour sack that hung in our cellar called a "rag bag". This bag contained scraps of new fabric or garments that had out lived their usefulness. As the bag's contents increased, I would be assigned the task of cutting the fabric into strips. The strips were pieced together on the sewing machine and rolled into large colorful balls. Two full sacks of balls indicated the time had come to begin a family tradition. My Mom, several of her sisters and I would go to Gram's to begin the process. My grandmother was a small Austrian woman, who spoke very little English. One of her many talents was weaving carpets. She wrote on a piece of paper, how many threads of each color were required to create her pattern. Once the quantity of thread had been determined, the purchase was made. Spool after spool of colored warp would come tumbling out of shopping bags. I was always amazed at the process, which took the warp from these spools to the loom. It seemed you could get lost in a sea of thread and never find your way out. The spools were lined up on a 2x4 into which dowels had been inserted. Gram carefully aligned the threads in her hand to form a hank. The hank was then secured to one end of a huge spindle. She guided the hank, while my aunt turned the spindle. The number of revolutions determined the yardage. All the spools began to spin. If one stopped spinning, the spindle had to be stopped. The broken thread was then sought out of the hank and re-tied. As the spools began to empty, it was time to remove the hank from the spindle. Gram would gently begin to loop the hank into a chain. The chain was placed in a waiting clothesbasket. The removed warp, looked like a large beautiful colored braid as it lay in the basket. We were now ready to begin putting the warp on the loom. The loom, itself, was a huge structure that filled a corner of Gram's basement. It consisted of two huge rollers, one in the front on which the finished carpet was rolled and one in the back on which the warp was wound.. These were held taut by two ratchet wheels. The warp, attached to a large dowel, was tied to a heavy piece of canvas affixed to the back roller. Very slowly, one of my aunts would begin to turn the roller. Long flat sticks were placed periodically under the threads. The sticks kept the warp in even layers. When the whole braid had been transferred to the roller, it was time to pass the threads through the harnesses. The harnesses, attached to two pedals, caused the warp to reverse when depressed. Following her pattern, Gram would ask for the appropriate colors. To strengthen the carpet, two threads would go through the first five or six openings. Over 350 threads were fed through the harnesses. These threads were now passed through the reed. The reeds banged up against the strips of fabric making a tight weave. The spaces in the reed were about 1/16th of an inch. Into each of these openings, I inserted a table knife, blunt side up. Over this blade, Gram looped the thread. I would then draw it back through the opening. If I skipped an opening it would create a flaw in the finished carpet. Finally, the warp was tied to another dowel, which in turn, was tied to another piece of canvas affixed to the front roller. Both ratchet wheels were tightened. The loom was now ready to begin the weaving process. My Mom, my grandmother, and all my aunts would take turns weaving their balls of strips into new carpet to grace everyone's home. The balls of strips were wound on to wooden shuttles, which were fed through the gaping threads. The shuttle flew, the reed banged, the treadles reversed and new carpet began to appear. As the new carpet yardage grew, the warp roller had to be loosened; the carpet roller tightened, and sticks dropped from between the layers of warp. The banter and laughter between my Mom, her mother, and sisters during these sessions made the hours fly. I was always a little sad to see the last stick fall. The sight of canvas coming off the roller signaled the end of a family tradition. My uncles dismantled and stored the loom. When "rag bags" were full again, the huge structure would take its' place once more in the corner of Gram's cellar. |
