Just one skein…

Written By Esther Benedict

for Therese

It’s hard to know what to do with just one skein of yarn when you’re a weaver. Often I combine several skeins to make just one scarf or shawl. 

I had just one skein of yarn hand-spun by my friend Therese, who died of cancer just a few weeks ago. To add to the design challenge, this yarn had glass pony beads spun in at intervals along it. I decided to pair this variegated yarn with some 2-ply camel down spun by myself, and to weave it on my rigid heddle loom, where I could closely manage the placement of the beads. 

The result is this memorial scarf - a combination of our work, entwined. Rest in peace, friend.

Esther Benedict
I always knew I would weave. From the time I got my first potholder loom as a child I was enchanted with taking thread and making it into cloth. It took another twenty years, though before I finally got myself a real, grown-up loom, and another twenty years after that for me to decide to make weaving part of my livelihood. I enjoy most fiber arts, including spinning, dyeing, sewing and embroidery, as well as weaving. I haven't give up my day job - I'm still a law firm administrator, as I have been for about thirty years. I like working for lawyers - they're smart, demanding people who keep me on my toes. I keep them organized. I live in Oxnard, California with my husband Bruce, a dachshund named Rosie and a Siamese cat called Bijou.
www.belle-estoile.com
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