Stories from 'Quest for Weaving'- young weavers showcase

We featured them in one of our newsletters last year, we featured them in our annual magazine too. And we intend to feature these brilliant children in the coming months and years as well.
 
The studio is buzzing with energy come Tuesdays and Fridays, thanks to these brilliant kids from ‘Quest’, the unschooling project. Children in the age group of just 10 – 12 years. They started with Rigid heddle looms and after a few months, some of them moved on to weaving on 4-shaft Ashford Table looms. Once they learnt the basics of pattern weaving, they went on to create some colourful twill projects. After seeing their imagination when they experimented with colours and twills, we were inspired to put them into something more! 
 
They were game for complexity and we were ready to whet their appetite. So, we got them started on double weaves! 
 
They set up the warp with 2 colours from mercerised cotton 5/2 yarn– one for the top layer and one for the bottom layer. Yes, can you believe they choose the colours, wind the warp using the Warping mill, load the 4 shaft loom, and do the drawing and denting and get the loom ready for weaving- all on their own?!
 
After learning the basics of double weaves like layered, non-layered, stitched, circular, double-width weaving and the possible combinations, they were ready for their project. They chose a multitude of colours from Yoga cotton nylon yarn for the project.
 
Man, you should see the number of colours they chose for the warp! Not satisfied with the complexity of what they were doing already, they wanted to learn how to bring up colours from the bottom layer to the top ‘at will’. So, we introduced them to double weave with pick-up! Oh yeah, the game starts now.
 
See one of the Quest children explaining how she does double weave with pick-up. 

 
Inspiring to see the young generation take up complex weaving and go at it. Whoever said hand weaving will die, please eat the humble pie and rest. It is all about how we take weaving forward and contemporarise it. Weaving is a puzzle. Weaving is a game. Weaving is knowledge. Weaving is creative. Much more than a skill-based craft. Wouldn’t you agree with us?