Ruth Byers is willing to demonstrate to anyone the art of Swedish huck weaving.

"All you need is an invitation and transportation and I'm Johnny-on-the-spot," said Byers, 81, who lives at the Butler YWCA.

Huck weaving is a type of embroidery in which stitches are made by going through the loops on the fabric. The blunt tapestry needle rarely pierces the fabric.

"Everyone knits or crochets, but very few people do this," she said. "Most people have never heard of it."

Huck weaving is just one of the many skills Byers learned during her career traveling the country as an officer in the Salvation Army.

Born and raised in Hooker, Byers joined the Salvation Army when she was 18 and served in various capacities as needed.

In the 1960s, she hosted a young German woman in her home in Cleveland. The woman had learned the technique through a demonstration offered through the Salvation Army.

Byers' boss asked her to learn the craft and demonstrate it to others, so she complied and taught herself the two basic stitches.

"In the (Salvation) Army, you swim or sink, there's no one to show you; you have to show yourself," she said. "If you have good eyes and you enjoy it, that's all you need."

The technique requires a running stitch and an around-the-loop stitch that resembles a small square or "zero," as Byers calls it.

The second stitch is often used to create a solid design because more thread shows than with the running stitch.

Anything can be decorated, including baby blankets, curtains and towels.

Huck toweling, a wide-gauge fabric used for the craft, is difficult to find in craft stores nowadays, said Byers. As a substitute, she recommends using monk's cloth, a coarse, basketweave-type fabric.

For the weaving, she uses a thicker type of thread similar to crochet thread.

Books with Swedish huck weaving patterns are still available, but crafters can copy a variety of designs, including cross-stitch patterns.

"I don't draw, so I have to rely on a pattern," said Byers, whose projects mostly depict patriotic, religious and holiday themes.

Byers' friend Donna Atwell of Connoquenessing Township was familiar with huck weaving as a child but said Byers' method was new to her.

"She's the first person that I had ever seen that incorporated pictures into it," she said. "I had just seen designs, squares or triangles or something on the border of towels and pillowcases or tablecloths."

Byers' collection of tapestries fits in a small suitcase, since she's given most of her work away as gifts.

One of her largest and most detailed pieces is a copy of Da Vinci's The Last Supper.

"Some people make little simple ones," she said, stretching to hold the cloth from end to end. "I graduated to the bigger ones."

Byers retired from the Salvation Army and returned to Butler in 1994.

She still demonstrates her work as often as possible.

Byers will next provide a huck weaving program Tuesday during the United Methodist Women's meeting at Connoquenessing United Methodist Church.

"She's a very kind, generous person that has just given all of her life," said Atwell. "Whenever she can go and talk and share with this, I think it's a really neat thing."

<B>WHAT: </B>Swedish huck weaving program by Ruth Byers hosted as part of a women's meeting at Connoquenessing United Methodist Church<B>WHEN: </B>1:30 p.m. Tuesday<B>WHERE: </B>Connoquenessing United Methodist Church, 206 Main St., Connoquenessing<B>CONTACT: </B>Register with Donna Atwell at 724-789-7173.