Women drawn to Swedish needlework
They don't travel to Sweden, but a group of women that meets at the Prospect Library each week takes a vacation from stress through needlework.
"It's girlfriend time," explained Diane Bishop of Connoquenessing Township, among those who gather weekly to chat over Swedish weaving projects.
"You would be surprised at how much you can catch up in a week," said her friend, Hattie Harmon of Prospect.
Also called monk weaving, Swedish weaving is a version of huck weaving, which gained popularity in the 1930s and 40s. The process entails using a large, flat needle to weave yarn through strands of a loose-weave material called monk fabric.
Alternatively, huck weaving was done with embroidery thread on denser cotton toweling.
With both forms of stitchery, the needle doesn't penetrate the fabric, but goes in and out of surface threads to create colorful, geometric designs.
"You don't pick and poke: You slide," Bishop said, demonstrating how the hefty needle is easily pushed over and under threads in the fabric.
"When you're older and your eyes aren't so good, you can (still) see this," she said.
<table width="300" height="275" border="0" align="right" valign="top" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><embed src="/assets/mov/BE51781730.MOV" width="320" height="250" autostart="true" loop="false" ></embed></td></tr><tr><td align="center"><a href="http://www.apple.com/quicktime/" target="_blank"><span class="style11">Requires Quicktime Media Player </a><br><font size="1" face="Tahoma, Times New Roman">Video by Brandon Gerthoffer</font></span><td></tr></table>Marylou Hines of Prospect said the biggest problem is finding the fabric, since in recent years it has disappeared from local stores. At the meeting, however, women shared news of availability in neighboring communities.The monk fabric is bought by the yard in a standard 45-inch width and is used to create throws, runners, blankets and bags. The thread for weaving is often a 4-ply yarn, variegated in color to result in more complexity."The bolder you get, the prettier it is,"Hattie said of selecting the colors.While many of the projects are done on a creamy beige cloth, Bishop is working on a sage green throw for her husband. The design, repeating rows of evergreen trees, was a takeoff on a pattern called Sherwood Woods that Harmon completed in previous years. That pattern included pine trees along the edges with an open diamond design in the center."I wanted it more masculine," explained Bishop, whose throw includes denser, more frequent designs.Also deviating from the more readily available beige background, Penelope Davis of Prospect is using snowy white monk cloth to create a baby blanket embellished with pink, peach, lavender and blue."I made one for my two nieces, and this one's for my daughter, who's trying to get pregnant," she said."I just make them for other people," agreed Hines, representing the sentiments of others in the group.Although most of the seven women at the library July 22 have been attending since the group was formed, various others also participate, some as newer recruits.The group has been meeting for close to eight years."That's because we were bored," joked Dolly Hays of Franklin Township, a member since the beginning.
Landis Brain of Franklin Township said the group was formed after her sister won a Swedish weaving project Harmon donated to a fundraising auction."We kept looking at it and asking 'How did she do that?'" Brain recalled. That curiosity led to a request for Harmon to teach a class at the library.Jeanne Sarnese, library director, also belongs to the group."You don't know how many times I wanted to quit," she laughed, describing the occasional frustration of losing count and having to tear out stitches and start over."(But) everybody rips," commented Hines. "I can't imagine anybody doing this and not rip."To help keep track of the overall design, stitching is done in an outward progression from a designated spot in the fabric's center."I like to watch it play out," said Hines."When you start out with vacancy, when you start out with plain cloth and you work yarn through it, all of a sudden you've created an artwork," she said.
