My Thirty Year Old Napkins

I wove these napkins thirty years ago. I was living in a second floor apartment and my neighbors used to complain about the sounds of the loom. We agreed that I would not weave too early or too late. I would time it so I wove until the last possible moment and tried to leave things so I could at least add the hemstitches after I was supposed to have stopped.

But it did put a damper on those, “oh just one more napkin and then I’ll go to sleep” moments, or waking up early in the morning because I couldn’t think about anything else and going straight to the looms, coffee can wait.

I didn’t think much of them at the time. They were nice enough, but meant more to me as a step in a learning curve than as napkins to actually use.

And here they are, 30 years later. I am an accomplished weaver and have built my life around my obsession with woven cloth. These napkins have traveled from apartment to apartment, then from house to house. They have been used at family gatherings large and small, to wipe both my new new born baby’s mouth, and my dying father’s mouth, and to cry into during these times of grief. They have been the center of plenty of arguments with my (now ex) husband about what cloths were appropriate and inappropriate to wipe spills off of the floor.

They have been washed and dried hundreds of times and just seem to keep getting better. The loom that felt old when I wove them, is now thirty years older.

The four shaft napkins in our first club box are designed from this first set of napkins, and I release these kits with all of the memories of so many meals, so many people, and so much love.

To read more about the eight shaft and rigid heddle napkins go here.

To see all of the napkins and colors in the reveal click here.