When I was 23, and a new immigrant to Japan, I wandered into a craft supply store near my apartment and was agog at the wide array of high end materials and tools on every one of the 4 floors of the handcraft wonderland that sprawled out before me. I remember letting out a delightful squeal when I noticed they were importing and selling various spinning and weaving implements from New Zealand. They had tools I'd only dreamt of using and that would have taken months to arrive by special catalogue order to America.
I remember feeling a bit smug and thinking: "I've finally found people who take this as seriously as I do."
After daydreaming for a time about all of the Ashford wheels and hand tools in the textile making section of the store, I decided to buy a rigid heddle loom. I took it home in its flatpack, put it together carefully, and wove exactly one scarf before I realised I should probably stick to knitting. 17 years on, the loom has become a wall ornament of sorts, collecting dust and the occasional cobweb. Once every six months, dust cloth in hand, I tidy it up and think, “I should try this again”. While I’m not terribly driven to weave myself, I still find the craft and all the tradition and custom surrounding loom weaving incredibly seductive. I love watching weavers, and listening to weaving stories from all over the world, especially the stories from the UK, about people who make rustic tweeds, and woolen cloth.
I discovered “Woven in the Bone” when I began studying tailoring in 2019. I’d been long lusting after the fabrics woven in the Hebrides, and had picked up some “Moon Tweed” (made in Yorkshire) while I was visiting the UK with my family the year before. The moment I came upon Sam’s process videos, her obvious love for craft, and her incredible sense for composition and beautiful photography, I knew I wanted to wander quietly into her atmosphere and admire her close up…someday.
I followed along with her instagram for a time before I decided to reach out and see if I could purchase some cloth, just so I could own a tiny piece of the beautiful things I watched her do each day. I was happy to find she had a bit of stock on hand. I purchased 3 different lengths and qualities of her earlier work, and carefully stashed them away in my haberdashery.
In the meantime, the majority of my days were spent furiously making inroads into my tailoring apprenticeship, but Sam’s shuttle was always zipping back and forth in the back of my mind. The colours, the textures, and the romance of Buckie, even viewed from the distance of Tokyo were a welcomed respite from the emotional discomfort of being a student at the age of 37.
Harada Wool
In 2018, I sent the first clip from our family farm off to Blackberry Ridge Woolen mills. I was positively determined to make a good hand knitting yarn. At the tim