Part 1: What Happens When Weavers Invade Wichita?

Every other year, the Handweavers Guild of America brings weavers, dyers, and spinners together at Convergence for a week of immersion in textiles. For a variety of reasons, I’d never been able to attend before, but I felt determined to make 2024 my year! So on a hot summer day, I stepped off the plane in Wichita, Kansas, ready to soak it all in.

What I found was small conference rooms full of weavers learning everything from velvet weaving, to a world of dyeing techniques, to harnessing the power of profile drafts, and so many other topics. I also found a fully staged (lights, models, and music) fashion show of clothing and wearable art and exhibits that invited close study (including, among others, tapestry, basketry, yardage, and clothing from that fashion show). There were weavers of all stripes eager to talk about what they’re working on, and a marketplace full of temptations.

The fashion show exhibit gave weavers a close-up view of outfits they’d seen on the runway—along with touchable swatches. Photo by Anne Merrow

Get a closer look at some of the outfits from the fashion show! Click any image in the gallery below to open it in full-screen mode.

Clockwise from top right:
• Fancy Coat, by invited artist Paula Bowers, of Mars Hill, North Carolina. Woven in Tencel and silk, in a deflected cell weave structure.
• Inspired by a Thistle, by Teresa Edmisten, of Decatur, Georgia. Woven in silk, wool, and mohair, in diversified plain weave.
• Growth, by Emery Hall, of Wayne, Maine. Woven in 20/2 cotton, in the Josephine E. Estes miniature draft, “Maltese Cross.“ Note the exposed selvedges forming the front seam.
• Purple Waves, by Denise Kovnat, of Rochester, New York. Woven in bamboo rayon, overtwisted wool singles, and silk ribbon, in parallel-threaded doubleweave.
• Ritzy, by Marsha Snell, of Rockvale, Colorado. Woven in cotton, wool, silk, Tencel, synthetics, and metallics, in a 3/1 twill.
• Horsehair Moonlight, by invited artist Rhiannon Griego, of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Woven in agave fibers, metallics, and cotton, in plain weave.
• GoldenWheatTunic, by Carol James, of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Created in Neva silk, Bombyx silk, and Muga (wild) silk, using various sprang techniques.
Photos by Lynn Rognsvoog

If you weren’t able to attend, a small piece of Convergence—the Small Expressions show—will be traveling this fall. Visit here to see if there’s a location near you.

Is it possible to see everything and meet everyone at Convergence? Sadly, no. But the wealth of options gave me plenty of weaving to fill my brain. And I managed to squeeze two seminars into my schedule—Robyn Spady on The Comedy of Errors, and Tegan Frisino on How to Design Your Own Overshot.

Robyn, the editor and publisher of Heddlecraft magazine, presented decades’ worth of her wisdom about warping, unconventional weaving tools, and how to solve problems in a variety of creative ways. And I’m certain she was speaking directly to me when she strongly discouraged us from attempting to fix threading errors when we really should head off to bed.

Tegan gave a splendidly prepared and presented course that began as a refresher on overshot structure, and then moved on to common overshot motifs and various approaches to name drafting. I hear she’s teaching a couple of other courses at Harrisville this fall. If you’re looking to spend an immersive week weaving, don’t sleep on this opportunity to learn from a fine teacher in a charming historic textile village.

You may not believe it, but planning is already underway for Convergence 2026. HGA doesn’t have a location chosen yet, but they will let us all know when that‘s settled. As soon as I catch up on my sleep, I‘ll be ready to buy my ticket!

Notes from the Marketplace

Exciting things are happening at Lofty Fiber. They’re in the process of building out a new line of ringspun combed cotton grown and produced in the US, in four sizes: 8/2, 8/4, and two boucles. They brought along eight colors and will introduce a few more every month or two, with a final goal of about 50 colors.

They also launched a pair of lightweight and collapsible 3D-printed band looms at Convergence that seem like they’d be good travel companions. The looms include a 3D-printed belt shuttle that has a fine edge, so you can put away that butter knife you’ve been using to beat the weft!

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The Convergence Marketplace was a source of goodies to buy—and also of color inspiration. Photo by Lynn Rognsvoog

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Yarn fumes: Katie and Dean of Yarn Adventure Truck drive their converted RV around the country, selling small-batch indie-dyed yarn. In August alone, they’ll spend time in W. Virginia, N. Carolina, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Minnesota—you can keep track of where they’re headed next on their website or Instagram. They also do online sales, if they’re not in your neighborhood.

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Schacht had their new 20" Arras maple tapestry loom on display. Tempting options include a stand and treadles for hands-free shedding, and ratcheted warp and cloth beams for beaming longer warps with good tensioning control.

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Louet was showing off their new portable Jenn-E electric spinning wheel. It offers both Scotch tension and the Irish tension that Louet spinning wheels have always been known for. In an echo of their S40 “hatbox” wheel, the case contains the e-spinner, bobbins, cord, and accessories in a wooden case with an integrated handle and a clear side (see the picture at top).

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Harrisville Designs brought along their new 45" four-shaft/six-treadle L4 loom, which has a built-in tensioning system that will come in especially handy for front-to-back warpers. I expect you’ll be hearing more about this loom.

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Titicaca, an affordable 100% alpaca yarn that doesn’t stretch, was part of the very tempting wall of yarn that Yarn Barn of Kansas had for sale. They say it’s a delight for weaving or knitting, and can even be used as warp.

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Lunatic Fringe’s booth had a deeply tempting table of metallics, thermoplastics, elastics, and crepe yarns (by Gevolve and others) for your experiments. If you love Denise Kovnat’s book about dimensional weaving, Weaving Outside the Box, these fibers will be right up your alley.

They’re also excited about hemp, which they carry in two sizes—and in their signature vivid colors as well as in more neutral earthtones and grays, for use on its own or along with cotton.

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What weaver could resist all the warped looms at Convergence? Don’t look at me! I took the opportunity to throw a few picks on Louet’s Megado, AVL’s K-Series, and Harrisville’s brand new L4, among others. I’d happily find space for any of them in my studio.

Coming up: Who are the Complex Weavers, and what are Seminars all about? Plus, a gallery of work, including a peek at exhibits from the Complexity show.