The History of Crow Hill Rugs by Carol Blackmore
In 1963, at age five, I asked my father to make me a potholder loom because the commercial one I had been given did not hold the loopers as well as I thought it should. The one he made with plywood and small headed finishing nails worked very well. I quickly developed a "potholder obsession" which required my mother to buy more and more "loopers" until I figured out how to make them out of the tops of old socks.
At age sixteen, I spent a wonderful summer working on
a pig farm and providing child care in exchange for instruction on a Macomber floor
loom.
In 1978, I studied weaving for six weeks at the Penland School of Crafts.
My first floor loom was a maple counterbalance
Lane loom purchased at auction by my parents. It had been stored for sixty years in the
basement of a former tuberculosis "cure" cottage in the village of Saranac Lake, in the Adirondack mountains of Upstate New York.
Weaving was part of the tuberculosis cure process. This particular loom had never left its original crate. I now use it for sharing and teaching.
In 1982, I asked my grandmother for the antique barn frame style
counterbalance loom she had bought in the Southern Appalachian mountains, probably North Carolina, sometime in the 1930's. It was beautifully handmade, probably before the turn of the
previous century (although looms of that ancient style were made in that area longer
than anywhere else in the country) from white oak and chestnut. With my first child on the way, I decided to develop a part time rug weaving business that would accommodate young children and unpredictable amounts of time. This worked out well. My four children, growing up, were all involved in the process of sorting color, counting threads, and ripping fabric on
the back porch. The old clothes I use for fabric were always available for "dress up" and were modified into many costumes.
Over time, I began receiving more orders for room sized rugs. Initially, I pieced these large rugs together by connecting two and three runners, side by side, in the traditional manner. In 1994, I transitioned to a 10 foot wide Swedish Glimakra Souvereign. From the start, with only a few adjustments, this huge heavy loom produced rugs of unusually good structural quality.
I have participated in regional art and
craft shows for many years.
In 2004, I became a member of the Carrboro-Chapel Hill Farmer's Market. The overhead beams of the open pavilion work very well for hanging rugs. Within a few minutes, I am able to create a gallery-like setting. The market is well attended and I look forward to
meeting with a steady stream of friends and clients.
Contact:
Carol Blackmore
