Handwoven Wearable Art

By Angie Johnson-Schmit

For as long as she can remember, weaver and artist Pennie Alexander has liked to keep her hands busy. “I’ve always done something in the arts, from the time I was just a little girl,” she said. Alexander recalls playing in her backyard under a flowering tree and sculpting animals out of the thick carpet of yellow flowers on the ground. “I've always been into making things with my hands. Always,” she said.

Her studio is overflowing with evidence of those busy hands, with almost an entire wall filled with skeins of yarn and dozens of hand-woven scarves and wraps. Those skillful fingers, combined with an analytical mind and a deft sense of color, texture and structure turn yarn into beautiful, warm, wearable art.

She is a spontaneous, experimental artist and finds inspiration and creative ideas everywhere.

“I can be walking down the street and I’ll look at a tree and…look at the texture on the bark,” said Alexander. “So, where do I get my ideas? They just pop when I see something,” she said.

In addition to that ever-present creative spark, Alexander also has the analytical mind needed to master her medium of choice. She bought her first loom 40 years ago from a weaver in California. The woman was leaving the country and Alexander only had a day’s worth of instruction on how to set up and operate the loom. Fortunately, Alexander had done her research. “I'd read every book on weaving I could get at the library,” she said. “I looked at the loom and I knew the loom parts, so it came pretty easy.”

Alexander may have grasped the fundamentals quickly, but preparing a loom is no small task.

“There’s more to weaving than just sitting down and weaving,” she said. “Who’s going to put that yarn on a loom for you? You have to learn the whole process.”

That process includes using a warping board to figure out exactly how much yarn you need and then fixing the cross on the loom before you even start dressing the loom. “You have to see it to understand how it’s really done,” said Alexander. Depending on the size and complexity of the weaving, it can take one day or several days to set up the loom.

When asked what it is about weaving that has held her interest, Alexander said, “I think basically it was the mechanics of it…it’s all done by you.” It takes time and experience to fully grasp the mechanics of weaving, but now that she has mastered the techniques, she can weave just about anything she can dream up.

“If we all looked at it the same way, how boring everything would be."

Decades later, Alexander still never seems to tire of planning her next textile adventure. She likes to put her ideas into action as quickly as possible and does not like to repeat herself. It’s no surprise that each handmade piece that comes off her loom is one-of-a-kind.

A new project almost always starts with choosing her colors. “I have a nice, comfortable chair in my studio,” she said. “I’ll look at all my yarn and all of a sudden I’ll think, oh yeah, that color will work.” Her favorites tend to be teals and purples as well as deep, bright jewel tones. “That’s what I think inspires me,” said Alexander. “It’s mostly color and some texture in the yarn…it’s like eye candy.”

Color is important to Alexander. “There’s something about color,” she said. She understands the complexities of color and is fascinated that some people can’t see color in quite the way she can. “All these colors are blended, and you can have a red…but it’s a red with a hint of something else in it,” said Alexander. Not everyone can spot that difference, but the artist believes it’s part of what makes the world interesting. “If we all looked at it the same way, how boring everything would be,” she said.

“I like weaving different things,” said Alexander. “I prefer just wearables, but I've done blankets and different things.” However, her favorite weaving projects tend to be ruanas. A ruana is a type of poncho wrap that is “open on the sides and open down the front and you can throw it over your shoulder,” she said.

Alexander especially likes the versatility of ruanas, noting that they can be made in any length and can be worn different ways for different looks. “There are just so many variables,” she said. “I like to do twisted fringe instead of just the long fringe, but…you can do all sorts of fun stuff.”

Although she uses a wide range of yarns, her favorites tend to be natural fiber yarns like alpaca, mohair, silk, and bamboo. She will occasionally use acrylic yarn, but she has a fondness for soft, supple natural fibers. “I love the yarns and I think that’s probably one of the reasons I started with the weaving,” she said.

Before moving to Prescott Valley, Alexander and her husband owned a ranch in Colorado. At one point she considered raising animals to make her own yarn, but quickly decided that she preferred spending time at the loom rather than shearing animals. “That’s a really long, hard process,” she said. “So, I just said they’re pets and I bought my yarn after that.”

Another of Alexander’s great loves is teaching beginners to weave. She starts her students off with a simple project and enjoys the sense of accomplishment she sees when someone completes their first weaving. “I just love the excitement that they have when they first start to learn how to weave,” said Alexander.

She has taught several students over the years but is especially fond of her time teaching a young woman with autism to weave. Alexander noted that the woman did not speak, could not dress a loom by herself, and was often afraid of new things. While there were challenges, time and pa-

tience proved to be key and the woman was eventually able to weave and sell her own scarves. “There were days that she would leave and I’m thinking, who got more out of this class, her or myself?” said Alexander.

Weaving is at the heart of Alexander’s studio, but the artist works in other mediums as well. “I started off actually as a bronze and stone sculptor,” she said. “But now I’m 77 years old and the stones are getting a little bit bigger, too heavy to move on my own.” She isn’t ruling out a return to bronze and stone sculpting, but today you’ll find her focusing on carving and etching gourds when she isn’t at her loom.

Alexander has no plans of slowing down any time soon. On any given day, she’s likely to be found in her studio, working at her loom, or planning her next weaving project. “I need more hours of the day and I need another Pennie to do everything I want to do,” said Alexander.

Photocredit: Blushing Cactus Photography