This comprehensive "natural history" of a traditional art form honors more than a hundred contemporary Finnish American rag rug weavers and loom builders, whom the author has met and interviewed during more than two decades of research, mostly in Michigan's western Upper Peninsula. As in the classic Finnish American rag rug, Lockwood weaves a colorful yet subdued, artfully lasting, and deeply symbolic tribute that reclaims remnants of past Michigan Traditional Arts Program productions in a fresh composition that will appeal to rag rug artisans, Finns and Finnish Americans, scholars, and a broad public alike. Janet C. Gilmore, Independent Folklorist & Professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison --

Weavers around the world have been searching for a book that explores the delightful motifs of the Scandinavian weaving technique known as krokbragd. Krokbragd: How to Design & Weave fills that niche and provides a comprehensive look at this beautiful weaving technique. In this book, Debby Greenlaw brings together the traditional aspects of krokbragd with a fresh, contemporary approach to creating stunning textiles. You will explore the structure and design of krokbragd for the floor, table, and rigid-heddle looms. In addition to traditional single krokbragd, exciting variations such as double point krokbragd and turned krokbragd are also covered. Each topic is supplemented with a project that allows the weaver to gain hands-on experience with the technique.Krokbragd: How to Design & Weave is filled with weaving tips, detailed illustrations, and step-by-step photography. Debby provides guidance on yarn and color selection, design, and finishing techniques to create and weave uniquely personal krokbragd pieces.Whether you're a weaver or a lover of Scandinavian textiles, you'll enjoy Krokbragd: How to Design and Weave. Add it to your library; you'll be delighted!

Peter Collingwood's The Techniques of Rug Weaving is considered by professional rug weavers to be the gold standard of the craft. Learn all you can about how to create beautifully expressive patterns in this clear, detailed guide.

According to the Navajos, the holy people Spider Man and Spider Woman first brought the tools for weaving to the People. Over the centuries Navajo artists have used those tools to weave a web of beautyÑa rich tradition that continues to the present day. In testimony to this living art form, this book presents 74 dazzling color plates of Navajo rugs and wall hangings woven between 1971 and 1996. Drawn from a private southwestern collection, they represent the work of sixty of the finest native weavers in the American Southwest. The creations depicted here reflect a number of stylesÑrevival, sandpainting, pictorial, miniature, samplerÑand a number of major regional variations, from Ganado to Teec Nos Pos. Textile authority Ann Hedlund provides an introductory narrative about the development of Navajo textile collectingÑincluding the shift of attention from artifacts to artÑand a brief review of the history of Navajo weaving. She then comments on the shaping of the particular collection represented in the book, offering a rich source of knowledge and insight for other collectors. Explaining themes in Navajo weaving over the quarter-century represented by the Santa Fe Collection, Hedlund focuses on the development of modern rug designs and the influence on weavers of family, community, artistic identity, and the marketplace. She also introduces each section of plates with a description of the representative style, its significance, and the weavers who perpetuate and deviate from it. In addition to the textile plates, Hedlund's color photographs show the families, landscapes, livestock, hogans, and looms that surround today's Navajo weavers. Navajo Weaving in the Late Twentieth Century explores many of the important connections that exist today among weavers through their families and neighbors, and the significant role that collectors play in perpetuating this dynamic art form. For all who appreciate American Indian art and culture, this book provides invaluable guidance to the fine points of collecting and a rich visual feast.

"Provides clear, step-by-step instructions, along with illustrations, for weaving Navajo rugs and Hopi ceremonial sashes in exactly the same way as the craftsmen of these two neighboring tribes have woven them for generations"--Cover.

Offers a comprehensive view of Caucasian pilewoven rugs and flatwoven textiles in the light of recent research on the subject