Category: Mohair

Come visit us here at Keldaby this Sat or Sun, Nov 13th–14th, 10 to 4 o’clock. Two of my best friends, Jen Kapitulik from Rag Hill Farm (upper left hand image) and Inge Jockers (lower right hand image) will be right here at Keldaby. Park once, visit three of us here–and then walk down Heath Road to our neighbor Tony Palumbo to visit his gallery and see his latest work.

During the weekend I know I will be asked at least once, probably more often, “How long does it take you to make a _____?” So finding myself just 10 days ago without any ruanas in my studio, I decided to actually learn the answer to this perennial query. The bottom line: It’s a labor of love!! The quick answer is that when weaving a run of six ruanas, one ruana takes seven hours. There’s a certain economy of scale here; it would take nearly as long to dress the loom for one as for six. But if you’re interested here’s my breakdown of the time I spent over the past week and a half:

10-12 hours to design the warp, fill the bobbins and dress the loom (wrapping the yarn on the sectional beam, threading the heddles, sleying the reed and tying on to the back beam)

3 1/2 hours to weave each ruana; that is, if there are no major screw-ups!

3-3 1/2 hours to tie the fringes on all six pieces

Next comes washing (a very gentle fulling of the fabric) and trimming the fringes

1 1/2 hours to measure the 96 4-yd lengths of yarn needed to create the six kumihimo braids that will support the neck of each ruana

1-1 1/4 hours to make the braids for each piece

And another 1/2 hour to sew the braid on and sew in a label

All this adds up to about 42 hours, hence my estimate of seven hours apiece.

I have also been busy knitting hats–here’s just one

Visitors also often ask, “But my cat (or my dog) will ruin these pieces.” No, not unless they are truly demonic! Mohair is a very resilient and durable fabric. Don’t forget, it has long been used for military dress uniforms and for upholstery, especially for theaters as it is fire resistant.