Because spinning and weaving are “lost” folk arts, when I demonstrate them in schools I try to show children something to which they might relate. I show them potholders and a potholder loom, because the weaving of potholders was almost a rite of passage for the kids I knew as a child. The weaving of those potholders is a tenuous connection to the work people did hundreds of years ago to make their clothing.
A Lot of Loops
Become Tiny Potholders
The simple “tabby weave” used on a potholder (over 1, under 1, etc. on the first row — then under 1, over 1 etc. on the second) is used in much of our clothing today. In fact, if you can weave a potholder you can weave darn near anything! Those aren’t easy to “finish off,” if you remember!
Years ago, when I performed my spinning and weaving demonstrations in schools, I asked children if they had ever made their Mommies a potholder. I told them, “Every child must weave Mommy a drawer full of potholders, because that’s how you show her you love her. They aren’t big enough to pick up a hot pot, but no matter. It’s the thought that counts.”
Twenty years ago, when I asked that question, hands shot up all around the room and kids bounced up and down on the floor … remembering. Nowadays, only the teachers nod their heads, and then only if they are of my generation!
I find it hard to believe that kids don’t weave potholders these days. In fact, you can hardly find the loom and loops in stores anymore! It’s a great way for a child to improve their dexterity — much better for them than texting. They have to exercise a digit other than their thumb, and at least they get a “product” at the end of their labor.
My sister and I once spent our summers weaving one potholder after another as gifts for Christmas. It was what we could afford with our meager allowance, and we blessed our aunts and our grandmothers with the fruits of our labors.
I recall one year my Grandmommy opened my gift and cooed, “How nice! A potholder!” Then, she opened my sister’s gift and said, “Oh, lovely! A potholder!” She opened a gift from my cousin and sighed, “What a nice surprise! A potholder! A cook can’t have too many potholders.” Bless her heart, she smiled at every potholder she opened that year.
When Grandmommy died, we opened a drawer in her kitchen and hundreds of colorful potholders spilled out … all in pristine condition. She had never used them, because they are too small. But, she saved every dadgum one of them as tangible evidence that her grandchildren adored her. And, we did indeed adore her.
Do y’all remember this rite of passage? Do your children get the opportunity to weave potholders? If they are going to make some as Christmas gifts, they had better get started now! Do you know anyone who ever actually used one of the doggone things?
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I remember making potholders (and yes, they were a bugger to finish properly!). In our house, they got used but as something to set a pot or hot dish on when it was taken to the table. I’m “older” now but when cleaning out my mother’s home after her death, she still had some of those potholders. Thanks for this memory.
The loops we got back then weren’t as pretty as the ones we get today! I’m glad to hear that some of the gadjillions of potholders made were used! But, let’s not call ourselves “older” … maybe … um … “chronologically gifted?”
I made potholders by the score for all the ladies in the house(s). Then my granny taught me to crochet and they all got TP holders that looked like hats with ribbon bands!
Some potholders just hung on the hooks in the kitchen, but we used ours, like Mel has mentioned, as hot pads and occasionally as a plant stand.
Some people are still making them. A young girl I know only via her mother on the internet made a potholder for our house. It is hanging on the side of the fridge.
My crochet never progressed to toilet paper holders
. I could only make stuff that was flat (like afghans, maybe?) I must say I like the idea of a potholder as “refrigerator art.”
I wove potholders as a child; my paternal grandmother taught me how. She actually used them; but the rest of the family preferred the thicker quilted ones, so the ones I made were generally just for pretty.
I’ll admit they can be quite pretty. Pity that the looms don’t come in a larger size, though. And, the nylon doesn’t do much to protect from heat!
This post really made me smile. I too made icky small nylon potholders as a child that never got used but when my mother-in-law was ill she apparently decided that she couldn’t go peacefully until every woman she knew was set up with potholders by the score. She must have made hundreds. Thankfully though they were cotton or something else more insulating and a bit larger and so actually usable. I still have at least six in my kitchen drawer. They’re quite old (she died fifteen years ago) and a bit battered looking now, but I use them more than any others, and I smile and remember my mother-in-law each time I do
.
.-= Robin from Israel´s last blog ..Sky? What sky? =-.
Your comment made me smile! What a great mother-in-law you must have had. And, what a delightful addition to your kitchen. Everything you cook is seasoned with memories.
I read a book about the folks in the town where some ancestors lived. About my great grandmother there were only a couple of sentences about what the town considered her claim to fame. She was renowned thereabouts as a “double weaver”. It was years before an impressed pro weaver explained that this meant weaving multiple colors on a double sided piece of cloth on a four to eight shaft floor to ceiling loom. In addition she did fancy lacework as well. Her daughter, my grandmother, tried to teach the cousins. We managed some simple weaving, hemstitching, crochet, and embroidery.
Recently I tried to find the iron on patterns to embroider a table cloth and napkins for Christmas. There were none for sale even in the hobby shops. So many of these skills are dying. Guess I’ll have to look on line.
.-= Jamie´s last blog ..Zombies In Training =-.
Boy, do I ever remember making potholders like that!!! And I made ‘em and sold ‘em too! That was probably my first paying job -along with selling Cloverine Brand Salve. Ever heard of that stuff? Then I launched out into taking orders from neighbors for all-occasion cards, birthday cards, stationery, etc., etc. Had myself a couple of little side-lines there ya know!
.-= Jeni Hill Ertmer´s last blog ..In Perspective =-.
You were pretty darned enterprising, Jeni. And, I think I’m proud to say I’ve never heard of Cloverine Brand Salve
Was it as disgusting as Vicks Vapo Rub?
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