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A few years ago, a student told me about a study she read that suggested the rise in mental health disorders in women was due less to increased reporting than to this: We have so little time, it seems, for the quiet, repetitive tasks women used to do that let our minds rest while our hands stay busy. This technique, looping, is quiet and repetitive. When I teach it, people seem to breath more deeply, relax, and smile. They remark on how calming it is. You can pick it up for just a few minutes at a time, and work on it just about anywhere to soothe your worries and find perspective about your concerns. I sometimes think I might have been a French nun in another life, quietly stitching prayers into needle lace. Looping is still a contemplative process for me, which I find very satisfying and enjoy teaching to others.
Looping marries beautifully with weaving, spinning, surface design and other fiber interests, and you can loop with all kinds of fibers. I love linen's strength and predictability, the softness and colors of wool, the luster of silk ribbons and buttonhole twist and a whole bunch of other silks including strips of hand-dyed silk fabric. Basswood bark is another of my favorites, along with handspun nettle and hemp. Mellowed bulrush has the most beautiful fragrance while you're looping with it. I've sampled many fibers, some of which I don't particularly enjoy stitching with (audio tape tops that list). I've seen looping done with everything from kelp to polymer clay. You should see what Marilyn Moore does with fine silver wire, and look for work by other artists who've inspired me. Lissa Hunter's vessels are eloquent. Judy Mulford does amazing things with a palette she limits to white and black. And Jill Nordfors Clark, who literally wrote the book on needle lace, saw sculptural possibilities in the marriage of this technique with hog gut.
Learn About Looped Sheaths -- Click here for more images and a few words about looped sheaths and their historic uses.
Learn About Netting -- Click here to learn about fishing nets and the story of civilization.
Learn About Fuegian Coiling -- Click here to learn about looping over a core element.
Looping Workshop Topics
Lecture Topics
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