On Weaving: Pride and beyond

I’ve spent the past few months working my way through another very long warp on my loom. Two years ago, before I had an Etsy shop, I designed a pride-themed towel and wove enough of them to give to friends and family.

I thought it was about time that I revisit the topic of pride and design another towel to celebrate Pride Month. My first design felt soft, elegant, jubilant. The bright rainbow tones tempered by a warm cream background, overlaid with texture that reminds me of medallions, jewelry, opulence. Given the past six months, I feel like my new design is more stark, urgent, stripped down to a simpler twill to highlight the bold crispness of color against a dark background.

As I was designing these towels, I was second-guessing whether it was a good idea to create something that could be seen as “divisive”. I thought maybe there would be people who follow my work on social media, or who know me here in Spring Creek, that might not like being confronted by this celebration of pride. That might think that by creating these pieces I am being too “political”. And then I realized that as long as I can remember, my mere existence has been political.

Gay marriage was legalized nationwide in the United States ten years ago (as of June 26). Kyle and I have been married for almost nine years. And in the past decade, we have seen progress and love, but we have also seen obstacles, threats, and rights being stripped from our community left and right. For my community, using a bathroom is political. Saying the word “gay” in a school is political. Putting on makeup and reading books to children is political. And so I decided that if people are going to argue about my rights, or be upset that I exist no matter what I do, then I might as well spend my time spreading a message of joy and community and celebration in the spaces I control because that’s what is important to me.

Pride Month just ended, and here in western North Carolina my county had their very first Pride celebration a few days ago. Kyle and I stopped in briefly and it was amazing to see such great turnout this first year. I then did something I shouldn’t have done, which is spend half an hour on Facebook reading comments from people who were MAD that we dared to have a pride celebration. That 99% of the people who live here are against it and we’re just trying to be confrontational. That gay people never used to live here and “they” don’t want us here so why don’t we just go somewhere else.

It’s the same old boring rhetoric that I have lived with my entire life and despite these loud voices, in spite of them, because of them, I choose to continue to use my space both online and in my physical surroundings to be just as loud and visible. To make sure that people know that those ugly opinions founded in fear and hatred are not the only ones out there. That there are still people fighting for inclusivity, for safety, for equality. I don’t expect to change anybody’s mind and in fact I don’t even have the time or energy to try – that’s not why I do it. I do it because there could be someone out there who is scared, and silent, and unsure. I want those people who stumble upon my work online, or see the rainbow flag on my house from the back seat of a car as they drive by to know they’re not alone. To know that my house is a safe place, that my little corner of the internet is a safe place.

And that’s just my very long way of saying HAPPY PRIDE, Y’ALL!!! I have been making these towels in batches and my first batch of 15 has already sold out, but there are more coming in the next few weeks. I fully reserve the right to celebrate pride all year long because come hell or high water, we’re not going anywhere!

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After this warp is off my loom I am going to spend a bit of time doing something I never really do – sampling! All of the cotton yarn that I currently use for my towels is milled and dyed in Canada, and with everything going on with tariffs and trade, I was unsure how that would impact the price and availability of the materials I need to continue to create items for my shop. Additionally, in the back of my mind I have always wanted to look for ways to make my products more local. I started looking into other options for cotton weaving yarns and came across a few that seemed promising and placed a small order from both companies to sample with.

The first is from Meridian Mill House. This company specializes in domestically-sourced natural fibers and I was shocked to learn that all of their yarn is spun in Ranlo, NC. The cotton itself is sourced from eastern US/Memphis area and once spun, it is dyed in Valdese, NC – just 74 miles away. I love that the yarn production is so close to home. The only downsides are that it comes in a limited color range (see color card below) and that it is only sold in 1-pound cones, so there would be some work involved in splitting it into smaller packages for sectional beaming. Neither of these are deal breakers and if, after sampling, I find that this is a superior product I will find a way to work around those limitations.

The second yarn I will be sampling with is from Lofty Fiber. This cotton is also sourced in the United States and spun in North Carolina, so I truly can’t go wrong with either company when it comes to domestically-sourced, locally-spun yarn.

This cotton is packaged as 4, 8, or 16oz cones, which makes purchasing quantity a little easier, but the cones would still need to be rewound onto bobbins for warping my loom.

Currently only available in 22 colors vs the 31 colors that Meridian Mill House offers, they claim to be adding new colors every few months and I expect the palette to continue to grow. Compared to the 81 colors available in the Canadian line (Maurice Brassard) I currently use, both options are very limited but I would be willing to work within those confines if either brand proves to be comparable to what I currently use. In order to make a decision, I will need to not just weave both yarns, but finish them as I do my usual towels and use them for a while to see how they stand up against wear. That will help me determine if the cotton shrinks more or less than my current towels when washed, whether the colors are fade-resistant, and whether they have a similar hand a drape to what I am used to. I am optimistic that one of these options could meet my needs and I will be sure to bring you along on that journey so we can learn together!