YO U R AV E R AG E W E AV E R
How do you make that space your own when you have limited parameters to change it? Living in rental apartments with strict rules on painting, Cheyenne Ng had to come up with inventive ways to put color, decoration, and her own stamp on things. She set out to dress her walls in moveable colors and textures through the art of macramé.
When Cheyenne isn’t knotting her Loomchi designs, she’s at her full time job as a marketing director or out hiking with her husband Steven and their Jindo dog “Q” exploring the beauty of the Trinity Alps.
Cheyenne’s skills are self-taught. She researched videos and tutorials teaching the basic forms in macramé and learned the elemental knots of the craft. Staying away from tutorials in style and advanced workings enabled Cheyenne to develop her own unique designs without copying or building on others in the fiber community. For the most part, macramé was a personal side project for Cheyenne, just a hobby. She created a large five-foot by five-foot hanging backdrop for her wedding and it was then that Loomchi was born. Her company’s name comes from a combination of “Chi,” Cheyenne’s nickname in high school, and the loom she uses to create some of her larger pieces. Cheyenne doesn’t sketch or plan out her designs, although she admires those who do and admits it might save her time. 46
U P G R A D E D L I V I N G M AG A Z I N E J U LY 2 0 2 0
LOOMCHI PRODUCTS CAN BE FOUND IN CHICO AT BIDWELL SUPPLY CO., ON HER WEBSITE LOOMCHI.COM OR ON INSTAGRAM @LOOMCHIDESIGNS
WRITTEN BY SHELLY BRANDON PHOTOS PROVIDED BY CHEYENNE NG
KNOT
Instead she prefers to let her ideas populate as she begins with an open mind and just starts knotting her cord and materials. She focuses mainly on color selection using different and unexpected combinations while testing color theory. Her pieces range from mini tassel earrings to wreaths to large macramé wall hangings. When asked about her favorite pieces, Cheyenne says, “I love working on the macroscale. I have a four foot wide loom that uses a lot of material and takes a long time, but the larger canvas allows me to explore more and the piece has more time to take shape.” When working with these ‘macraweaves,’ she will incorporate merino, alpaca, or felted wool with her corded cotton rope. She can also work in velvet, satin, or even specialty hand spun yarn that adds a different depth and texture to the weave. One of these four foot works of art can take her anywhere from one to two weeks to complete. Her macramé pieces are generally lighter and airier with a ‘see through’ quality about them while her ‘macraweaves’ tend to be thicker and heavier but still have the fringe associated with macramé hangings.
