The Long Thread Podcast

Visiting museums and archaeological sites in the American Southwest, Louie García finds inspiration to revive the fiber techniques of the past. He has participated in creating several recreations of ancient textiles, including a replica of the 800-year-old Arizona Openwork Shirt, and is a member of the Cedar Mesa Perishables Project, which studies artifacts including baskets, plaited and twined yucca sandals, and most importantly cotton textile fragments that date back as much as two thousand years. But where others might see ruins, Louie sees connections to the Pueblo heritage that is part of his daily life. When rediscovering weaving, spinning, and cotton-growing skills, he says, “That’s how I’m able to connect with my ancestors.” Navigating between his wish to maintain the role of fiber arts in his community with respect for the sacred nature of traditional knowledge, he founded the New Mexico Pueblo Fiber Arts Guild in in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He teaches classes to Pueblo weavers as well as a few non-Pueblo fiber arts enthusiasts. His handspun, handwoven gauze and weft-wrap openwork piece, inspired by a nearly 1,000-year-old Hohokam textile in the Ventana Cave excavation, was featured on the cover of Spin Off Summer 2020—one of just a few articles about Pueblo weaving written from a Pueblo perspective, he says. Looking at the piece, Cedar Mesa Perishables Project director Laurie Webster remarked, “It’s probably been at least a thousand years since anyone has woven a piece like this.” Spin Off is excited to welcome Louie as an instructor at SOAR October 12-17, 2025, in Loveland, Colorado. Join us to hear how Louie connects the work of his hands with his dedication to Pueblo heritage. Links Openwork Shirt (sprang replica): Carol James, “The Arizona Openwork (Tonto) Shirt Project” (http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/pct7/25) (2017). PreColumbian Textile Conference VII / Jornadas de Textiles PreColombinos VII. 25. Cedar Mesa Perishables Project (https://www.friendsofcedarmesa.org/perishablesproject/) Indian Pueblo Cultural Center (https://indianpueblo.org/) Louie García, “Pueblo Cotton in the American Southwest: Ancient Gauze Weave and Weft-Wrap Openwork.” Spin Off Summer 2020. (https://shop.longthreadmedia.com/products/spin-off-summer-2020) This episode is brought to you by: Treenway Silks is where weavers, spinners, knitters and stitchers find the silk they love. Select from the largest variety of silk spinning fibers, silk yarn, and silk threads & ribbons at TreenwaySilks.com (https://www.treenwaysilks.com/). You’ll discover a rainbow of colors, thoughtfully hand-dyed in Colorado. Love natural? Treenway’s array of wild silks provide choices beyond white. If you love silk, you’ll love Treenway Silks, where superior quality and customer service are guaranteed. KnitPicks.com has been serving the knitting community for over 20 years and believes knitting is for everyone, which is why they work hard to make knitting accessible, affordable, and approachable. Knit Picks responsibly sources its fiber to create an extensive selection of affordable yarns like High Desert from Shaniko Wool Company in Oregon. Are you looking for an ethical, eco-friendly yarn to try? Look no further than Knit Picks’ Eco yarn line. Need needles? Knit Picks makes a selection for knitters right at their Vancouver, Washington headquarters. KnitPicks.com (https://www.knitpicks.com/)—a place for every knitter. Knitters know Manos del Uruguay for their yarns’ rich tonal colors, but the story of women’s empowerment and community benefit enriches every skein. Discover 17 yarn bases from laceweight to super bulky made and dyed at an artisan owned cooperative in Uruguay. Ask for Manos at your local retailer or visit FairmountFibers.com (https://fairmountfibers.com/).

Like many spinners, Charan Sachar discovered fiber crafts without realizing that they would transform his life. While studying for a masters degree in computer science, he began working with clay, making functional and decorative pieces. He loved the cool, slick texture of clay and the pleasure of working with his hands, eventually making pottery his full-time career. During down times in the pottery studio and at home, he began knitting. The soft texture and warmth of knitting proved a perfect complement to his work in clay. Knitting not only changed Charan’s daily life, it also made its way into his clay work. Although his repertoire includes a variety of motifs, knitters have fallen in love with mugs and other vessels decorated with knitting and lace motifs. With a burgeoning stash of yarns for knitting and weaving, he was initially reluctant to create even more yarn by learning to spin. Then he saw colorful beehives and immediately knew that he needed to learn to make textured art yarns. After studying traditional and textured yarn techniques with a variety of teachers, he began teaching spinning at events across the country and as far away as New Zealand. In October 2025, Charan will teach at the Spin Off Autumn Retreat. Links Creative with Clay website (https://www.creativewithclay.com/) Charan Sachar’s Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/charansachar/) Charan will be teaching at the Spin Off Autumn Retreat (https://www.spinoffretreat.com/) October 12–17, 2025 in Loveland, Colorado. This episode is brought to you by: Treenway Silks is where weavers, spinners, knitters and stitchers find the silk they love. Select from the largest variety of silk spinning fibers, silk yarn, and silk threads & ribbons at TreenwaySilks.com (https://www.treenwaysilks.com/). You’ll discover a rainbow of colors, thoughtfully hand-dyed in Colorado. Love natural? Treenway’s array of wild silks provide choices beyond white. If you love silk, you’ll love Treenway Silks, where superior quality and customer service are guaranteed. KnitPicks.com has been serving the knitting community for over 20 years and believes knitting is for everyone, which is why they work hard to make knitting accessible, affordable, and approachable. Knit Picks responsibly sources its fiber to create an extensive selection of affordable yarns like High Desert from Shaniko Wool Company in Oregon. Are you looking for an ethical, eco-friendly yarn to try? Look no further than Knit Picks’ Eco yarn line. Need needles? Knit Picks makes a selection for knitters right at their Vancouver, Washington headquarters. KnitPicks.com (https://www.knitpicks.com/)—a place for every knitter. Sustainability and regenerative ranching have been a way of life for the ranches of Shaniko Wool Company for decades. They are the first “farm group” in the U.S. to achieve certification to the rigorous international Responsible Wool Standard and NATIVA Regenerative. Shaniko ranches raise Merino/Rambouillet sheep in the Western United States, delivering a fully traceable wool supply that gives back to the Earth and its ecosystems. To learn more, and discover Shaniko’s yarn partners, visit ShanikoWoolCompany.com. (https://www.shanikowoolcompany.com/) Knitters know Manos del Uruguay for their yarns’ rich tonal colors, but the story of women’s empowerment and community benefit enriches every skein. Discover 17 yarn bases from laceweight to super bulky made and dyed at an artisan owned cooperative in Uruguay. Ask for Manos at your local retailer or visit FairmountFibers.com (https://fairmountfibers.com/).

When colonists first left Spain for what became Mexico and the American Southwest in 1598, they came with the continent’s first wool sheep. These weren’t the famed finewool Spanish Merinos—export of those was punishable by death—but rougher multipurpose Churra sheep. With simple tools, men sheared the sheep, women spindle-spun wool yarn, and men wove plain cloth called sabanilla. In their few spare moments, women embroidered on scraps of fabric with naturally dyed yarn and a simple couching stitch. Embroidery made the fabric valuable for trade and beautiful for religious observances. Along with tinwork, wood carving and painting, and pottery, colcha embroidery became one of the folk arts that grew uniquely in the Southwest. When finer materials became available in the early 1800s, colcha embroidery began to decline in practice. Home economics teacher Julia Gomez first learned colcha embroidery in the 1970s at the Folk Art Museum and at El Rancho de las Golondrinas, a living history museum in Santa Fe where she volunteered in the summer. With teaching and family obligations, she didn’t delve deeper in the craft until decades later, when she fell in love with this local art form. Learning not only to stitch the colcha embroidery but also prepare the yarn and woven fabric (and even shear a sheep . . . once), she developed passion and expertise for its stories and techniques. Her work has been included in the juried Spanish Market, winning first prize, and is in numerous museum and private collections. In addition to her own embroidery, Julia enjoys teaching and demonstrating, a natural continuation of her decades in the middle-school classroom and years as a docent at the Nuevo Mexico Heritage Arts Museum (formerly the Museum of Spanish Colonial Art). Whether spinning and weaving at El Rancho de las Golondrinas or demonstrating embroidery across the United States and internationally, Julia preserves the beautifully rustic tradition of colcha embroidery. Links Julia Gomez authored “The Art and Tradition of Colcha Embroidery” and created the design “A Colcha Peahen” for PieceWork Winter 2022 (https://pieceworkmagazine.com/library/141964511). Julia demonstrates at the El Rancho de las Golondrinas (https://golondrinas.org/) in Santa Fe, New Mexico, which is open from June through October each year (and in April and May for private tours). Julia demonstrates and teaches at the Nuevo Mexicano Heritage Arts Museum (https://nmheritagearts.org/), where some of her work is also part of the permanent collection. Julia’s presentation “A Stitch Out of Time: A Story of Colcha Embroidery in New Spain” at the 2024 Weave a Real Peace (WARP) conference is available to watch on YouTube. (https://youtu.be/6aDO9pV4Hv0?t=165). El Rancho de las Golondrinas hosted Julia’s presentation “The Art and Tradition of Colcha Embroidery,” which is available on YouTube. (https://youtu.be/-T2r4u1kRaU) Santa Fe honored Julia as part of National Hispanic Heritage Month in 2021 and created a video (https://youtu.be/Dx1UYT6rj-k) to celebrate her accomplishments. This episode is brought to you by: Treenway Silks is where weavers, spinners, knitters and stitchers find the silk they love. Select from the largest variety of silk spinning fibers, silk yarn, and silk threads & ribbons at TreenwaySilks.com (https://www.treenwaysilks.com/). You'll discover a rainbow of colors, thoughtfully hand-dyed in Colorado. Love natural? Treenway's array of wild silks provide choices beyond white. If you love silk, you'll love Treenway Silks, where superior quality and customer service are guaranteed. KnitPicks.com has been serving the knitting community for over 20 years and believes knitting is for everyone, which is why they work hard to make knitting accessible, affordable, and approachable. Knit Picks responsibly sources its fiber to create an extensive selection of affordable yarns like High Desert from Shaniko Wool Company in Oregon. Are you looking for an ethical, eco-friendly yarn to try? Look no further than Knit Picks’ Eco yarn line. Need needles? Knit Picks makes a selection for knitters right at their Vancouver, Washington headquarters. KnitPicks.com (https://www.knitpicks.com/)—a place for every knitter. Sustainability and regenerative ranching have been a way of life for the ranches of Shaniko Wool Company for decades. They are the first “farm group” in the U.S. to achieve certification to the rigorous international Responsible Wool Standard and NATIVA Regenerative. Shaniko ranches raise Merino/Rambouillet sheep in the Western United States, delivering a fully traceable wool supply that gives back to the Earth and its ecosystems. To learn more, and discover Shaniko’s yarn partners, visit ShanikoWoolCompany.com. (https://www.shanikowoolcompany.com/) Knitters know Manos del Uruguay for their yarns’ rich tonal colors, but the story of women’s empowerment and community benefit enriches every skein. Discover 17 yarn bases from laceweight to super bulky made and dyed at an artisan owned cooperative in Uruguay. Ask for Manos at your local retailer or visit FairmountFibers.com (https://fairmountfibers.com/).

As a knitter in a new place, Irene Waggener looks for knitting as she explores. Not all of the countries where she finds herself have robust yarn-shop networks and textile tourism, so sometimes she needs to get creative in her search. During a three-year stint in Morocco, her first glimpse of knitting was in the back of a local museum, where a striking pair of black-and-white knitted pants hung among other traditional craft objects. Although the staff at the museum couldn’t tell her much about them, she was encouraged to look for knitters in the neighboring valley, where she found not only some of the last knitters who knew how to make the knitted pants but also an existing handknit sock practice. In the village of Timloukine, men take their knitting along for months away from home as they tend their sheep. In the cold winters of the High Atlas, the synthetic mass-produced socks that have reached the village are no match for the traditional handmade wool socks. Irene learned to knit the unusual wool pants, called sirwal, and a variety of other traditional knitted items from the region. She wrote her first book about the knitting practices of the High Atlas, combining cultural anthropology, historical research, and kandknitting patterns in Keepers of the Sheep: Knitting in Morocco’s High Atlas and Beyond. In her next destination, Armenia, Irene found a knitting culture that more closely resembles what North American and European knitters would recognize: contemporary knitters who pick up their needles for enjoyment and self-expression, with a variety of mostly synthetic yarns available in craft stores. Getting out into rural areas, though, she met an older generation of knitters who still use old-style, unusual colorwork techniques, many of them related to the region’s rug weaving. Drawing on a breed association for the gampr, a treasured Armenian livestock guardian dog, and plenty of serendipity, Irene found knitters willing to share their sock-knitting traditions. As an independent researcher, Irene Waggener has followed her knitting to extraordinary places, and she invites us to follow and knit along. This episode is brought to you by: Treenway Silks is where weavers, spinners, knitters and stitchers find the silk they love. Select from the largest variety of silk spinning fibers, silk yarn, and silk threads & ribbons at TreenwaySilks.com (https://www.treenwaysilks.com/). You'll discover a rainbow of colors, thoughtfully hand-dyed in Colorado. Love natural? Treenway's array of wild silks provide choices beyond white. If you love silk, you'll love Treenway Silks, where superior quality and customer service are guaranteed. KnitPicks.com has been serving the knitting community for over 20 years and believes knitting is for everyone, which is why they work hard to make knitting accessible, affordable, and approachable. Knit Picks responsibly sources its fiber to create an extensive selection of affordable yarns like High Desert from Shaniko Wool Company in Oregon. Are you looking for an ethical, eco-friendly yarn to try? Look no further than Knit Picks’ Eco yarn line. Need needles? Knit Picks makes a selection for knitters right at their Vancouver, Washington headquarters. KnitPicks.com (https://www.knitpicks.com/)—a place for every knitter. Sustainability and regenerative ranching have been a way of life for the ranches of Shaniko Wool Company for decades. They are the first “farm group” in the U.S. to achieve certification to the rigorous international Responsible Wool Standard and NATIVA Regenerative. Shaniko ranches raise Merino/Rambouillet sheep in the Western United States, delivering a fully traceable wool supply that gives back to the Earth and its ecosystems. To learn more, and discover Shaniko’s yarn partners, visit ShanikoWoolCompany.com. (https://www.shanikowoolcompany.com/) Knitters know Manos del Uruguay for their yarns’ rich tonal colors, but the story of women’s empowerment and community benefit enriches every skein. Discover 17 yarn bases from laceweight to super bulky made and dyed at an artisan owned cooperative in Uruguay. Ask for Manos at your local retailer or visit FairmountFibers.com (https://fairmountfibers.com/).