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Downloaded from
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(Owl hooting)

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Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.MX

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(Birds chirping)

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(Loom creaking)

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I was a little girl and
my mother always

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told us what to do so.

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She always said you were not supposed

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to waste your time.

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You're going to do something so this

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was, this carpet
weaving was our evening

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work. We work all day at the field.

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And then in the
evening, my mother was

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making rugs. So she said, come on,

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girls, now you got
to come and look how

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I'm going to make
because you're going

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to learn to do this after when I'm

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gone. So we used to come and sit next

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to her, me and my sister.

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She always told us
that when you learn

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when you were young, you never forget

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that.

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When you make
homemade, it's it's going

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to last you forever.

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This is the old fashioned one too

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. You put your warp
here, I thought, min

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e is old looking but
these are antiques.

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These are handmade, it's not the

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factory made.

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When people, Finnish people come from

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Finland, the guys
wanted their wives to

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do something, not
just sit and twiddle

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their thumbs so they start making

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looms. You can see you can see that

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these are homemade.

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You go in the woods
and make this kind

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of log.

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So that was one of
the things that a lot

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of Finnish immigrant men would do

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pretty quickly when they got here and

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they had a wife who
wanted to weave was

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they would build a loom.

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And so I think for
whatever reason, rugs

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just became the thing that Finnish

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Americans really started to value.

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It was a way for them to use the old

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fabrics in their
lives that, you know,

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they might want to keep for different

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reasons because of their durability,

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because of the beauty of the colors

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that were inside the
weave, because of

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the sentimental value of the the

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stories that the fabrics told

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themselves. So some people call them

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memory rugs. You have these different

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fabrics that have different types of

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meaning. It might be a special dress

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that somebody wore
on a certain special

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day. It could be
somebody's first pair

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of brand new fancy blue jeans or

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something. So all of the pieces of

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fabric inside a rug tell a story.

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(Loom creaking)

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Well, you know,
it's lost art, there's

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not too many people who can make

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carpets and set up the looms.

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It's lots of work.

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Irene is such a great teacher.

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The first rug Irene
sat with me and she

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said, OK, well, I'll show you what to

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do. And I, I really enjoy I really

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enjoy it a lot.

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And so that was the first rug with

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cooperation between Irene and I.

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It goes in my bedroom
and Irene thinks

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they are very pretty
and she says, I do

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a good job. And
that's all that counts

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is Irene enjoys them.

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Mother weaved when she could, but of

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course she was raising six kids and

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stay at home mom, but she'd all her

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carpet rags and the cutting and the

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sewing at home.

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So that's what we
as kids used to help

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her with so I was about 10 when that

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started, they got put away.

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And then when my
mother passed away in

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nineteen eighty
eight, I took ownership

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of the Looms who nobody else wanted

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them, and I had them in storage that

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entire time, along
with all her carpet

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rags and even some
of her wardrobe that

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Irene and I used
the first time when we

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set up our looms that Irene gave me.

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This is the one that Irene made on my

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looms, made out of the chenille

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bedspreads, which forms the lumpy

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section, and then some different

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colored rag rugs that I had.

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(Old world accordion music)

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(Old world accordion
music) (loom banging)

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And my mom credits
her grandmother for

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teaching her to weave, so her

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grandmother came from Finland.

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She said that she
learned to weave from

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Briita because she would bribe my mom

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to stay there to help by giving her a

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pink peppermint out of her apron

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pocket. And all mom remembers is that

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was the most boring job she ever did,

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was just to sit there and pull those

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strings through. But
growing up at that

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era, they didn't have much sweets or

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candy. So the peppermints did the

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trick. And Mom, mom stayed there and

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helped her when Briita passed away.

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She had started a rug on her loom and

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it was left unfinished.

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So then my mother's
mother finished it.

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Helen Kemppainen.

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So it's woven half by my great

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grandmother and half
by my grandmother.

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And my mom could always say she could

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tell the difference. And you can tell

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at this point right here that the

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weaving is a little
bit different, the

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fabric. So my mom never had a loom

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until in the early 60s, she partnered

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with my aunt Linda
and they decided to

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buy a loom together and she was a

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weaver for over 50 years straight.

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I don't think she took any breaks at

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that time. She was
expecting her fourth

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child, my sister Mavis, and she could

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not fit on the loom to weave.

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So when finally she
was able to weave,

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she always remembers
that her first rug

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was made out of
the material of all of

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her maternity dresses.

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And she always thought it was in the

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fall colors and the rusts and the

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browns and that type of thing.

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Mom was known for her quality in her

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rugs. She wanted a tight weave.

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She wanted straight edges.

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She wanted a smooth carpet.

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She didn't like lumps and bumps.

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She always said, you can't be able to

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put your finger through there or else

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it's wove too loose.

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And it wasn't going to last.

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And my mom was a
hard working farmer's

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wife and mother of four.

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I think mom enjoyed
weaving because so

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much that a mother does and the work

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she did on the farm,
you always had to

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redo it. You did the
laundry and it got

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clothes, got dirty again.

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You had to redo it, meals, dishes.

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But when she could go in the basement

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and make a carpet, it would last.

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Carpets would last for 20 years or

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more. So I guess that love of weaving

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got passed on to me.

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I remember as a young girl when I

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joined 4H and I
learned how to sew and

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use the sewing machine, Mom must've

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said, yahoo!

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After that she had me in the basement

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sewing rags for her all the time.

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So I grew up with a loom in the

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basement and it just was the most

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natural thing in the world to me.

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I would help Mom
do the string just like

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she helped her grandma, but I don't

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remember any pink peppermints on the

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deal. But she'd just tell me to just

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sew any color together, just sew.

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So that was my job.

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I sewed lots of carpet rags for her.

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So as the years
went by, I got married

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and my husband and
daughter and I moved

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close to my mom in Nisula and I would

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go there in the evenings and weave.

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And that's where she taught me the

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weaving part. My mother and I were

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weaving partners for 38 years, and

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I always miss her, but I especially

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miss when I'm weaving.

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And when I come downstairs and I'm

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weaving here and I
come to the edge of

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the carpet and it
happens to hit where

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the rags were sewn together, my mom

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always said, never
let the sewing part

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of the rag be on the edge, because if

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that lets go, you ruin the carpet.

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So sometimes I'm weaving and I think,

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boy, I could probably
let that go, but

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then I go, no, mom
said never do that.

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So I have to cut the rag and get that

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seam inside the
carpet so that the warp

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pulls that tight.

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So you will never
have that problem of

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the stitching letting go.

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In 1979, I was
expecting Rachel, after

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she was born, my dad said, you're

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wasting too much
time bundling up that

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baby and coming over here to weave.

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So he took that loom apart and he

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brought it into my basement.

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I set up a play area for them so that

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we could bribe them to stay down into

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the basement. So I could weave and I

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think that's why
Rachel has carried on

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the weaving tradition,
because that was

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her era. I guess I remember playing a

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lot down in the
basement while mom was

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weaving. And I was probably about 10

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when when Grandma
had approached me and

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actually said, do you want to learn?

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And so that was kind of a neat

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experience. And of course, time to

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spend with grandma
was a special thing.

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So that was that was an obvious yes.

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Why wouldn't I want to learn?

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I remember her being down there and

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prepping the rags for me and and

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guiding me how to
make the rug and have

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things be straight.

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Again, she was very
organized, like Mom

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said, where she wanted specific

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parameters for a rug and teaching me

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all those guidelines
and how to do it.

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So I wasn't missing a string or

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anything like that. And that that was

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very fun to get a chance to have that

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special connection with grandma.

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And in fact, she had
me cut up my great

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grandmother's
bedspread, which I didn't

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know at the time.
It was probably after

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I had weaved it up into a rug.

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And I remember being devastated

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thinking all this was a beautiful

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bedspread and I cut it up, but it had

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stains and holes
and she knew it wasn't

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going to be used for anything.

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And of course, now being an adult, I

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look back and that was her way of

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preserving that
heirloom and keeping it

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in a rug. But I
remember feeling so bad

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after I found out that I had weaved

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this beautiful bedspread into a rug.

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My mom was always
very pleased that she

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could say that my daughters were the

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fifth generation of weavers in her

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family. So now the pressure is on the

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sixth generation.

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My granddaughter
Autumn would come with

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Rachel when she would have come to

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weave, and I have
pictures of them here

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at the Loom. And now she's enjoying

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crafts of all kinds and she wants to

263
00:12:26,612 --> 00:12:28,915
learn to sew. So I see potential in

264
00:12:28,981 --> 00:12:32,686
her. Three years ago, when the Lord

265
00:12:32,752 --> 00:12:36,156
called my mom home,
she had a rug that

266
00:12:36,222 --> 00:12:37,523
was started on her loom.

267
00:12:37,890 --> 00:12:40,059
I asked my dad,
can I finish that rug?

268
00:12:40,459 --> 00:12:42,128
And I do know that this was the end

269
00:12:42,194 --> 00:12:44,531
that she started and I finished this

270
00:12:44,597 --> 00:12:50,436
half. So I have that rug as family

271
00:12:50,836 --> 00:12:52,505
treasure also.

272
00:12:52,571 --> 00:12:54,708
Started by my mom and finished by

273
00:12:54,774 --> 00:12:57,610
myself. The looms
that Rachel has here

274
00:12:57,676 --> 00:13:00,747
are handmade looms made by my Aunt

275
00:13:00,813 --> 00:13:03,717
Linda's husband, and they were passed

276
00:13:03,783 --> 00:13:04,818
on to her son.

277
00:13:04,884 --> 00:13:07,721
And when he passed
away, his wife said

278
00:13:07,787 --> 00:13:09,489
that those looms need to stay in the

279
00:13:09,555 --> 00:13:11,657
family. And at that time, we were

280
00:13:12,324 --> 00:13:14,861
weaving quite avidly, Rachel and I,

281
00:13:14,927 --> 00:13:17,397
together here. And so the looms were

282
00:13:17,463 --> 00:13:18,864
put here in our basement.

283
00:13:19,732 --> 00:13:22,368
My mom was always very generous.

284
00:13:22,434 --> 00:13:25,171
And when she made
a rug that she liked,

285
00:13:25,504 --> 00:13:27,774
a lot of times she gave rugs away,

286
00:13:27,840 --> 00:13:29,776
especially to family members, for

287
00:13:29,842 --> 00:13:32,245
gifts. And one thing
she always did was

288
00:13:32,311 --> 00:13:35,782
to give the rug rug
as a bridal shower

289
00:13:35,848 --> 00:13:37,349
gift or a wedding gift.

290
00:13:37,950 --> 00:13:41,554
I have tried to maintain that family

291
00:13:41,620 --> 00:13:44,991
tradition. And as my
nieces and nephews

292
00:13:45,057 --> 00:13:47,627
have gotten married, I have always

293
00:13:47,693 --> 00:13:50,530
tried to gift them with a rug because

294
00:13:50,596 --> 00:13:52,599
I. I just hope that
when it's on their

295
00:13:52,665 --> 00:13:55,167
floor, they would think of our family

296
00:13:55,501 --> 00:13:58,238
and the tradition and the part that

297
00:13:58,304 --> 00:14:00,306
weaving has played in our, in our

298
00:14:00,372 --> 00:14:01,941
family heritage.

299
00:14:02,508 --> 00:14:04,244
I just decided to
take a little bit of

300
00:14:04,310 --> 00:14:05,879
burgundy and put it at the ends.

301
00:14:05,945 --> 00:14:08,248
And this is kind of
what my mom and my

302
00:14:08,314 --> 00:14:10,517
aunt would say was a typical Finnish

303
00:14:10,583 --> 00:14:11,850
rug with the band on the ends.

304
00:14:12,151 --> 00:14:15,755
I don't know when my daughter went up

305
00:14:15,821 --> 00:14:19,325
for her honeymoon
in Finland she looked

306
00:14:19,391 --> 00:14:21,394
at all the shops at the rag rugs and

307
00:14:21,460 --> 00:14:23,029
she goes, Mom, there's a lot of them

308
00:14:23,095 --> 00:14:24,630
that look a lot like yours.

309
00:14:25,397 --> 00:14:31,604
(Rain drops)

310
00:14:34,874 --> 00:14:36,476
Now that I'm older,
I don't realize how

311
00:14:36,542 --> 00:14:38,144
much of the stuff
that I grew up around

312
00:14:38,210 --> 00:14:41,146
was Finnish tradition, you know, like

313
00:14:41,780 --> 00:14:43,550
morning coffee, afternoon coffee,

314
00:14:43,616 --> 00:14:46,452
evening coffee, my mom used to make

315
00:14:46,518 --> 00:14:49,222
pannukakku, and for a while she even

316
00:14:49,288 --> 00:14:52,826
tried to make her own, like, trinary

317
00:14:52,892 --> 00:14:55,128
style toast. The korppu, you know, we

318
00:14:55,194 --> 00:14:56,528
always had Saturday sauna night.

319
00:14:56,795 --> 00:14:58,198
And you knew like you had to hurry up

320
00:14:58,264 --> 00:14:59,766
and clean up after dinner on Saturday

321
00:14:59,832 --> 00:15:01,134
night and get something baked for

322
00:15:01,200 --> 00:15:03,335
sauna company. And if you didn't go

323
00:15:03,402 --> 00:15:05,071
sauna directly after supper, you went

324
00:15:05,137 --> 00:15:06,372
when it was pretty cold after the

325
00:15:06,438 --> 00:15:09,209
company all left. But yeah, those are

326
00:15:09,275 --> 00:15:10,734
good memories. That was always fun.

327
00:15:11,043 --> 00:15:14,214
While being Finn
my grandparents, they

328
00:15:14,280 --> 00:15:17,650
just spoke Finn and
they made one side

329
00:15:17,716 --> 00:15:20,587
of the family didn't make rugs the

330
00:15:20,653 --> 00:15:22,422
other side of the
family, they did, and

331
00:15:22,488 --> 00:15:25,024
it was just something that they did.

332
00:15:25,457 --> 00:15:27,794
So I just figured Finn Finnish people

333
00:15:27,860 --> 00:15:28,694
must do this.

334
00:15:28,961 --> 00:15:31,931
The Finnish Americans appreciate rag

335
00:15:31,997 --> 00:15:34,933
rugs more so than
the general community.

336
00:15:35,935 --> 00:15:41,207
Very much so. And
so they I think they

337
00:15:41,273 --> 00:15:45,144
appreciate the utility, you know,

338
00:15:45,210 --> 00:15:48,715
aspects of it. And but I think also

339
00:15:48,781 --> 00:15:50,550
they just, it's just a Finnish thing.

340
00:15:50,616 --> 00:15:52,285
You have a rug on your floor.

341
00:15:52,351 --> 00:15:53,553
You don't go to
Wal-Mart and buy a rug.

342
00:15:53,619 --> 00:15:58,223
Grandma and grandpa
on the Finnish side

343
00:15:58,891 --> 00:16:02,295
had a summer kitchen
and it was a huge

344
00:16:02,361 --> 00:16:05,398
room with a loom.

345
00:16:05,464 --> 00:16:08,201
A carpet loom and
it went from wall to

346
00:16:08,267 --> 00:16:11,337
wall, it was huge,
and that's what they

347
00:16:11,403 --> 00:16:14,240
did. They made carpets for everybody

348
00:16:14,306 --> 00:16:15,841
and I still have a few left.

349
00:16:16,041 --> 00:16:17,910
I don't use them
anymore because I want

350
00:16:17,976 --> 00:16:21,781
to save them. But our entire house

351
00:16:21,847 --> 00:16:24,083
growing up was grandma's carpets.

352
00:16:24,750 --> 00:16:26,786
I remember watching Mrs Pelto and Mrs

353
00:16:26,852 --> 00:16:28,454
Niemisto make rag rugs.

354
00:16:28,887 --> 00:16:30,023
You know, they had
those old fashioned

355
00:16:30,089 --> 00:16:31,557
looms that made a
lot of noise and you

356
00:16:31,623 --> 00:16:32,725
could hear them all over town,

357
00:16:32,791 --> 00:16:34,127
Boom, boom. And they really couldn't

358
00:16:34,193 --> 00:16:35,995
speak English, but somehow we

359
00:16:36,061 --> 00:16:37,262
communicated with them.

360
00:16:37,963 --> 00:16:40,733
Yeah. So I mean I'm really, really

361
00:16:40,799 --> 00:16:43,069
thankful that we got to witness that

362
00:16:43,135 --> 00:16:46,472
generation, their hard work and they

363
00:16:46,538 --> 00:16:48,207
could do a lot with little like our

364
00:16:48,273 --> 00:16:48,941
grandmother

365
00:16:50,409 --> 00:16:51,510
Was just special.

366
00:16:52,378 --> 00:16:54,980
But she took great
pride in her rugs and

367
00:16:55,180 --> 00:16:57,917
mixing colors the
right way and making

368
00:16:57,983 --> 00:16:59,385
sure they were sturdy, I mean, she

369
00:16:59,451 --> 00:17:00,652
pounded like mad.

370
00:17:01,453 --> 00:17:03,189
I think she made it for my kitchen.

371
00:17:03,255 --> 00:17:04,991
I can't remember.
But I did tell her I

372
00:17:05,057 --> 00:17:06,526
know that I wanted it to be sort of

373
00:17:06,592 --> 00:17:08,061
light colored and blue and then she

374
00:17:08,127 --> 00:17:09,395
could do whatever she wanted in the

375
00:17:09,461 --> 00:17:13,132
band and I'll save it.

376
00:17:13,198 --> 00:17:14,433
I won't walk on it anymore.

377
00:17:15,968 --> 00:17:17,770
They were dear hearts
and gentle people

378
00:17:17,836 --> 00:17:19,539
that lived in Pelkie
at that time, and

379
00:17:19,605 --> 00:17:21,106
they made the best carpets in the

380
00:17:21,607 --> 00:17:23,809
doggone world, betchya they'd work

381
00:17:24,009 --> 00:17:26,879
four, five up to 10 days on a carpet,

382
00:17:27,713 --> 00:17:29,130
then sell it for maybe five bucks.

383
00:17:29,715 --> 00:17:30,917
You don't get it for five bucks

384
00:17:30,983 --> 00:17:31,583
anymore now.

385
00:17:32,818 --> 00:17:35,355
Hand-woven rugs for sale, it says.

386
00:17:35,421 --> 00:17:38,358
That sign that dictates busy days of

387
00:17:38,424 --> 00:17:40,860
weaving together warp and weft into

388
00:17:40,926 --> 00:17:44,097
rugs that duly stand times test.

389
00:17:44,163 --> 00:17:45,898
For those that do not know the art,

390
00:17:45,964 --> 00:17:47,733
think weaving is the simple part.

391
00:17:48,133 --> 00:17:50,602
But hours of time must first be spent

392
00:17:50,736 --> 00:17:52,704
to get a rug to development.

393
00:17:53,439 --> 00:17:55,174
There's filler to cut and warp to

394
00:17:55,240 --> 00:17:57,643
string. And planning is no easy thing

395
00:17:58,110 --> 00:18:00,546
to have the colors come out right and

396
00:18:00,612 --> 00:18:04,117
making sure it's
woven tight, keep the

397
00:18:04,183 --> 00:18:05,718
edges nice and even.

398
00:18:05,784 --> 00:18:07,686
The pattern comes as you are weaving.

399
00:18:08,420 --> 00:18:10,656
Each row is marked
down to keep track,

400
00:18:11,423 --> 00:18:13,425
get to the middle, then start back.

401
00:18:13,692 --> 00:18:15,894
Each pattern strip has got to match.

402
00:18:16,228 --> 00:18:18,096
The combination must attract.

403
00:18:18,931 --> 00:18:20,800
Don't pull the filler up too tight.

404
00:18:20,866 --> 00:18:22,668
Make sure the colors come out right.

405
00:18:23,168 --> 00:18:24,903
Beat it hard to make it firm.

406
00:18:25,370 --> 00:18:28,307
So many things you have to learn.

407
00:18:28,373 --> 00:18:29,809
Now the weaving part is done.

408
00:18:29,875 --> 00:18:33,413
There's several rugs on every run.

409
00:18:33,479 --> 00:18:35,248
But with the rug you're still not

410
00:18:35,314 --> 00:18:37,116
through. There's tying of the ends

411
00:18:37,182 --> 00:18:38,217
you've yet to do.

412
00:18:39,251 --> 00:18:41,254
You've finished
finally with your part.

413
00:18:41,320 --> 00:18:43,956
Hours have gone into this art from

414
00:18:44,022 --> 00:18:46,059
cutting, planning, weaving to and all

415
00:18:46,125 --> 00:18:47,426
the time that you do.

416
00:18:47,893 --> 00:18:49,595
What's the price put on the rug?

417
00:18:49,895 --> 00:18:51,930
The time has passed off with a shrug.

418
00:18:52,264 --> 00:18:54,467
The cost of warp and filler too.

419
00:18:54,533 --> 00:18:56,301
You'll never get what price is due.

420
00:18:56,735 --> 00:18:58,504
Yet looking on the finished work,

421
00:18:58,570 --> 00:19:00,539
you're glad you
spent the time it took

422
00:19:01,106 --> 00:19:03,709
to create each item on your part.

423
00:19:04,176 --> 00:19:06,378
Each piece of work is a dying art.

424
00:19:09,014 --> 00:19:15,821
(Birds chirping)

425
00:19:18,657 --> 00:19:21,094
My grandma wanted
to get a loom, but it

426
00:19:21,160 --> 00:19:22,595
wouldn't really fit
in the house, very

427
00:19:22,661 --> 00:19:25,965
tiny house, and so she bought a Union

428
00:19:26,031 --> 00:19:28,567
36 loom and they
brought it in here in

429
00:19:28,867 --> 00:19:31,037
1952 and it became the carpet shack.

430
00:19:31,103 --> 00:19:32,905
And so this is where my grandma made

431
00:19:32,971 --> 00:19:36,976
her rag rugs. We didn't talk all that

432
00:19:37,042 --> 00:19:38,377
much. She was always busy.

433
00:19:38,443 --> 00:19:40,646
She was busy cooking wonderful meals,

434
00:19:40,712 --> 00:19:43,316
the best bread, or she was sitting in

435
00:19:43,382 --> 00:19:44,950
the living room with a cup of coffee

436
00:19:45,117 --> 00:19:48,020
and talking in Finn with the adults.

437
00:19:48,320 --> 00:19:50,789
And the loom itself was here.

438
00:19:51,523 --> 00:19:53,659
I actually, by myself came down

439
00:19:53,725 --> 00:19:54,760
because I'm a Finn I don't ask for

440
00:19:54,826 --> 00:19:56,962
help. I came down
and I dismantled it,

441
00:19:57,262 --> 00:19:59,031
brought it home, set it up in my own

442
00:19:59,097 --> 00:20:03,002
house. And also there are still rag

443
00:20:03,068 --> 00:20:06,738
balls, including
pumpkin size rag balls

444
00:20:07,940 --> 00:20:11,443
and some of these vats and also

445
00:20:12,044 --> 00:20:16,214
barrels, barrels full of cut strips

446
00:20:16,315 --> 00:20:18,651
ready to be sewn
together and made into

447
00:20:18,717 --> 00:20:20,853
rag balls. So clearly
she had plans to

448
00:20:20,919 --> 00:20:24,457
do a lot more. My idea is, is to make

449
00:20:24,523 --> 00:20:26,926
some rugs using
her rag balls, because

450
00:20:26,992 --> 00:20:28,995
then I could say my grandpa and I and

451
00:20:29,061 --> 00:20:31,564
her all collaborated on making rugs.

452
00:20:31,630 --> 00:20:34,000
At the same time, I hate to destroy

453
00:20:34,066 --> 00:20:36,536
them, but I think I
will save enough to

454
00:20:36,602 --> 00:20:38,838
have them on display in the house and

455
00:20:38,904 --> 00:20:41,941
then use a number of them to make one

456
00:20:42,007 --> 00:20:42,774
or two rugs.

457
00:20:43,675 --> 00:20:49,081
(Loom banging)

458
00:20:49,147 --> 00:20:51,884
Back in the 1980s, my dad was always

459
00:20:51,950 --> 00:20:53,185
trying different projects, he'd try

460
00:20:53,251 --> 00:20:54,554
woodworking, he'd try this, he'd try

461
00:20:54,620 --> 00:20:57,190
that, and finally he
came upon, wanted

462
00:20:57,256 --> 00:20:59,025
to do the carpet looms.

463
00:20:59,091 --> 00:21:00,726
The first loom he actually built

464
00:21:00,792 --> 00:21:03,195
himself. And we all spent our time

465
00:21:03,261 --> 00:21:05,030
cutting carpet rags
and cutting carpet

466
00:21:05,397 --> 00:21:06,666
rags till you had blisters on your

467
00:21:06,732 --> 00:21:08,301
fingers and we went
through many, many

468
00:21:08,367 --> 00:21:09,468
pairs of scissors.

469
00:21:09,534 --> 00:21:11,270
Once you get enough built up so you

470
00:21:11,336 --> 00:21:13,205
could start banging out some carpets,

471
00:21:13,271 --> 00:21:16,341
we put the stereo in the garage and

472
00:21:17,042 --> 00:21:19,111
opened the doors
and the windows in the

473
00:21:19,177 --> 00:21:20,912
summers we spent out working there.

474
00:21:21,213 --> 00:21:22,415
It's been so many
years since I've done

475
00:21:22,481 --> 00:21:23,616
this it's kind of like learning all

476
00:21:23,682 --> 00:21:29,288
over again. Why is it getting caught?

477
00:21:33,759 --> 00:21:36,428
Oh, this is really
where I miss my dad.

478
00:21:37,496 --> 00:21:41,733
(Loom rattling)

479
00:21:42,934 --> 00:21:44,518
Oh, it seems to be
working much better.

480
00:21:44,970 --> 00:21:46,105
These are the heddles, they're these

481
00:21:46,171 --> 00:21:49,642
little wire rods, they have a little

482
00:21:49,708 --> 00:21:51,177
twist in the center of them.

483
00:21:51,243 --> 00:21:52,712
They'll be like a
little hole, which is

484
00:21:52,778 --> 00:21:54,180
where the string feeds through, and

485
00:21:54,246 --> 00:21:56,782
that's what lifts the
them up and down.

486
00:21:57,482 --> 00:22:00,119
So I had to tie, like, how many?

487
00:22:00,185 --> 00:22:02,120
There's like 226 knots.

488
00:22:02,688 --> 00:22:04,190
You also have to thread them again

489
00:22:04,256 --> 00:22:07,093
through the reed and
the space between

490
00:22:07,159 --> 00:22:10,997
the the little wire like little wire

491
00:22:11,063 --> 00:22:13,298
slats on there, there
are called dents.

492
00:22:14,499 --> 00:22:16,435
(Loom rattling)

493
00:22:16,501 --> 00:22:24,343
(Fiddle music)

494
00:22:25,444 --> 00:22:28,014
I'm working with a flannel right now

495
00:22:28,080 --> 00:22:29,981
that, there were
some worn sheets that

496
00:22:30,382 --> 00:22:31,216
came across.

497
00:22:31,550 --> 00:22:39,369
(Fiddle and guitar music)

498
00:22:51,203 --> 00:22:52,471
Twenty six, twenty eight. OK, so now

499
00:22:52,537 --> 00:22:54,673
I'm ready for my next other color.

500
00:22:55,474 --> 00:23:03,283
(Fiddle and guitar music)

501
00:23:06,218 --> 00:23:11,524
(Loom banging)

502
00:23:11,590 --> 00:23:13,959
Oh, man, my
grandmother, I've seen, you

503
00:23:14,025 --> 00:23:16,462
know, I probably was sitting on her

504
00:23:16,528 --> 00:23:19,365
knee probably 80 years ago, I was

505
00:23:19,431 --> 00:23:21,167
sitting on her knee
and she was making

506
00:23:21,233 --> 00:23:23,869
carpets. You know,
being a little boy,

507
00:23:24,336 --> 00:23:25,404
you have to be nosey.

508
00:23:25,470 --> 00:23:26,972
What's she pounding up there?

509
00:23:27,439 --> 00:23:29,408
That my grandma,
you know, she was all

510
00:23:29,474 --> 00:23:32,911
by herself. Her husband had died and

511
00:23:33,545 --> 00:23:35,380
she didn't speak any English.

512
00:23:35,914 --> 00:23:39,118
So she's making
carpets she can't even

513
00:23:39,184 --> 00:23:41,187
have a radio because
there's nothing on

514
00:23:41,253 --> 00:23:44,390
it that she would understand.

515
00:23:44,456 --> 00:23:48,027
The, the days must have been long.

516
00:23:48,093 --> 00:23:50,162
And the biggest job isn't here.

517
00:23:50,228 --> 00:23:53,165
It's cutting them things up, getting

518
00:23:53,231 --> 00:23:55,433
everything ready to make a carpet.

519
00:23:55,901 --> 00:23:58,604
And Rose and I would tie the rugs.

520
00:23:58,670 --> 00:24:02,774
Well, she had coffee
on and well, every

521
00:24:03,275 --> 00:24:05,411
Finlander had coffee going all day

522
00:24:05,477 --> 00:24:09,648
long. You know,
everything that she got

523
00:24:09,714 --> 00:24:12,284
had been patched at
least once or maybe

524
00:24:12,350 --> 00:24:14,120
two times or three times even.

525
00:24:14,186 --> 00:24:15,821
She would save all them and then sew

526
00:24:15,887 --> 00:24:16,988
them all together.

527
00:24:17,422 --> 00:24:19,057
You know, you had
to cut it and sew it.

528
00:24:19,291 --> 00:24:20,926
She had a sewing machine right by her

529
00:24:21,460 --> 00:24:27,366
loom. See this one

530
00:24:27,432 --> 00:24:29,034
went in here.

531
00:24:29,100 --> 00:24:31,771
Now when I- see my finger locked in

532
00:24:31,837 --> 00:24:32,962
there, I can't pull it out.

533
00:24:36,041 --> 00:24:38,377
See, now it's now when we pound it in

534
00:24:38,443 --> 00:24:42,781
there only gets tighter and tighter.

535
00:24:43,014 --> 00:24:48,187
Now it'll be two
years pretty soon that

536
00:24:48,253 --> 00:24:51,590
I bought this here
and I had never made

537
00:24:51,656 --> 00:24:53,659
a carpet before. I
didn't have any idea

538
00:24:53,725 --> 00:24:54,850
what you're supposed to do.

539
00:24:55,093 --> 00:24:57,062
Now, if I could have watched Grandma

540
00:24:57,128 --> 00:25:02,101
now thinking about it, she could have

541
00:25:02,167 --> 00:25:03,401
probably taught me lots.

542
00:25:04,035 --> 00:25:05,905
And I'm sure there were a lot of

543
00:25:05,971 --> 00:25:07,606
mistakes. And
there probably is still,

544
00:25:07,873 --> 00:25:09,308
you know, that somebody
would come here

545
00:25:09,374 --> 00:25:11,210
that made carpets for years.

546
00:25:11,276 --> 00:25:12,611
Why are you doing it that way?

547
00:25:12,677 --> 00:25:14,346
You know, do it this way.

548
00:25:18,283 --> 00:25:22,454
Now we've got string on here so it

549
00:25:22,520 --> 00:25:23,555
doesn't come loose.

550
00:25:24,089 --> 00:25:25,857
The string is so close to each other,

551
00:25:26,324 --> 00:25:27,526
it locked this in here.

552
00:25:27,592 --> 00:25:29,562
You know, like now
if you took this off

553
00:25:29,628 --> 00:25:31,530
here, this would all come loose from

554
00:25:31,596 --> 00:25:34,466
here. So we put the string to that.

555
00:25:36,902 --> 00:25:38,070
You get about a half inch.

556
00:25:38,136 --> 00:25:38,870
So that's about.

557
00:25:44,976 --> 00:25:46,712
See they're going so close together,

558
00:25:46,778 --> 00:25:50,883
these are that it can't possibly come

559
00:25:50,949 --> 00:25:51,950
loose no more.

560
00:25:55,687 --> 00:25:58,857
(Loom banging)

561
00:26:00,492 --> 00:26:03,896
I enjoyed this, but it does get old,

562
00:26:03,962 --> 00:26:04,997
this does.

563
00:26:05,063 --> 00:26:06,598
I mean, put so much time in it.

564
00:26:07,265 --> 00:26:10,302
It's already getting
to be, you know, a

565
00:26:10,368 --> 00:26:13,572
job when it gets to be that, you have

566
00:26:13,638 --> 00:26:16,508
to do it. It's not fun anymore.

567
00:26:16,875 --> 00:26:18,510
It's just a pastime, really.

568
00:26:19,811 --> 00:26:27,358
(Finnish Kantele Music)

569
00:26:34,259 --> 00:26:35,694
My aunt always said it was to get the

570
00:26:35,760 --> 00:26:39,431
last use out of clothes that had been

571
00:26:40,098 --> 00:26:42,234
handed down, the family, large

572
00:26:42,300 --> 00:26:44,603
families, the clothes
were handed down,

573
00:26:44,669 --> 00:26:45,971
and then when there was nothing else

574
00:26:46,037 --> 00:26:47,573
you could do with
that, it went into a

575
00:26:47,639 --> 00:26:51,209
rug and still have some use.

576
00:26:51,343 --> 00:26:53,078
I remember learning
about recycling in

577
00:26:53,144 --> 00:26:54,580
school and thinking it was kind of

578
00:26:54,646 --> 00:26:57,216
silly because, well,
we just did that,

579
00:26:57,282 --> 00:26:58,984
you know, that was just part of what

580
00:26:59,451 --> 00:27:00,719
weaving was about.

581
00:27:00,819 --> 00:27:04,189
And the whole thing
about doing rugs was

582
00:27:04,255 --> 00:27:06,659
the the reusability of everything.

583
00:27:06,725 --> 00:27:08,360
Nothing was left to waste.

584
00:27:08,860 --> 00:27:14,300
They really strove to do a good job

585
00:27:14,366 --> 00:27:15,467
with whatever they had.

586
00:27:16,234 --> 00:27:18,938
And that's, you
know, you had to here.

587
00:27:19,004 --> 00:27:21,507
You had to be able to do everything

588
00:27:21,573 --> 00:27:24,075
yourself, including
making those looms.

589
00:27:24,376 --> 00:27:26,612
As you saw, not
everybody could afford

590
00:27:26,678 --> 00:27:27,912
a factory made one at all.

591
00:27:28,613 --> 00:27:34,219
Oh, Anna. She was
just she she worked so

592
00:27:34,285 --> 00:27:35,554
hard all her life.

593
00:27:35,620 --> 00:27:39,592
And she was the ultimate recycler, I

594
00:27:39,658 --> 00:27:41,126
think. You know, it was so funny

595
00:27:41,192 --> 00:27:43,829
because sometimes,
you know, I thought

596
00:27:43,895 --> 00:27:46,365
I was a recycler. And so I would talk

597
00:27:46,431 --> 00:27:50,769
to Anna and, you know, she would she

598
00:27:50,835 --> 00:27:52,471
would show me that
her garbage for the

599
00:27:52,537 --> 00:27:54,239
week was in a little
bag about this big

600
00:27:54,372 --> 00:27:55,407
you know.

601
00:27:55,473 --> 00:27:58,210
She I mean, she would
take the newspaper

602
00:27:58,276 --> 00:28:01,480
from her friend's house.

603
00:28:01,546 --> 00:28:02,615
She borrowed, you know, take the

604
00:28:02,681 --> 00:28:04,282
newspaper and burned it in her sauna.

605
00:28:04,516 --> 00:28:05,851
And I mean, she just completely

606
00:28:05,917 --> 00:28:07,252
recycled everything.

607
00:28:08,553 --> 00:28:10,489
When they cut the
rugs, of course, they

608
00:28:10,555 --> 00:28:14,526
had to save everything,
and so the wood

609
00:28:14,592 --> 00:28:19,064
bobbins or the wood spools for the

610
00:28:19,130 --> 00:28:20,265
thread are amazing to me.

611
00:28:20,331 --> 00:28:22,601
And she saved every single one, not

612
00:28:22,667 --> 00:28:24,403
just the wooden
ones or lots of plastic

613
00:28:24,469 --> 00:28:27,373
ones. And I wondered
why she would save

614
00:28:27,439 --> 00:28:29,474
every single spool.

615
00:28:29,674 --> 00:28:31,176
What would she reuse them for?

616
00:28:31,242 --> 00:28:32,778
But again, it was the waste not, want

617
00:28:32,844 --> 00:28:35,414
not, the frugality of the Finnish

618
00:28:35,480 --> 00:28:37,683
Americans. And also
growing up poor and

619
00:28:37,749 --> 00:28:40,052
living poor here on the farm, every

620
00:28:40,118 --> 00:28:41,986
single button had to be saved.

621
00:28:42,821 --> 00:28:45,557
And so I have a large collection of

622
00:28:45,623 --> 00:28:48,060
very cool vintage buttons that I

623
00:28:48,126 --> 00:28:49,862
actually keep in glass canisters at

624
00:28:49,928 --> 00:28:52,331
home on display here
we have commodity

625
00:28:52,397 --> 00:28:54,432
cheese, but it's labeled zippers.

626
00:28:54,866 --> 00:28:58,337
And inside you
have zippers, all sorts

627
00:28:58,403 --> 00:28:59,905
of zippers, different
sizes, different

628
00:28:59,971 --> 00:29:01,874
colors.

629
00:29:01,940 --> 00:29:04,410
Things like this. Can you guess what

630
00:29:04,476 --> 00:29:07,680
that is? I'm assuming it's a bunch of

631
00:29:07,746 --> 00:29:09,782
elastics from men's
underwear that you

632
00:29:09,848 --> 00:29:11,316
save that because you never know when

633
00:29:11,382 --> 00:29:12,466
you might need it I guess.

634
00:29:12,617 --> 00:29:14,920
I guess she was
recycling before people

635
00:29:14,986 --> 00:29:17,222
knew the word recycling, I think.

636
00:29:17,288 --> 00:29:18,457
My mother got this idea.

637
00:29:18,523 --> 00:29:21,126
She wanted to make a rug out of

638
00:29:21,192 --> 00:29:24,395
plastic. And so
anybody that got within

639
00:29:24,762 --> 00:29:26,832
her reach, she would say, if you had

640
00:29:26,898 --> 00:29:29,434
any plastic bag, don't
throw them away,

641
00:29:29,834 --> 00:29:31,002
I'm going to make a rug.

642
00:29:31,703 --> 00:29:32,871
And that's what she did.

643
00:29:33,371 --> 00:29:35,774
Yeah. And it took lots of Bunny Bread

644
00:29:35,840 --> 00:29:36,875
bags.

645
00:29:36,941 --> 00:29:38,744
Neighbors and
everybody else had to save

646
00:29:38,810 --> 00:29:41,279
for them. And then
you'd maybe get one.

647
00:29:41,846 --> 00:29:45,384
Just think very, very
few people bought

648
00:29:45,450 --> 00:29:46,684
bread them days.

649
00:29:47,886 --> 00:29:49,254
It was all homemade bread.

650
00:29:50,688 --> 00:29:53,826
I always say these
these rugs have more

651
00:29:53,892 --> 00:29:56,294
miles on them than a '57 Chevy.

652
00:29:57,162 --> 00:29:58,396
I've had them here.

653
00:30:00,098 --> 00:30:02,968
I lived in Waupun,
I lived in Stoughton

654
00:30:03,034 --> 00:30:05,404
and they always came
with me, you know,

655
00:30:05,470 --> 00:30:07,106
they've been back for twenty years.

656
00:30:07,172 --> 00:30:08,940
I've been back here now that long.

657
00:30:10,074 --> 00:30:11,176
They're hard to find.

658
00:30:11,509 --> 00:30:12,777
Old ones, new ones.

659
00:30:13,244 --> 00:30:14,979
Very hard to find these days.

660
00:30:15,346 --> 00:30:17,149
A lot of the elderly ladies who made

661
00:30:17,215 --> 00:30:19,184
them aren't making them anymore.

662
00:30:19,250 --> 00:30:21,320
And every once in a while I talk to

663
00:30:21,386 --> 00:30:23,355
someone from the
family of someone who

664
00:30:23,421 --> 00:30:25,657
did make rag rugs and they said, oh,

665
00:30:25,723 --> 00:30:26,848
it's still in the basement.

666
00:30:27,792 --> 00:30:28,993
Is it any good anymore?

667
00:30:29,727 --> 00:30:30,361
I don't know.

668
00:30:31,162 --> 00:30:32,996
And you have to be
careful how you wash them.

669
00:30:33,198 --> 00:30:35,067
How you clean them.
But if you put them in

670
00:30:35,133 --> 00:30:37,136
the washing machine, it doesn't take

671
00:30:37,202 --> 00:30:39,437
very long before they're gone.

672
00:30:40,071 --> 00:30:41,673
they just turn into rags.

673
00:30:42,473 --> 00:30:44,209
The best way to clean them is to take

674
00:30:44,275 --> 00:30:46,010
them out after there's
been a new snow

675
00:30:46,644 --> 00:30:47,746
and clean them with snow.

676
00:30:47,812 --> 00:30:49,882
Just keep brushing snow on them.

677
00:30:49,948 --> 00:30:50,882
With the broom

678
00:30:51,883 --> 00:30:59,027
(Kantele music and wind noise)

679
00:31:04,028 --> 00:31:06,297
She says, take them
outside on a snowy

680
00:31:06,531 --> 00:31:08,500
you have fresh snow
and just shake them

681
00:31:08,566 --> 00:31:10,736
into that snow and
it brightens up the

682
00:31:10,802 --> 00:31:12,638
rug and all of your dirt gets left on

683
00:31:12,704 --> 00:31:13,371
the snow.

684
00:31:13,605 --> 00:31:15,307
My grandmother
used to like now if there

685
00:31:15,373 --> 00:31:17,342
is fresh snow like
that, she'd just put

686
00:31:17,408 --> 00:31:18,950
them out there and take the broom and

687
00:31:19,043 --> 00:31:20,712
just sweep all over them.

688
00:31:20,979 --> 00:31:22,347
And, you know, they lived on a farm.

689
00:31:22,413 --> 00:31:26,318
So and that's how she cleaned them in

690
00:31:26,384 --> 00:31:27,385
the wintertime. Always.

691
00:31:27,785 --> 00:31:35,628
(Kantele music and wind noise)

692
00:31:36,694 --> 00:31:39,431
We used our carpets all the time that

693
00:31:39,497 --> 00:31:43,302
our mummus wove
for us and in due time

694
00:31:43,368 --> 00:31:46,405
because of people walking on them or

695
00:31:46,471 --> 00:31:49,908
the age of them,
they took the wear and

696
00:31:50,642 --> 00:31:52,343
became a little destroyed.

697
00:31:52,710 --> 00:31:54,812
These are probably 100 years old.

698
00:31:54,979 --> 00:31:56,414
This one is nice and wore

699
00:32:00,952 --> 00:32:02,988
. But again, we're
going to preserve the

700
00:32:03,054 --> 00:32:05,791
good parts and make pillow covers out

701
00:32:05,857 --> 00:32:07,693
of them. There's still there's some

702
00:32:07,759 --> 00:32:10,562
good weaving still left in it and we

703
00:32:10,628 --> 00:32:13,398
thought we need to save some of our

704
00:32:13,464 --> 00:32:15,767
good rugs that our mummus wove.

705
00:32:16,000 --> 00:32:19,471
Now, I have mine
hanging on my bedroom

706
00:32:19,537 --> 00:32:21,874
wall in my Florida home, a beautiful

707
00:32:21,940 --> 00:32:23,141
rug from my Mummu.

708
00:32:23,641 --> 00:32:25,877
And I found it in a garage all curled

709
00:32:25,943 --> 00:32:27,579
up in a ball. And I said, I'm

710
00:32:27,645 --> 00:32:29,748
preserving this. My little brother in

711
00:32:29,814 --> 00:32:32,317
Detroit, he has his encased in a big

712
00:32:32,383 --> 00:32:34,185
glass display.

713
00:32:34,686 --> 00:32:36,355
Now, they made
them for their stairs as

714
00:32:36,421 --> 00:32:38,289
well, going up and down their stairs.

715
00:32:38,589 --> 00:32:40,692
Yeah, this is a bound one and using

716
00:32:40,758 --> 00:32:44,195
lighter rag strips.

717
00:32:44,796 --> 00:32:46,732
And there is more
of a pattern in this

718
00:32:46,798 --> 00:32:51,035
one as well. The 13 years I was alive

719
00:32:51,202 --> 00:32:55,507
when with my mummu
she died in 1967, I

720
00:32:55,573 --> 00:32:59,444
believe I learned
a lot and appreciate

721
00:32:59,510 --> 00:33:01,313
my culture. She
taught me to stay real

722
00:33:01,379 --> 00:33:04,650
close to nature, to
be honest, to work

723
00:33:04,716 --> 00:33:08,553
hard and to never give up.

724
00:33:09,253 --> 00:33:14,359
So we have fond, fond
memories of Mummu

725
00:33:15,493 --> 00:33:19,097
and Papa. This is
our our grandma door.

726
00:33:19,797 --> 00:33:23,835
And on this side
is their history, the

727
00:33:23,901 --> 00:33:25,504
history of how they got together.

728
00:33:25,570 --> 00:33:28,407
And this is the favorite picture that

729
00:33:28,473 --> 00:33:30,976
we love of them. And then on the back

730
00:33:31,042 --> 00:33:36,114
of it was our, was our representation

731
00:33:36,180 --> 00:33:37,982
of of the rug she made.

732
00:33:39,217 --> 00:33:41,053
We didn't get the
stitching in, but my

733
00:33:41,119 --> 00:33:44,222
mother and my Auntie Liz and I made

734
00:33:44,288 --> 00:33:50,162
this this was our
tribute to to mummu.

735
00:33:50,228 --> 00:33:52,797
The rugs on this
end of the rope, these

736
00:33:52,930 --> 00:33:57,069
were all done by Lydia Tuominen, who

737
00:33:57,135 --> 00:34:00,938
was a good friend of both of ours.

738
00:34:01,539 --> 00:34:05,811
There was a Maytag
place down on Front

739
00:34:05,877 --> 00:34:07,212
Street and she used to bring her

740
00:34:07,278 --> 00:34:09,848
carpets down there
to sell and he'd put

741
00:34:09,914 --> 00:34:10,916
them in the window for her.

742
00:34:10,982 --> 00:34:12,951
And she sold them how much a foot?

743
00:34:13,017 --> 00:34:15,487
A dollar fifty a foot, she sold them

744
00:34:15,553 --> 00:34:20,391
for in the late 1950s and 60s.

745
00:34:23,227 --> 00:34:24,663
My grandmother used to like she, made

746
00:34:24,729 --> 00:34:27,099
them for people
most of the time, about

747
00:34:27,165 --> 00:34:29,301
a dollar and a half, I think for a

748
00:34:29,367 --> 00:34:29,967
carpet.

749
00:34:31,402 --> 00:34:36,775
Back in the late 80s
and early 90s when

750
00:34:36,841 --> 00:34:37,909
I was in college.

751
00:34:37,975 --> 00:34:39,811
This is how I actually
spent my summers

752
00:34:39,877 --> 00:34:42,714
earning money for college, was making

753
00:34:42,780 --> 00:34:46,818
rugs 40 cents an
inch rings a bell, but

754
00:34:46,884 --> 00:34:47,885
I really can't remember.

755
00:34:48,052 --> 00:34:51,189
People would just
come to the house to

756
00:34:51,255 --> 00:34:54,059
buy rugs. You know, they hear through

757
00:34:54,125 --> 00:34:55,660
from everybody that we made them.

758
00:34:57,495 --> 00:35:00,832
Growing up, I remember
always going to

759
00:35:01,532 --> 00:35:03,068
the craft sale in
November, that was a

760
00:35:03,134 --> 00:35:04,469
big deal to go with grandma.

761
00:35:04,535 --> 00:35:06,571
I think half the fun
was going there and

762
00:35:06,637 --> 00:35:08,607
listening to her brag about being the

763
00:35:08,673 --> 00:35:10,942
fifth generation in
the family weaving.

764
00:35:11,008 --> 00:35:13,044
And she was always
so proud to show all

765
00:35:13,110 --> 00:35:15,046
of her friends who
would come and would

766
00:35:15,313 --> 00:35:16,681
buy year after year.

767
00:35:16,848 --> 00:35:18,316
Oh this is something that my

768
00:35:18,382 --> 00:35:20,085
granddaughter wove.

769
00:35:20,151 --> 00:35:22,721
And then it was a
fun bonding time just

770
00:35:22,787 --> 00:35:25,357
to be with mom and
grandma and to watch

771
00:35:25,423 --> 00:35:27,158
them interact with their customers.

772
00:35:27,425 --> 00:35:28,794
Seemed like she knew everybody.

773
00:35:28,860 --> 00:35:30,562
And I think most
people were strangers.

774
00:35:30,628 --> 00:35:32,230
But she could always
find a connection

775
00:35:32,296 --> 00:35:34,566
with people when when she was talking

776
00:35:34,632 --> 00:35:36,216
about rugs or
anything for that matter.

777
00:35:37,368 --> 00:35:39,704
And that was her her way of getting

778
00:35:39,770 --> 00:35:41,306
Christmas money. She would weave all

779
00:35:41,372 --> 00:35:43,909
year and sell at the Christmas crafts

780
00:35:43,975 --> 00:35:45,810
sale to have Christmas money.

781
00:35:48,713 --> 00:35:50,915
She sold a lot of her rugs to

782
00:35:51,482 --> 00:35:53,317
acquaintances through word of mouth,

783
00:35:53,784 --> 00:35:56,421
but she also consigned
at the hardware

784
00:35:56,487 --> 00:35:57,622
store in South Range.

785
00:35:57,989 --> 00:35:59,524
She never drove in her life.

786
00:35:59,590 --> 00:36:02,260
And so my grandpa would deliver them

787
00:36:02,360 --> 00:36:04,362
and then he would
pick up the cash from

788
00:36:04,428 --> 00:36:05,596
the most recent batch.

789
00:36:06,097 --> 00:36:08,733
And since he worked
in the woods at the

790
00:36:08,799 --> 00:36:10,635
logging camps, they didn't have a lot

791
00:36:10,701 --> 00:36:13,171
of income. And so these rugs were a

792
00:36:13,237 --> 00:36:15,907
welcome source of
more money for them.

793
00:36:17,742 --> 00:36:19,845
At the crafts sales,
you can always see

794
00:36:19,911 --> 00:36:22,547
those people that
are surprised at the

795
00:36:22,613 --> 00:36:26,284
price. I do by the
piece, what it looks

796
00:36:26,350 --> 00:36:28,386
like, the size, the
fabric, how long it

797
00:36:28,452 --> 00:36:29,387
took me to weave it.

798
00:36:29,453 --> 00:36:31,857
But I would say an average is thirty

799
00:36:31,923 --> 00:36:33,991
five, thirty six dollars a yard.

800
00:36:35,159 --> 00:36:36,962
People a lot of times
don't understand

801
00:36:37,028 --> 00:36:40,231
all the time that goes into making a

802
00:36:40,798 --> 00:36:43,001
handmade product. They look at the

803
00:36:43,067 --> 00:36:44,169
price and they're
thinking like, oh, I

804
00:36:44,235 --> 00:36:46,671
can buy a rug much
cheaper that's made

805
00:36:46,737 --> 00:36:50,442
in the store but.
There's a lot of time

806
00:36:50,508 --> 00:36:55,213
that goes into making
something homemade.

807
00:36:55,680 --> 00:36:58,083
People would ask me, how long does it

808
00:36:58,149 --> 00:36:59,584
take to weave a rug?

809
00:36:59,984 --> 00:37:02,254
And I say, well, it takes, you know,

810
00:37:02,320 --> 00:37:04,622
three days, you
have to warp the loom,

811
00:37:04,922 --> 00:37:06,958
you have to cut the rags sew the rags

812
00:37:07,024 --> 00:37:10,729
and then you weave. So how much is

813
00:37:10,795 --> 00:37:13,098
three days of full,
three days of work

814
00:37:13,164 --> 00:37:15,467
worth? You know,
and then the materials

815
00:37:15,533 --> 00:37:17,536
and stuff is the materials aren't the

816
00:37:17,602 --> 00:37:20,538
big expense, it's the labor.

817
00:37:21,205 --> 00:37:23,574
You know, the only
thing is if you buy

818
00:37:24,141 --> 00:37:25,844
one at the store and it has a foam

819
00:37:25,910 --> 00:37:27,979
backing on it, you
might as well throw

820
00:37:28,045 --> 00:37:29,714
it away after a year because that

821
00:37:29,780 --> 00:37:31,716
backing is on your floor and all over

822
00:37:31,782 --> 00:37:35,519
everything else.
I'm sure these are as

823
00:37:35,820 --> 00:37:37,556
sturdy as one that comes out of a

824
00:37:37,622 --> 00:37:38,856
factory and maybe better.

825
00:37:44,061 --> 00:37:46,797
You can tell if a carpet is a good

826
00:37:47,031 --> 00:37:48,966
quality type carpet by

827
00:37:49,400 --> 00:37:52,003
Letting it roll, you roll it up like

828
00:37:52,069 --> 00:37:52,669
this.

829
00:37:58,776 --> 00:38:01,880
And once you roll
it, it should be able

830
00:38:01,946 --> 00:38:05,350
to stand on its own,
and that's a nice

831
00:38:05,416 --> 00:38:10,188
tight carpet. My
mother used to do what

832
00:38:10,254 --> 00:38:13,358
she called hit-and-miss,
she did not do

833
00:38:13,424 --> 00:38:15,860
a pattern with it and it's whatever

834
00:38:15,926 --> 00:38:17,762
there was and that's
how I came to that

835
00:38:17,828 --> 00:38:19,764
time. You can see
the warp, the colors

836
00:38:19,830 --> 00:38:22,067
it was so that kind of stands out a

837
00:38:22,133 --> 00:38:24,069
little bit. And you can see how

838
00:38:24,135 --> 00:38:26,837
fringed, really worn.

839
00:38:26,904 --> 00:38:29,040
You can tell this
has been used a lot.

840
00:38:29,540 --> 00:38:31,276
But sometimes
grandma's whole rug would

841
00:38:31,342 --> 00:38:33,878
be all patterns, things that had

842
00:38:34,045 --> 00:38:37,449
herringbone or plaids or flowers or

843
00:38:37,515 --> 00:38:39,284
things like that.
That's what Mom said.

844
00:38:39,350 --> 00:38:41,086
It was always fun
to start a new rug to

845
00:38:41,152 --> 00:38:43,688
see how those colors
were going to mix

846
00:38:43,754 --> 00:38:45,724
and blend.

847
00:38:45,790 --> 00:38:48,360
Or what pattern, yeah and that the

848
00:38:48,426 --> 00:38:50,261
pattern kind of depends on what you

849
00:38:50,327 --> 00:38:52,063
have. Do you have long strips?

850
00:38:52,129 --> 00:38:53,565
Do you have just
short strips that you

851
00:38:53,631 --> 00:38:55,967
want to do a hit and miss type or the

852
00:38:56,033 --> 00:38:58,102
long ones you can get banded?

853
00:38:59,136 --> 00:39:01,272
She, as far as I can see exclusively,

854
00:39:01,338 --> 00:39:03,241
did hit-and-miss.

855
00:39:03,307 --> 00:39:06,945
Hit-and-miss is
essentially where there

856
00:39:07,011 --> 00:39:09,547
is no pattern to the colors.

857
00:39:09,613 --> 00:39:13,017
You just randomly
adding the different

858
00:39:13,484 --> 00:39:15,887
cloth strips. You're
not creating clear

859
00:39:15,953 --> 00:39:18,656
bands as you're going through, which

860
00:39:19,256 --> 00:39:20,725
you're pretty limited when you have a

861
00:39:20,791 --> 00:39:22,694
Union 36 loom as to what you can do

862
00:39:22,760 --> 00:39:25,530
anyway, but it's
just not creating any

863
00:39:25,596 --> 00:39:27,298
specific striping pattern.

864
00:39:28,265 --> 00:39:32,270
This is a chasing
chasing pattern where,

865
00:39:32,336 --> 00:39:35,807
well it's a pattern where when you're

866
00:39:35,873 --> 00:39:38,843
weaving you put certain rags in a

867
00:39:38,909 --> 00:39:41,713
certain order and then you go back to

868
00:39:41,779 --> 00:39:43,348
the light, to the dark, to the light,

869
00:39:43,414 --> 00:39:46,985
to the dark. I majored
in clothing and

870
00:39:47,051 --> 00:39:49,553
textiles at Michigan State University

871
00:39:50,087 --> 00:39:53,958
and that's where I
first saw the looms.

872
00:39:54,625 --> 00:39:57,762
I was walking upstairs in the textile

873
00:39:58,062 --> 00:40:01,132
building and I saw these looms in a

874
00:40:01,198 --> 00:40:02,740
room and it just
kind of sucked me in,

875
00:40:03,134 --> 00:40:06,404
you know. And I saw about 14 looms in

876
00:40:06,470 --> 00:40:08,206
there. Nobody was
in the room and there

877
00:40:08,272 --> 00:40:09,474
was all these projects on them.

878
00:40:09,540 --> 00:40:11,443
And so I knew I
wanted to learn how to

879
00:40:11,509 --> 00:40:15,079
weave. And then I met Anna Lassila.

880
00:40:15,312 --> 00:40:19,950
She was a master
rug maker and weaver.

881
00:40:20,217 --> 00:40:21,986
So I did an apprenticeship with her.

882
00:40:22,119 --> 00:40:23,955
We did braiding
and then I did another

883
00:40:24,021 --> 00:40:26,891
apprenticeship with
her doing rag rugs

884
00:40:27,158 --> 00:40:29,194
. After I started
weaving with rags, I

885
00:40:29,260 --> 00:40:31,463
never went back. I just I have only

886
00:40:31,529 --> 00:40:33,431
been weaving with rags since then.

887
00:40:34,231 --> 00:40:35,867
Something special about rags, it's

888
00:40:35,933 --> 00:40:36,901
different than yarn.

889
00:40:36,967 --> 00:40:40,638
It's different than, you know, just

890
00:40:40,805 --> 00:40:42,707
making a pattern because there's a

891
00:40:42,773 --> 00:40:45,777
pattern in the rugs,
in the rags and in

892
00:40:45,843 --> 00:40:48,345
the way the warp is on the loom.

893
00:40:48,646 --> 00:40:51,082
So it all interacts
and it's, every rug

894
00:40:51,148 --> 00:40:52,817
is different. Even if
you make the same

895
00:40:52,883 --> 00:40:54,652
rug again, it's
always different stuff.

896
00:40:54,785 --> 00:40:58,757
One time in our
weaving group, someone

897
00:40:58,823 --> 00:41:01,993
asked Anna, they asked her the

898
00:41:02,059 --> 00:41:03,795
question, are you still weaving with

899
00:41:03,861 --> 00:41:07,532
those rags? And so
that's when Anna and

900
00:41:07,598 --> 00:41:09,667
I stopped going to the meeting.

901
00:41:11,135 --> 00:41:15,673
And you know she was very insulted.

902
00:41:16,607 --> 00:41:18,410
And so we just did
our own thing after

903
00:41:18,476 --> 00:41:19,878
that. We didn't we just didn't go to

904
00:41:19,944 --> 00:41:23,447
that weaving group anymore.

905
00:41:23,781 --> 00:41:26,084
You know, she was just she was very

906
00:41:26,150 --> 00:41:28,052
special. She was
like a grandma to me.

907
00:41:30,754 --> 00:41:33,792
I think my connection with weaving

908
00:41:33,858 --> 00:41:35,894
through the years has been mostly

909
00:41:35,960 --> 00:41:37,495
through teaching and demonstrating to

910
00:41:37,561 --> 00:41:41,599
others. My first
apprentice was Vivian,

911
00:41:41,732 --> 00:41:43,701
Anna's niece. We started an

912
00:41:43,767 --> 00:41:45,437
apprenticeship that
was supposed to be

913
00:41:45,503 --> 00:41:46,805
eight months long and was probably

914
00:41:46,871 --> 00:41:47,972
about 10 years.

915
00:41:48,272 --> 00:41:50,408
She was always
planning on making rugs

916
00:41:50,474 --> 00:41:52,444
with her aunt, Anna.
And unfortunately,

917
00:41:52,510 --> 00:41:55,146
Anna had had a stroke like within a

918
00:41:55,212 --> 00:41:57,581
couple months of her moving up here.

919
00:41:58,349 --> 00:42:02,320
And so she couldn't
talk so they called

920
00:42:02,386 --> 00:42:07,992
me. And I was able
to help Vivian make,

921
00:42:08,058 --> 00:42:11,396
you know, learn her craft, because I

922
00:42:11,462 --> 00:42:12,897
knew, you know, I
had worked with Anna

923
00:42:12,963 --> 00:42:14,532
for so many years.
I knew exactly what

924
00:42:14,598 --> 00:42:15,699
she wanted to tell her.

925
00:42:16,066 --> 00:42:18,169
So Anna would come, we would all be

926
00:42:18,235 --> 00:42:21,739
together and Anna
would sit there and I

927
00:42:21,805 --> 00:42:25,076
would give Vivian the directions and

928
00:42:25,142 --> 00:42:26,777
show her actually how to do it.

929
00:42:27,111 --> 00:42:29,147
And then if it wasn't
right, Anna would

930
00:42:29,213 --> 00:42:33,017
go hmmm, you know, she would tell us.

931
00:42:33,083 --> 00:42:34,752
She knew everything
that was going on.

932
00:42:35,085 --> 00:42:36,988
And so this was a
wonderful way for us

933
00:42:37,054 --> 00:42:41,225
to keep our tradition alive with,

934
00:42:41,525 --> 00:42:42,927
between the generations.

935
00:42:43,193 --> 00:42:44,829
And we really enjoyed it.

936
00:42:44,895 --> 00:42:49,099
And it was fun. Vivian has gone on to

937
00:42:49,199 --> 00:42:53,170
make spectacular rugs room size rugs.

938
00:42:53,671 --> 00:42:55,707
She is an artist and in her own right

939
00:42:55,773 --> 00:42:56,941
she was before.

940
00:42:57,007 --> 00:42:59,077
But I mean, she really did some

941
00:42:59,143 --> 00:43:00,411
beautiful, beautiful work.

942
00:43:01,078 --> 00:43:04,182
This is a five strand
braided rug that I

943
00:43:04,248 --> 00:43:06,317
learned how to make
from a woman named

944
00:43:06,383 --> 00:43:08,920
Vivian Huotari. So
I thought, these are

945
00:43:08,986 --> 00:43:10,889
beautiful because
you can see this has

946
00:43:10,955 --> 00:43:13,524
a pattern within a pattern and you do

947
00:43:13,590 --> 00:43:15,593
it all with color.
We've been using it

948
00:43:15,659 --> 00:43:17,629
for quite a few
years ago, quite a few

949
00:43:17,695 --> 00:43:19,797
years now. They stand up very well.

950
00:43:20,197 --> 00:43:22,800
When I first started
doing braid rugs,

951
00:43:23,067 --> 00:43:24,736
that was in the 1970s.

952
00:43:24,802 --> 00:43:28,907
And you would use recycled wool.

953
00:43:28,973 --> 00:43:31,376
I would go to places like St Vincent,

954
00:43:31,442 --> 00:43:33,912
Salvation Army, and
I would get pleated

955
00:43:33,978 --> 00:43:36,413
skirts for 10 cents.

956
00:43:36,914 --> 00:43:38,583
And if you took them apart, right,

957
00:43:38,649 --> 00:43:40,318
you'd end up with
a great big piece of

958
00:43:40,384 --> 00:43:41,719
material wool.

959
00:43:42,219 --> 00:43:44,989
And I made I made
three rugs that way.

960
00:43:45,522 --> 00:43:46,991
I suppose finding the wool is the

961
00:43:47,057 --> 00:43:49,727
hardest thing, finding the wool.

962
00:43:49,793 --> 00:43:51,596
I mean, you could
go out and buy wool,

963
00:43:51,662 --> 00:43:53,564
but that's not the point you want.

964
00:43:53,764 --> 00:43:55,767
Yeah, there are
actually some skirts in

965
00:43:55,833 --> 00:43:59,304
there like this would
be skirt material

966
00:43:59,370 --> 00:44:01,739
right here. Who knows how old that

967
00:44:01,805 --> 00:44:04,375
skirt is. That's amazing how old that

968
00:44:04,441 --> 00:44:06,510
skirt probably is
and it's still going.

969
00:44:07,144 --> 00:44:09,213
This rug, I hope, will outlive me.

970
00:44:10,280 --> 00:44:12,316
To me, it's a it's an art form.

971
00:44:12,583 --> 00:44:13,551
I just I love it.

972
00:44:13,617 --> 00:44:17,555
I love the traditions of the teachers

973
00:44:17,621 --> 00:44:18,589
that have taught me.

974
00:44:19,056 --> 00:44:21,959
This is especially
what the women in the

975
00:44:22,960 --> 00:44:27,231
the area here did, very high end

976
00:44:27,297 --> 00:44:29,634
artisan work, no matter what it was

977
00:44:29,700 --> 00:44:31,669
that people did.
They did it very, very

978
00:44:31,735 --> 00:44:35,473
well. So it wasn't
just a weekend craft

979
00:44:35,539 --> 00:44:36,507
or nightly craft.

980
00:44:36,573 --> 00:44:37,976
It was something they learned from

981
00:44:38,042 --> 00:44:38,876
their family.

982
00:44:39,443 --> 00:44:41,446
Rag rugs for many people are just

983
00:44:41,512 --> 00:44:42,880
something that's on the floor.

984
00:44:42,946 --> 00:44:44,982
And they're not considered an art.

985
00:44:45,783 --> 00:44:47,485
They're just, you know, a utilitarian

986
00:44:47,551 --> 00:44:51,990
object. But and so people think, oh,

987
00:44:52,056 --> 00:44:55,360
just rags. But when there was an

988
00:44:55,426 --> 00:44:58,029
exhibit at Finlandia
University, Yvonne

989
00:44:58,095 --> 00:45:01,466
Lockwood had the exhibit Rags, Rugs

990
00:45:01,532 --> 00:45:04,902
and Weavers, and all of a sudden rag

991
00:45:04,968 --> 00:45:05,869
rugs were art.

992
00:45:06,537 --> 00:45:11,909
(Old world accordion music)

993
00:45:22,553 --> 00:45:25,690
Shirley with her rug
at the Iron County

994
00:45:25,756 --> 00:45:28,359
Museum put on by Michigan State

995
00:45:28,425 --> 00:45:31,295
University with folklore specialist

996
00:45:31,361 --> 00:45:32,663
Yvonne Lockwood.

997
00:45:33,831 --> 00:45:40,871
(Old world accordion music)

998
00:46:29,353 --> 00:46:31,355
And that really, I
think, did change a

999
00:46:31,421 --> 00:46:33,891
lot of people's opinions in this area

1000
00:46:34,158 --> 00:46:37,161
about, you know, rag rugs.

1001
00:46:37,227 --> 00:46:38,996
People appreciated
them in a different

1002
00:46:39,062 --> 00:46:41,365
way. I love Yvonne also.

1003
00:46:41,632 --> 00:46:42,867
Every once in a while she'd mentioned

1004
00:46:42,933 --> 00:46:44,302
the book, you know, she'd say she was

1005
00:46:44,368 --> 00:46:46,104
working on a book.
And I thought, well,

1006
00:46:46,170 --> 00:46:47,705
it's gonna be a little paperback, you

1007
00:46:47,771 --> 00:46:49,273
know, a little book. And she'd talk

1008
00:46:49,339 --> 00:46:50,775
about it. Over the years it was

1009
00:46:50,841 --> 00:46:52,042
probably 20 years later.

1010
00:46:52,276 --> 00:46:53,778
And she said the book is done and I'm

1011
00:46:53,844 --> 00:46:54,912
sending you a copy.

1012
00:46:55,245 --> 00:46:57,381
So I thought, OK, this little book.

1013
00:46:57,748 --> 00:47:00,284
And when I got it, I was speechless.

1014
00:47:00,484 --> 00:47:03,554
I just could not
believe the work that

1015
00:47:03,620 --> 00:47:06,790
she had done with all of these women.

1016
00:47:07,558 --> 00:47:10,194
You know, for that
whole over the past

1017
00:47:10,260 --> 00:47:12,096
20 years of research.

1018
00:47:12,162 --> 00:47:14,765
I think that she did she just did a

1019
00:47:14,831 --> 00:47:16,667
beautiful job on that book.

1020
00:47:16,733 --> 00:47:19,303
And it was and it just became the rug

1021
00:47:19,369 --> 00:47:21,205
book, I think, in the whole area.

1022
00:47:21,471 --> 00:47:22,273
And so when you

1023
00:47:22,339 --> 00:47:24,976
see rag rug weavers talk about the

1024
00:47:25,042 --> 00:47:26,911
importance of Yvonne's book or of an

1025
00:47:26,977 --> 00:47:29,280
exhibit that she
did in about like 15,

1026
00:47:29,346 --> 00:47:31,849
20 years ago, it may
seem very lowly to

1027
00:47:31,915 --> 00:47:33,184
celebrate something that you put down

1028
00:47:33,250 --> 00:47:35,219
on the ground and walk on and that's

1029
00:47:35,285 --> 00:47:37,221
made out of rags.
It is still something

1030
00:47:37,287 --> 00:47:38,422
that's a high art and it's still

1031
00:47:38,488 --> 00:47:39,891
something that the
people who are part

1032
00:47:39,957 --> 00:47:41,359
of that community recognize and

1033
00:47:41,425 --> 00:47:44,194
appreciate. I cannot overstate enough

1034
00:47:44,561 --> 00:47:46,130
the work that Yvonne
Lockwood has done

1035
00:47:46,196 --> 00:47:47,498
to celebrate traditional artists

1036
00:47:47,564 --> 00:47:49,967
broadly and rag rug weavers in

1037
00:47:50,033 --> 00:47:50,701
particular.

1038
00:47:51,068 --> 00:47:54,171
Yvonne Lockwood came to visit my mom

1039
00:47:54,504 --> 00:47:56,974
several times to interview her, and

1040
00:47:57,808 --> 00:48:00,778
Yvonne liked to look around the farm

1041
00:48:00,844 --> 00:48:03,114
because mom would
show her like an old

1042
00:48:03,180 --> 00:48:07,517
rug would be on the tractor seat and

1043
00:48:07,784 --> 00:48:10,154
just find places where where the rag

1044
00:48:10,220 --> 00:48:13,191
rugs were which as
they got older, they

1045
00:48:13,257 --> 00:48:15,560
got moved around into the garage or

1046
00:48:15,626 --> 00:48:17,195
something. So that dad could lay on

1047
00:48:17,261 --> 00:48:19,730
them when he was
working on the tractor

1048
00:48:19,796 --> 00:48:22,567
or whatever. When she sent, mom a

1049
00:48:22,633 --> 00:48:24,802
complimentary copy, we were very

1050
00:48:24,868 --> 00:48:26,671
excited. I thought
she did a wonderful

1051
00:48:26,737 --> 00:48:29,173
job of that. So my book is signed by

1052
00:48:29,239 --> 00:48:30,675
both her and my mom.

1053
00:48:30,741 --> 00:48:35,712
So that's a cherished memory of her.

1054
00:48:40,517 --> 00:48:42,386
So I really felt a bond with my mom

1055
00:48:42,452 --> 00:48:47,925
through the weaving, and many, many

1056
00:48:47,991 --> 00:48:50,628
years ago my mom
gave me a little card

1057
00:48:50,694 --> 00:48:53,297
that had this poem
called "The Weaver"

1058
00:48:53,664 --> 00:48:56,500
on it. And I had it
thumbtacked on the

1059
00:48:56,566 --> 00:48:58,602
side of my loom here for years.

1060
00:48:59,069 --> 00:49:01,672
And when I went to
my dad's yesterday,

1061
00:49:01,738 --> 00:49:04,074
I looked at her loom and she has hers

1062
00:49:04,207 --> 00:49:05,643
thumb tacked right here.

1063
00:49:05,709 --> 00:49:07,979
It's called "The Weaver." My life is

1064
00:49:08,045 --> 00:49:10,280
but a weaving between
the Lord and me.

1065
00:49:11,448 --> 00:49:13,451
I cannot choose the colors.

1066
00:49:13,517 --> 00:49:15,453
He worketh steadily.

1067
00:49:15,519 --> 00:49:18,656
Ofttimes he weaveth sorrow and I in

1068
00:49:18,722 --> 00:49:21,559
foolish pride forget
he sees the upper

1069
00:49:21,625 --> 00:49:23,293
and I the underside.

1070
00:49:23,827 --> 00:49:25,930
Not till the loom is silent and the

1071
00:49:25,996 --> 00:49:27,664
shuttle ceases to fly.

1072
00:49:27,965 --> 00:49:31,335
Shall God unroll the
canvas and explain

1073
00:49:31,401 --> 00:49:35,306
the reason why the
dark threads are as

1074
00:49:35,372 --> 00:49:37,941
needed in the weaver's skillful hands

1075
00:49:38,175 --> 00:49:40,811
as the threads of gold and silver in

1076
00:49:40,877 --> 00:49:42,980
the pattern he has planned.

1077
00:49:43,880 --> 00:49:46,384
My mom was, had a great love for

1078
00:49:46,450 --> 00:49:48,552
weaving, but she also loved the Lord

1079
00:49:48,952 --> 00:49:52,723
and she knew that
he was the weaver of

1080
00:49:52,789 --> 00:49:55,426
her life. And that poem is just very

1081
00:49:55,492 --> 00:49:56,360
special to me.

1082
00:49:58,261 --> 00:50:02,633
So my grandma died
in 2004 and the farm

1083
00:50:02,699 --> 00:50:04,902
was largely abandoned.

1084
00:50:04,968 --> 00:50:08,806
Around 2016, I got the idea that I

1085
00:50:08,872 --> 00:50:10,107
wanted to come get the loom.

1086
00:50:10,474 --> 00:50:12,175
I didn't know how the loom worked.

1087
00:50:12,409 --> 00:50:13,944
And by myself, I took it apart.

1088
00:50:14,878 --> 00:50:16,881
Hauled the pieces
in my vehicle, tucked

1089
00:50:16,947 --> 00:50:18,215
them in between
blankets, brought them

1090
00:50:18,281 --> 00:50:20,785
home. And about a year later, I had a

1091
00:50:20,851 --> 00:50:21,986
friend come help me put it back

1092
00:50:22,052 --> 00:50:24,689
together as best we could from my

1093
00:50:24,755 --> 00:50:27,357
memory. I ended
up with an extra bolt,

1094
00:50:27,524 --> 00:50:29,359
a couple of nuts, a washer.

1095
00:50:29,626 --> 00:50:30,861
To this day, I don't know where they

1096
00:50:30,927 --> 00:50:34,265
go. I know they came off the loom and

1097
00:50:34,331 --> 00:50:38,769
then it was two
winters ago, I took the

1098
00:50:38,835 --> 00:50:40,203
weaving class at Finlandia.

1099
00:50:40,470 --> 00:50:42,773
And so then I was
able to make my first

1100
00:50:42,839 --> 00:50:48,446
rag rug and, that, making that

1101
00:50:48,512 --> 00:50:54,385
first rug rug, I, I
got so involved in

1102
00:50:54,451 --> 00:50:56,854
it and so absorbed in it.

1103
00:50:56,920 --> 00:51:02,059
And it was like meditating to me and

1104
00:51:02,459 --> 00:51:05,129
and I felt as I was doing it, like my

1105
00:51:05,195 --> 00:51:07,298
ancestors were in the room with me.

1106
00:51:07,364 --> 00:51:09,000
I felt like they were along the

1107
00:51:09,066 --> 00:51:10,468
perimeter sitting
there, standing there

1108
00:51:10,534 --> 00:51:13,304
watching and happy to see that I was

1109
00:51:13,370 --> 00:51:17,908
doing this. And I was so absorbed in

1110
00:51:17,974 --> 00:51:20,878
the project that maybe an hour had

1111
00:51:20,944 --> 00:51:24,715
passed. And I finally
really looked up

1112
00:51:24,781 --> 00:51:26,884
and I was shocked
because I had started

1113
00:51:26,950 --> 00:51:28,719
in that corner of the room and now I

1114
00:51:28,785 --> 00:51:30,154
had crossed all the way to the other

1115
00:51:30,220 --> 00:51:32,456
side of the room
from the beating down

1116
00:51:32,522 --> 00:51:34,358
of the weft. And so me and the loom

1117
00:51:34,424 --> 00:51:35,993
were gradually scooching across.

1118
00:51:36,059 --> 00:51:37,628
And I didn't even
notice because I was

1119
00:51:37,694 --> 00:51:39,162
so into the process.

1120
00:51:40,163 --> 00:51:44,501
(Live bluegrass music)

1121
00:52:45,228 --> 00:52:47,230
(Owl hooting)